PFAS Contamination: Evolving State and Federal Regulatory Landscape, Science, Litigation, and Due Diligence in Transactions

Description

As U.S. EPA continues to work through its regulatory process for PFAS, it appears the agency and Congress continue to be committed to additional, future regulation of PFAS under CERCLA, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. This broad class of over 4000 chemicals is widely used in numerous consumer products such as carpets, fast food packaging, textiles, and firefighting foam.

Responding to considerable pressure and concerns from citizens and political leaders, state regulators are also imposing new drinking water limits, cleanup standards, and testing requirements for PFAS and are moving much more swiftly in their regulation of these compounds. State regulators and citizen groups are also suing the primary manufacturers of PFAS and secondary users, seeking damages ranging from cleanup costs to future medical monitoring costs.

As a result of the increased PFAS regulation and litigation, companies and their environmental counsel must carefully conduct due diligence and consider the risks and potential costs of future litigation and remediation arising from the sale, distribution and use, and disposal of PFAS. Also, many industrial and municipal sectors are or will soon be facing new regulations and standards with regard to managing materials and waste that typically contain PFAS such as leachate at landfills, dilute low concentrations in drinking water sources, and concentrations in compost and waste water treatment plant (WWTP) influent, discharge waters, and resultant sludge. Counsel should understand what PFAS are, who and what companies are most likely to be brought into PFAS-related litigation, which clients may need to address PFAS in the near future, and how best to evaluate and mitigate PFAS risks.

Listen as our authoritative panel examines the evolving federal and state regulatory landscape for PFAS. The group will discuss current scientific data on PFAS including a review of the basis in which regulatory standards are being developed, opportunities and challenges to determining the source of PFAS contamination (“forensic analysis”), business sectors and regions where PFAS is or may soon be a regulatory focus, and new regulations and ongoing litigation. The panel will offer insight into the legal risks facing companies using and discharging PFAS in manufacturing, companies distributing or selling products containing PFAS, and companies and municipalities responding to PFAS contamination in groundwater, drinking water, and waste. The panel will also examine PFAS risks in transactions and what companies and their counsel need to do regarding evaluating and addressing this emerging risk.