At its May 26 meeting, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board (NRB) authorized the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to hold a preliminary public hearing and comment period on the agency’s scope statement for board order DG-31-20. The scope statement is an early version of the agency’s proposal to amend chapter NR 809 of the Wisconsin […]
PFAS Update: Natural Resources Board Approves Hearing, Comment Period for PFAS Drinking Water Rule
Date Fri, Jun. 4, 2021 - 1:19pm By Hamilton
PFAS Update: Legislators Reintroducing CLEAR Act; DNR Releases Economic Impact Analysis for Cycle 10 Groundwater Rule
Date Fri, May. 21, 2021 - 9:47am By Hamilton
A group of Democratic state legislators backed by Wisconsin’s governor are reintroducing legislation called the Chemical Level Enforcement and Remediation or “CLEAR” Act. The bill includes a variety of provisions to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a family of thousands of manufactured chemicals commonly known as PFAS. In addition to legislative efforts regarding PFAS, the […]
PFAS Update: Governor Approves Two DNR Scope Statements Including New PFAS Standards
Date Fri, Mar. 26, 2021 - 9:53am By Hamilton
Earlier this month, Governor Tony Evers approved two scope statements from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that propose new regulations related to groundwater and drinking water. These statements are the first step in the rulemaking process that state agencies must use to create new regulations. The first scope statement, SS 029-21, proposes changes to […]
PFAS Update: Several PFAS-Related Lawsuits Filed in Wisconsin
Date Fri, Mar. 12, 2021 - 11:06am By Hamilton
On Thursday, March 4, the City of La Crosse filed a lawsuit against 23 companies that manufactured, marketed, or sold firefighting foam containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of chemicals commonly known as PFAS. The foam, known as aqueous firefighting foam (AFFF), is used to extinguish fires involving flammable liquids like airplane fuel. PFAS […]
PFAS Update: DNR and EPA Actions
Date Fri, Mar. 12, 2021 - 11:05am By Hamilton
EPA Announces Rulemaking Plans Related to PFAS On February 22, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced two regulatory actions related to PFAS in drinking water. First, the EPA reissued final regulatory determinations for its fourth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 4), which lists substances that the agency may decide to regulate under the Safe Drinking […]
PFAS Update: State Seeks Outside Lawyers to Litigate Against PFAS Dischargers
Date Fri, Jan. 29, 2021 - 9:03am By Hamilton
On Friday, January 22, Governor Tony Evers announced that his administration is soliciting bids from law firms to find a legal team to litigate against companies responsible for discharging PFAS compounds in Wisconsin. This is one of many recommendations from the state’s PFAS Action Plan, published late last year by the governor’s PFAS Action Council. […]
PFAS Update: JCRAR Suspends DNR’s Foam Rule; Tyco Settles Lawsuit with Peshtigo Residents
Date Thu, Jan. 14, 2021 - 5:03pm By Hamilton
Since the last edition of Tidbits, there have been several updates on the PFAS front. On December 18, the Department of Natural Resource’s (DNR) emergency rule on firefighting foam was partially suspended by the Legislature’s Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR). The emergency rule is a result of 2019 Wisconsin Act 101, […]
PFAS, Climate Change and Rural Wisconsin Reports Released
Date Fri, Dec. 18, 2020 - 8:56am By Hamilton
Year-end brings the holiday season, winter weather and… task force/commission reports. This month, so far, the governor has announced the release of three different reports, each a result of a distinct multi-year effort: Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change, Blue Ribbon Commission on Rural Prosperity , and Wisconsin PFAS Action Council (WisPAC). Each report provides […]
PFAS Update: DNR Stakeholder Meeting and WisPac Releases Draft Plan
Date Thu, Oct. 22, 2020 - 2:02pm By Hamilton
Stakeholder Group for PFAS Rules On Friday, October 9, the Department of Natural Resources held another Stakeholder Group for PFAS Rules. The meeting focused on the background regarding the economic impact analysis (EIA), the EIA conceptual framework for Water Quality Standards rule and wastewater and drinking water sampling efforts. From a high-level perspective, the DNR […]
PFAS Update: DNR Stakeholder Group for PFAS Rules Meets, Firefighting Foam Emergency Rulemaking
Date Wed, Sep. 9, 2020 - 10:06am By Hamilton
On Thursday, August 27, the DNR Stakeholder Group for PFAS rules met virtually to focus on the rule-making for PFAS Surface Water criteria in NR 105. The agenda included a recap of previous meetings and a discussion on how DNR intends to identify the economic impact of the developing standard. DNR reiterated their overall approach “used […]