SiX Takeaways: PFAS Contamination and Opportunities in State Policy Legislator Briefing

Here are resources, further information and six takeaways from SiX Legislator Briefing: PFAS Contamination and Opportunities in State Policy on Friday March 8th, 2024:

If you were unable to attend the briefing live, here is the recording from the presentation portion of the briefing. Password: 6AgPFAS! (password is case sensitive).

1. PFAS is pervasive, devastating, and permanent (it’s called a forever chemical, after all) that is why it is critical that policymakers first work to “turn off the tap”.

   • • In Maine Rep. Bill Pluecker has been working to stop the continued contamination from PFAS from multiple sources including sewage wastewater sludge spreading, plastic products, firefighting foam and pesticides.

     • Senator Hillman Fraizer of Mississippi modeled his soil health bill after the Maine sewage sludge bill and is working with Black farmers in his community to address sewage sludge contamination from an urban wastewater treatment plant on rural farmland. Sewage sludge spreading on farmland is a dangerous source of PFAS contamination in soil rendering agriculture soil unusable, contaminating water supplies, and poisoning our food.

2. PFAS needs to be addressed at every level of policymaking. From the local level to the state level to the federal level, it is important to address PFAS from every angle including creating a supportive and safe space for impacted farmers to come forward and get the help they need through funding for testing and remediation.

3. How we define PFAS is critical to being able to fully “turn off the tap”. There are over 10,000 PFAS chemicals circulating in industry today. Many industry backed efforts include passing definition bills in state houses that would limit what kind of chemicals are defined as PFAS. In Indiana, legislators just successfully defeated a bad bill that would have defined PFAS as having two fluorine bonds. PFAS should be defined as having one fluorine bond in order to capture all potential hazardous PFAS chemicals including the newer ones that have not been tested yet.

4. Taxpayers are paying (literally) for corporations’ bad behavior. Between shuttered farms, poisoned food and water, dangerous health impacts, and unusable lands, rural and urban communities across the country are directly experiencing the devastating impacts of PFAS.  In Maine and in order areas across the country there has been a lot of pushback from corporations and industrial agribusiness to stop the continued PFAS contamination. Rep. Bill Pluecker: “Corporations are creating this contamination, and they are expecting the state or federal government to pick up the bill. This is a major subsidy to them and they need to be held responsible.”

   • • Dupont is a major polluter in North Carolina and has completely contaminated the water supply in some rural communities. Senator Natalie Murdock: “The largest disservice is to let corporations off the hook. Our local communities are using their tax dollars to upgrade their water treatment instead of going to corporations and saying you did this, write us a check to upgrade systems.”

5. Even in states where the political climate makes passing legislation hard, it is possible to help communities and raise awareness of the issue. Turning off the tap of PFAS and remediating existing PFAS contamination through legislation can be a non-starter in some political climates. Despite those challenges, communities can still be supported. North Carolina Senator Natalie Murdock is working to raise awareness to help communities understand the dangers of PFAS and is continuing to submit legislation because not only does it keep the conversation going, but it is the “right thing to do”.  She is also working with  grassroots groups and advocates to leverage federal funds to cover the cost of water filtration systems to protect families and communities. She’s still submitting legislation th

6. Policy, organizing, and messaging resources: There are many ways that state legislators can continue working on PFAS issues in their community.  Policy that helps to “turn off the tap” of PFAS, supports impacted producers, holds corporations accountable for their pollution, and raises public health awareness of the dangers of PFAS all work to move the needle on this pervasive and devastating issue. Please visit SiX’s Blueprint for Rural Policy Action in the States for additional ideas and messaging support to serve your constituencies.

To stay in touch with the SiX Ag and Food Systems team and get access to exclusive briefings like this and more, I encourage you to join the Cohort for Rural Opportunity and Prosperity (CROP), the only cross-state cohort of state legislators in the country dedicated to working on progressive agriculture, rural, environmental and food policy. Learn more and sign up for the CROP here.

As always, if you need assistance or would like to work on policies related to PFAS, soil health and more, please reach out to [email protected].