Trump administration, GOP strip out PFAS standard, cleanup requirements from defense bill

December 10, 2019

Read full story by Todd Spangler (Detroit Free Press)

WASHINGTON — Environmental groups and some members of Congress were howling Tuesday after some provisions to respond to the threat of PFAS chemical contamination in Michigan and elsewhere were stripped from a defense authorization bill.

A joint House-Senate committee late Monday released its compromise version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act and several provisions had been taken out, including those requiring the Trump administration to set a health standard for PFAS in drinking water and require and help pay for cleanup of contaminated sites nationwide.

There is currently a standard of 70 parts per trillion that federal regulators use to advise states and water systems that continued exposure to PFAS may be hazardous to humans but no strictly defined standard that the U.S. government enforces...