Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today, as part of a coalition of 18 states, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit defending a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule establishing the first nationwide drinking water standards for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances “PFAS” under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The federal rule expands nationwide drinking water protections to add four PFAS analytes, known as “forever” chemicals, and sets enforceable standards for six PFAS chemicals found in drinking water across the country: PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, GenX, PFNA, and PFBS. The rule sets regulations for each chemical individually, and as mixtures, recognizing appropriately that these threats cannot be addressed in isolation. Under the rule, public water systems across the United States are required to test and, if necessary, treat drinking water for these contaminants.
“As the name implies, forever chemicals do not naturally break down in the environment, which poses a significant threat to human health and the environment,” Raoul said. “My office has taken several actions to protect the residents of Illinois from the health impacts that can result from exposure to these chemicals. I will also continue to work at the federal level with my fellow attorneys general for stronger regulations of these dangerous synthetic chemicals.”
PFAS are widely used in consumer products, including food packaging, cookware, clothing, carpets, shoes, fabrics, polishes, waxes, paints and cleaning products, as well as in firefighting foams designed to quickly smother liquid fuel fires. PFAS chemicals are stable in the environment, resistant to degradation, persistent in soil, and known to leach into groundwater. Exposure to PFAS can cause adverse health impacts including developmental defects; liver, kidney, testicular, breast, pancreas and prostate cancer; adverse pregnancy outcomes; infertility; reduced bone density in children and impacts on the thyroid and immune system.
In the amicus brief, the attorneys general argue that the rule would significantly improve public health and should be upheld. The brief supports the EPA’s decision to regulate PFAS contaminants both individually and as mixtures using a well-established hazard index approach, as well as the economic analysis underpinning the regulations, and EPA’s compliance with all procedural requirements.
Today’s brief is Attorney General Raoul’s most recent effort to protect the public from PFAS. Raoul and elected officials from several states have repeatedly urged Congress and EPA to take prompt and aggressive actions to respond to the national PFAS crisis. After Raoul called on the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to protect the public from the dangers of these toxic chemicals, the U.S. Department of Defense received additional tools to address PFAS.
Raoul has filed multiple lawsuits regarding PFAS protection. In 2022, Raoul filed a lawsuit against 3M alleging that the company’s improper handling of PFAS resulted in ongoing contamination at and around its facility in Cordova, Illinois. Raoul also filed a lawsuit against multiple companies that manufacture PFAS alleging the manufacturers have known for decades that PFAS are toxic and pose substantial health and environmental risks, yet continue to actively promote the chemicals as safe to manufacture and use. Raoul also filed a lawsuit in 2023 against multiple companies that manufacture PFAS utilized in a fire suppressing foam known aqueous film forming foam or “AFFF” that is used to extinguish flammable liquid fires from gasoline, oil, jet fuel and other chemicals at industrial facilities. Following that lawsuit, Raoul joined a coalition supporting the EPA’s proposal to set enforceable drinking water standards for six PFAS chemicals.
Raoul was joined in filing the brief by the Attorneys General of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
