EDC Policy Updates

Illinois lawmakers have passed a new law establishing more robust requirements for monitoring PFAS chemicals in wastewater discharges at major facilities across the state.

Vermont this week became the first U.S. state to ban the weed-killing pesticide paraquat, backed by lawmakers who cited concerns about research showing the chemical may cause the incurable brain ailment known as Parkinson’s disease.

PFAS compounds were found in nearly 40% of samples of nonorganic fruits and vegetables California regulators tested in 2023. A bill would ban their use.

The Environmental Protection Agency is wasting no time in advancing its plans to eliminate and reevaluate enforceable standards for four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, including the compound branded GenX found in the drinking water sources of tens of thousands of North Carolinians.

A federal appeals court said a judge erred in ruling that adding fluoride to water poses an “unreasonable risk” to children’s brain development.

“It seems like they have largely adopted the positions of the chemical industry.”

Stanislaus County parents expressed concern after seeing city employees spraying pesticides at a park next to an elementary school.

The Trump administration on Monday moved to partially roll back drinking water protections from toxic “forever chemicals,” proposing to allow some delays for water systems to regulate these chemicals.

North Carolina environmental regulators are under fire for advancing a plan to reduce PFAS and 1,4-dioxane pollution without setting enforceable numeric discharge limits.

California just gave plastic producers until 2032 to make all their packaging recyclable or compostable — the most ambitious deadline in the country.

Environmentalists and some state lawmakers say the process does more harm than good. Plastics producers are pushing back.

The move by the program’s largest donor poses further uncertainty for already troubled negotiations.

PFAS levels shot up from the 1960s through the peak of the chemicals’ use in the late 1990s and early 2000s, then fell.

The Trump administration plans to weaken some Biden-era limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water.

For decades, a small EPA program assessed toxic chemicals. In an internal memo obtained by ProPublica, a top Trump appointee sharply criticized the program’s work and directed agency offices to review regulations that relied on its assessments.

The state of Montana is providing updated guidance on eating wild-caught fish following a study that found potentially harmful chemicals in some fish populations.

Monday’s Supreme Court hearing over a federal law governing pesticide regulations left observers largely unsure how the court will rule in the case involving the former Monsanto company and the herbicide glyphosate, with many seeing the ultimate decision as too close to call.

In internal EPA emails obtained by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the multinational conglomerate Bayer told a Zeldin senior advisor it wanted to discuss its case before the Supreme Court.

The five-year farm legislation awaits action in the Senate, where a debate on pesticide liability may play out again.

The European Parliament will consider a legal change to restrict chemicals in cosmetics.