A Senate hearing put the waste industry’s longtime request for certain PFAS-related Superfund exemptions in the spotlight as the EPA is poised to make certain PFAS hazardous.
By Megan Quinn, Waste Dive
At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, the waste and recycling industry continued to advocate for a “narrow exemption” from chemical rules they say could saddle operators with unfair costs and liability when the U.S. EPA eventually designates certain PFAS as hazardous substances under Superfund.
Speakers representing the Solid Waste Association of North America and the National Waste & Recycling Association, along with wastewater treatment facilities, testified during the Senate Environment and Public Works committee hearing that their industries are “passive receivers” of PFAS-containing material.
The solid waste and wastewater sectors say they play a critical role in responsibly managing materials containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, noting many operators are already implementing PFAS removal and destruction technologies. Yet an Environmental Working Group representative testified that such an exemption could provide a “loophole for polluters.”
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