Read the full article by Nessa Horewitch Coppinger & Jeanine L.G. Grachuk (The National Law Review)
“If three states have their way, EPA’s general permit for industrial stormwater discharges will impose obligations relating to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Mexico submitted comments on the draft Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) that ask EPA to require permitted industrial facilities to monitor PFAS in their stormwater discharges and to develop practices intended to minimize the potential for PFAS to be introduced into stormwater. The comment period on the draft MSGP closed on June 1, and it remains to be seen in the coming months whether EPA will adopt the states’ suggestions.
Both Massachusetts Department of Environment and New Mexico—two states where the new MSGP will apply—request that the MSGP require permitted facilities to monitor their stormwater discharges for PFAS. Massachusetts proposes that EPA should require annual monitoring of, at a minimum, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) at facilities in any of the following sectors covered by the MSGP:
- Sector B – Paper and Allied Products
- Sector C – Chemical and Allied Products Manufacturing
- Sector D – Asphalt Paving and Roofing Materials and Lubricant Manufacturing
- Sector K – Hazardous Waste Treatment Storage, or Disposal Facilities
- Sector L – Landfills, Land Application Sites and Open Dumps
- Sector N – Scrap Recycling and Waste Recycling Facilities
- Sector S – Air Transportation
- Sector V – Textile Mills, Apparel, and Other Fabric Products
- Sector W – Furniture and Fixtures
- Sector Y – Rubber, Miscellaneous Plastic Products, and Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries
- Sector Z – Leather Tanning and Finishing
- Sector AA – Fabricated Metal Products
- Sector AC – Electronic and Electrical Equipment and Components, Photographic and Optical Goods..”