The Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that, if signed, would release $125 million set aside nearly three years ago to address PFAS contamination in the state’s water supplies.
The vote, which took place on the last day the Senate was scheduled to be in session for the year, was the culmination of years of legislative negotiations between Republican lawmakers, Gov. Tony Evers, the state Department of Natural Resources and numerous outside interest groups.
A similar bill passed Congress last Congress, but Evers vetoed it over the objections of Democrats and environmental groups who said it was too lenient on the polluters responsible for PFAS contamination.
The “innocent landowner” exemption that was at issue in the first version of the bill was made more precise this time around after a negotiation process with the DNR. These changes drew ire from the state’s largest business lobby, the Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce Association, and groups representing the state’s paper industry, concerned that industrial manufacturers such as paper mills would be specifically excluded.
Both bills passed unanimously in both chambers, despite opposition from the WMC, one of the biggest supporters of the Wisconsin Republican Party.
The bill’s author, Sen. Eric Winberger (R-Oconto), noted on the floor Tuesday how the final version was “meticulously drafted” to ensure the agreement of all parties.
“The result is a bill that helps those in need and prevents the government from going after truly innocent people who cause dangerous discharges,” he said.
Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement that he looks forward to signing the bill so the money can go out.
“While I wish Congress had not taken so long to join me in this important work, I am pleased that these bills will soon be on my desk so we can get these important and long-awaited investments to the people and families who need them,” Evers said. “Whether it’s children in the classroom, families at home, or farmers and the agricultural industry, people should be able to trust that the water that comes out of their taps is clean and safe. I’m extremely proud that we were able to work together across the aisle to get this done, and that we got it right.”
Under the bill, landowners who spray PFAS contaminants on their fields with a DNR-approved permit, local governments, airports, solid waste treatment facilities that use firefighting foam containing PFAS, and those who introduce PFAS onto their property through groundwater movement would not be held liable for PFAS contamination under the state’s toxic spill law.
Spill laws allow the DNR to require property owners responsible for contamination to pay for testing and cleaning up the contamination. The risk that the PFAS bill could undermine spill laws was the biggest objection from environmental groups to the first version of the bill introduced last session.
The second bill in the package creates a program that would cost $125 million. These programs include grants to municipal water systems and private well owners, as well as expanded state testing capacity and research into the long-term effects of PFAS.
The $125 million was first earmarked for the state’s 2023-25 biennial budget. Meanwhile, communities across the state continued to be impacted by PFAS contamination of water supplies. Places like Marinette, the town of Stella near Rhinelander, and French Island near La Crosse have long controlled pollution linked to birth defects and cancer.
Save Our Water, an advocacy group made up of residents of communities affected by PFAS, frequently complained throughout the long negotiations that Congress was not working to establish standards for acceptable levels of PFAS contamination in the state’s groundwater. The state has PFAS standards for municipal drinking water and surface water, but not for groundwater, which is the source of drinking water for residents in the state with private wells.
In a statement, the group said it celebrated the bill’s passage and will continue to push for groundwater standards.
“This legislation will help affected communities and innocent landowners who are forced to deal with PFAS contamination they did not cause and do not have the resources to clean up,” the group said. “(We) continue to make progress toward achieving meaningful groundwater standards for PFAS and will consider using the bipartisan approach taken in this bill as a model for future PFAS legislation.”
Eric Canter, director of government affairs for Clean Wisconsin, said the bill is just a first step as the state continues to manage the effects of widespread PFAS contamination, and that efforts and groundwater standards requirements include the potential for more funding.
“Since Congress created the PFAS Trust Fund 32 months ago, the people of Marinette, Peshtigo, Campbell, Stella, and other communities across the state have been waiting for the state to create a program to allocate the PFAS Trust Fund. Now, the wait is finally in sight,” Cantor said in a statement. “The long and difficult work to reach a compromise on what should have been a simple spending bill is a clear sign that toxic PFAS contamination is developing into a widespread and costly public health and environmental crisis, impacting everyone from consumers to farmers and manufacturers. This is a crisis that the state cannot ignore. The state must now establish a PFAS groundwater standard to protect clean water from private wells in rural Wisconsin.”
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