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March 25, 2019

CSG Law Alert: New Jersey PFAS Directive

On March 25, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) issued a Statewide PFAS Directive to a number of companies associated with the manufacture of poly- and perfluoroalkyl chemicals (“PFAS” which includes PFNA, PFOA and PFOS and other substances) and their replacement compounds. Pursuant to the Directive, these companies are to reimburse DEP’s past and future costs of investigating, monitoring, testing, treating, and remediating New Jersey’s drinking water and waste systems, private drinking water wells and natural resources including groundwater, surface water, soil, sediments and biota.  The Directive requires certain information from these companies as to future costs and information related to the historic uses of PFAS and replacement chemicals including “information ranging from use and discharge of the chemicals through wastewater treatment plants, air emissions, and sales of products containing the chemicals to current development, manufacture, use and release of newer chemicals in the state.”  The Directive notes that failure to comply will increase Respondents’ potential liability to the DEP in an amount equal to three times the cost of arranging for the cleanup and removal of the discharges.

This Directive states New Jersey’s resolve that these companies, and not New Jersey residents, pay the costs necessary to protect “public health and safety and the state’s environment.”  The DEP contends that this Directive will require these companies to “fund millions of dollars in assessment and cleanup efforts” pursuant to the state’s Spill Compensation and Control Act, the Water Pollution Control Act and other state environmental laws.

New Jersey has been at the forefront of states acting to address PFAS.  At the time of the Directive’s issuance, DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe referenced the “near daily” finding of PFAS in New Jersey’s environment. As noted in the press release announcing the Directive’s issuance, New Jersey was “the first state to adopt a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 13 parts per trillion for PFNA in drinking water, the strictest such standard in the nation. New Jersey’s standards supersede those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which does not regulate the chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other illnesses … Earlier this month, the DEP established interim specific groundwater quality standards for both PFOA and PFOS, at 10 parts per trillion. New Jersey is among the first states to pursue regulation of these compounds.”

Of course, the Directive is only the opening salvo.  More is sure to come.

The Directive may be found here.