Read the full article by Robert Creenan (Huron Daily Tribune)
“WASHINGTON — Michigan senator Gary Peters is one of many U.S. Senators calling for more federal funding to fight PFAS contamination in Michigan and across the county.
In a letter addressed to Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee leaders, 21 senators, including Peters and Debbie Stabenow, ask for funding to expand PFAS monitoring, standards development, and cleanup capabilities.
Among the proposed funding for PFAS cleanup include:
• $2.5 million for supporting the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory work needed to designate PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under the Superfund law.
• $1.5 million for setting a Maximum Contaminant Levels for PFAS in drinking water.
• $1.4 million to support reporting of PFAS releases into the air and water under the Toxic Release Inventory, as required by the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
• $2 million to study the relationship between PFAS exposure and susceptibility to COVID-19.
• $15 million for a multipurpose grant program included in last year’s appropriations bill, requiring that funds be used for assisting States establish their own pretreatment programs for curbing industrial discharges of PFAS.
• $1 million to support USGS’ work to monitor waterways for PFAS, as required by the FY 2020 NDAA.
• Language encouraging the EPA to move forward with existing efforts to establish national water standards for PFOA and PFOS.
‘It is critical that we begin to safely and expeditiously clean up PFAS contamination across the country, including in drinking water sources and industrial sites,’ the letter reads…”