EPA has announced the release of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking titled, Addition of Certain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting. The proposal, published in the Federal Register December 4, has two purposes, according to the agency. The first is to obtain public input that will help EPA determine whether there is enough information to fulfill the criteria for listing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI); and the second is to determine the usefulness of the data that could be collected.
The Toxics Release Inventory requires certain U.S. facilities in a variety of industries to annually report to EPA on how much of each TRI chemical the facility has released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment. Releases can be directly into the air or water, or in some type of land disposal. The proposal states EPA is requesting comment on “which, if any, PFAS should be evaluated for listing, how to list them, and what would be appropriate reporting thresholds given their persistence and bioaccumulation potential.” AMWA plans to engage the Regulatory Committee to develop and submit comments prior to the February 3, 2020 deadline.