Regulating PFAS in the U.S. Without Stifling Innovation

Protecting Public Health and the Environment

• 🎯 Dr. Miller-Meeks emphasizes the need to protect public health and the environment while ensuring federal policies are fair, clear, and feasible for entities like those in Iowa.
• 💧 Clean water is crucial for Iowa's farmers, rural communities, drinking water systems, local employers, and families.

PFAS Liability Concerns

• ⚖️ Entities like water utilities, wastewater facilities, landfills, and farmers, who did not create PFAS, could face retroactive, strict, joint and several liability.
• 💰 The current liability scheme incentivizes litigation over cleanup, with parties potentially spending more on lawyers and consultants than on addressing contamination.
• ⏳ Even small parties can face years of litigation, incurring huge costs, with their ultimate liability share being tiny.

Encouraging Innovation and Solutions

• 🌱 Iowa agriculture is developing promising alternatives to PFAS, such as soy-based fire suppressants, reducing reliance on legacy chemicals and strengthening the economy.
• 💡 The focus should be on swift remediation and liability certainty to encourage American industry to invest in solutions rather than endless courtroom battles.

Impact on Real Estate and Redevelopment

• 🏗️ The PFAS designation creates uncertainty for phase one environmental due diligence, financing, and insurance for commercial real estate projects.
• 📈 Market investors dislike uncertainty, which can hinder brownfield redevelopment, housing construction, and job creation.
• 🏠 Brownfield sites are best cleaned up at the state level to achieve closure without the fear of unlimited circular liability.

Limitations of EPA Guidance

• 🚫 EPA's enforcement discretion guidance does not provide real certainty for passive or public service entities because it only applies to the agency, not to other potentially responsible parties.
• 🏛️ Congressional action is necessary to protect these entities from third-party lawsuits and provide genuine certainty.