PFAS pollution standards delayed after pushback from NC Chamber

The NC Chamber is pushing to delay the progress of proposed limits of forever chemical pollution in ground and surface water.

The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission declined to start the rulemaking process for PFAS pollution standards Wednesday, after Republican-appointed EMC members Tim Baumgartner and Joseph Reardon stalled a vote.

Baumgartner and Reardon said DEQ had not provided adequate information for a vote, including a fiscal analysis. “The lack of respect by DEQ for this commission is evident by lack of communication and disregard for providing documents to the EMC for review in a timely manner,” Baumgartner said.

Elizabeth Biser, the secretary of the NC Department of Environmental Quality, said in a letter that she is “deeply disappointed” that the Groundwater and Waste Management Committee is “refusing to hear” the proposed standards.