Billions in Possible Liability Exposures for PFA Manufacturers as Regulatory Attention Ratchets Up

Early in June, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Antonio Delgado (both D-NY) reintroduced legislation that would regulate per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Clean Water Act.

Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency has published final regulatory determinations on PFAS.

That clears the way for a national drinking water standard to be implemented early next year.

For all the flurry in Washington, the states have raced ahead of federal regulation and legislation. In mid-May, Vermont became the latest of about two dozen states to regulate PFAS. Vermont banned the manufacture, sale or use of a wide range of substances containing PFAS.

Most ominously from the standpoint of exposures, the National Law Review (NLR) published an article in late May stating, ‘Estimates for the costs to the chemical companies for PFAS litigation is upwards of over two billion dollars and climbing, with direct impacts on [investment] portfolios that include those companies.’