Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday that he has agreed to bring Wisconsin’s PFAS and lead regulations into line with federal standards.
The move comes amid legal challenges to federal regulations and an ongoing power struggle between Wisconsin’s Democratic governor and Republican-controlled Legislature over the agency’s rules.
The new state rules mirror federal rules enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration.
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In 2024, the EPA issued a rule setting separate limits at 4 pps for two of the most commonly studied chemicals, PFOA and PFOS. The agency also set standards of 10 parts per trillion for three other chemicals: PFNA, PFHxS, and GenX. We then placed limits on mixtures of these three and a fourth chemical, PFBS.
The EPA also revised its lead and copper rules to require all lead piping to be replaced by 2037. The new rules also lowered the level that triggers measures to address lead pipes from 15 to 10 parts per billion.
“Since day one, my administration has been committed to removing harmful contaminants like lead, copper and PFAS from our water, and with these new, stronger standards, we are not only keeping people safe, but building a healthier future for Wisconsin,” Evers said in a statement.
The move comes as a national water utility group is suing to overturn both lead and PFAS regulations over concerns that meeting the standards would cost billions of dollars and burden water customers. Under the Republican Trump administration, the EPA said it would uphold lead pipe replacement deadlines and stricter PFAS standards for two widely studied chemicals. But other PFAS restrictions are being revised.
At the same time, Mr. Evers and Republicans continue to battle over the power of state agencies after a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in July curtailed the Legislature’s ability to block agency rules indefinitely. In August, Mr. Evers told state officials that the decision meant only his signature was needed before the agency’s rules could go into effect, and called on them to publish more than 20 rules.
Wisconsin’s top Republicans, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and state Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk), tried to stop that effort by changing guidelines for when the Legislative Reference Bureau can issue rules through legislative committees.
Last fall, Mr. Evers sued two Republican leaders for ignoring the Supreme Court’s ruling, and the legal battle is still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Senate and Assembly committees took no action on the state’s new lead and copper regulations after Evers approved them in December. The regulations will be submitted to the Legislative Reference Bureau on February 18th and are expected to be published on March 30th.
However, the state’s new PFAS regulations have not yet been submitted to the Legislative Reference Office, and no publication date has been set.
Evers’ announcement comes as he and Republicans near a deal to release $132 million set aside in the PFAS trust fund to combat chemical contamination.
Last month, the Wisconsin Legislature unanimously approved two bills to address PFAS. One bill would exempt certain individuals and businesses from cleaning up chemicals under the state’s spill law. Legal exemptions had been a deadlock in negotiations.
The Senate has not yet voted on the bill. The last general floor session ends on March 19th.
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