Federal

• EPA has proposed a draft analytical method for measuring 6PPD-quinone in stormwater and surface waters. Many of you may be following the increasing regulatory attention to 6PPD – a chemical additive in rubber tires to help extend a tire's life and use. These chemicals have been in use for more than 50 years and have been found to be very toxic to salmon and trout species as well as other aquatic life.

Oregon

• The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will begin the process to reinstate the Climate Protection Program in the first quarter of 2024 following a December ruling from the Oregon Court of Appeals. The rulemaking process typically takes about 12 months, including a public comment period. As with all rulemakings, DEQ will ensure opportunities for interested parties and the public to share their perspectives and feedback. The final step of DEQ’s rulemaking process is to propose the rules for adoption to the agency’s governing body, the Environmental Quality Commission.

PFAS

• In case you missed it! EPA has taken the following actions on PFAS in the last three months:
  • In January 2024, EPA published two final analytical methods for PFAS: Method 1633 and Method 1621, fulfilling a commitment in its October 2021 PFAS Strategic Roadmap. These analytical methods will be used by laboratories to test samples for PFAS in a consistent and reliable way. These methods are a significant step forward in efforts to identify what PFAS are present in environmental samples, and at what levels, enabling EPA, states and Tribes, wastewater facilities, and other entities to monitor a range of different effluents and media for PFAS, including under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program. Both methods and their multi-laboratory validation study reports are available on the Agency’s Clean Water Act Laboratory Methods website. 
  • In January 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the automatic addition of seven per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the list of chemicals covered by the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). These seven PFAS were added to the TRI list pursuant to the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which provides the framework for the automatic addition of PFAS to TRI each year in response to specified EPA activities involving such PFAS. For TRI Reporting Year 2024 (reporting forms due by July 1, 2025), reporting is required for these seven additional PFAS, bringing the total PFAS subject to TRI reporting to 196. Read More.
  • In December 2023, the EPA released its second annual report on PFAS progress.  The report highlights significant accomplishments achieved under the EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and aligns with the Biden-Harris Administration’s all of government strategy to protect communities from the impacts of forever chemicals. Read the report: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-12/epas-pfas-strategic-roadmap-dec-2023508v2.pdf
  • In October 2023, EPA released a final rule that will improve reporting on PFAS to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) by eliminating an exemption that allowed facilities to avoid reporting information on PFAS when those chemicals were used in small concentrations. Under this new rule, EPA will receive more comprehensive data on PFAS and looks forward to sharing these data with our partners and the public. Review the Final Rule.