The Office of Water will 'be aimed at ensuring that we can make things better,' which has prompted the Office to plan 'listening sessions' that 'cross a wide range of stakeholders' in order to help 'chart our path,' she said.
Representatives from EGLE and the Army Corps are scheduled to meet this week to explore possible resolutions, as communities and businesses across Michigan await clarity on a policy that could reshape shipping logistics throughout the Great Lakes region.
More than 1.3 million New Yorkers rely on water systems that could be impacted by any change in federal policy. If national protections are weakened, many of those systems may no longer be required to filter out PFAS at all.
Judy Sheahan, the conference’s assistant executive director for the environment, told The Driller the conference believes 'it was a mistake' for the EPA to set PFAS’ contamination levels in drinking water at 'four parts per trillion,' which Sheahan said is 'detection levels.'
Kramer, who served in the Office of Water during the first Trump administration, said under cooperative federalism EPA programs such as the Underground Injection Control Well Program (UICWP) would be “delegated from federal implementation to the states,”
PFAS, often called forever chemicals, have been linked to serious health risks. As water utilities work to remove these substances from drinking water, these lawmakers argue they shouldn’t bear the financial burden of cleanup costs.
While EPA set Feb. 20, 2025 as the deadline to file comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), some stakeholders within the water testing and water utility sectors say because the NPRM is very complex the deadline is too short, and should be extended by 60 days.
The EPA has postponed adding nine PFAS to its “Toxics Release Inventory” (TRI), which would subject them to the same reporting rules as other chemicals of “special concern.”