Twenty-Two AGs Sent Letter Urging Congress to Address Immediate Legislative Needs in Response to PFAS Crisis

JULY 30, 2019

New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 22 attorneys general in sending a letter urging Congress to immediately address the most urgent legislative priorities related to the nationwide per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination crisis. In their letter, The attorneys general increased pressure on Congress to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (the Superfund law), and to direct the agency to add “the entire class of PFAS” to its Toxic Release Inventory. The coalition also urged Congress to “[p]rohibit the use and storage” of firefighting foam containing PFAS at all military sites and other federal facilities “as quickly as possible,” and to “immediately require protective measures when firefighting foam is used.” The coalition requested federal funding for the cleanup of public water systems “with a focus on environmental justice and other disadvantaged communities,” and warned that in the absence of federal assistance many systems will be forced to raise consumers’ water rates to recoup cleanup costs, which would “present serious water affordability issues.