Evers considering calling lawmakers back to act on PFAS and says he'll veto GOP bill
Laura SchulteMADISON – Gov. Tony Evers is considering calling finance committee lawmakers back into session to release $125 million unused since last summer to address "forever chemicals" and reiterated in an interview that he would veto a PFAS measure that passed the Legislature.
Evers said there were "many, many" conversations with the legislation's authors but they couldn't find "common ground."
"They're the ones that have the money, and we can get it out the door, we can do the right thing," Evers said in an interview Monday. "Frankly, we've asked them to do that, and hopefully we don't have to call a special session. That's a possibility, for a special session."
More:PFAS trust fund remains unspent as Republicans, Democrats argue over legislation
Evers is instead calling on the Legislature's powerful budget committee to release the funding to the Department of Natural Resources to spend on helping communities impacted by PFAS, instead of lawmakers creating their own spending framework.
He has asked the Legislature's powerful budget committee to include $100 million in financial assistance for testing, disposal of wastewater treatment sludge contaminated with PFAS and for treatment solutions.
Evers clarified Tuesday that the special session he is considering calling would be of the finance committee and not the full Legislature.
The other $25 million would be used to provide financial assistance to innocent buyers of land contaminated with PFAS, landowners who had contaminated sludge spread on their fields as fertilizer, and to provide potable water to those with impacted private wells.
But Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee indicated they will not take action on the trust fund without legislation being signed into law. In an April 1 statement from the chairs of the Joint Finance Committee, Sen. Howard Marklein, R- Spring Green and Rep. Mark Born, R- Beaver Dam, said the bill "addresses the PFAS issue."
"We are ready to take action on PFAS through SB 312. Do not veto this bill and be the obstacle to move this critical relief forward," the statement said. "If you are serious about addressing PFAS, sign the bill."The proposed bill would have created grant programs aimed at providing aid to communities with contamination, in addition to limiting the actions that the DNR could take to address contamination or hold polluters accountable.
It would have also commissioned studies, required a reduction in costs for testing, expanded a well compensation grant program, and established an innocent buyer program that would help property owners who unknowingly purchase land contaminated with PFAS.
More:2 Republican legislators push to set standards for PFAS in groundwater
The bill did not include funding for the programs, instead relying on the $125 million set aside in the budget.
Residents of impacted communities, conservationists and clean water advocates pushed back on the bill, asking Republicans to protect the ability of the DNR to require polluters to pay for cleanup.
What are PFAS?
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of man-made chemicals used for their water- and stain-resistant qualities in products like clothing and carpet, nonstick cookware, packaging and firefighting foam.
The family includes 5,000 compounds, which are persistent, remaining both in the environment and human body over time. The chemicals have been linked to types of kidney and testicular cancers, lower birth weights, harm to immune and reproductive systems, altered hormone regulation and altered thyroid hormones.
The chemicals enter the human body largely through drinking water. PFAS have been found across Wisconsin in both surface water and drinking water sources.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura.