HB 1085 (Rasoul) and SB 243 (McPike) would require municipal wastewater and drinking water plants to monitor PFAS (also known as “forever chemicals”) levels in effluent, influent, and biosolids at least quarterly and report all such data on an applicable discharge monitoring report required by federal regulations. The bill would also require the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), in certain circumstances, to develop a PFAS action plan to identify and address sources of certain PFAS detected in a public water system’s raw water source, perform outreach efforts regarding PFAS contamination, report annually on its activities, and work with certain entities in developing its PFAS action plans.
In practice, this means testing for PFAS quarterly, forever, at every such facility (including the smallest). VACo opposes the bills as they would mandate the very expensive monitoring rather than a focus on PFAS emitting sources to the plants or any targeting to minimize burden.
HB 245 (Bulova) and SB 462 (Marsden) are alternative bills that focus on PFAS sources that discharge directly to surface waters or into sewer systems, rather than on the receiving publicly owned treatment works. VACo is soliciting input on how HB 1085 and SB 243 may impact your locality and water treatment facilities. VACo will continue to provide updates as they become available.
VACo Contact: James Hutzler