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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Environmental

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, February 7, 2023

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will address the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) proposed rules, which are expected to take several years to come to fruition, aiming to reduce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater discharges by revising effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) and pretreatment standards. The panel will discuss the EPA's Multi-Industry PFAS 2021 study and findings. The panel will provide guidance for businesses regarding the EPA's current actions in this area and identify and mitigate potential risks associated with PFAS in operations.

Faculty

Thomas S. Lee
Partner
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Mr. Lee is leader of the firm’s PFAS and Proposition 65 teams. He regularly works with clients in a variety of industries including real estate investment and development, food and agriculture, retail and consumer products, and chemical manufacturing and distribution. Mr. Lee’s practice focuses on three main areas: transactional work, compliance counseling, and enforcement defense. In his transactional work he represents buyers and sellers of real estate and corporate entities that are impacted by environmental conditions or related liability, with a particular focus on brownfield acquisition and redevelopment. Mr. Lee takes projects from initial due diligence, through contract drafting, closing, and post-closing remediation and regulatory closure, all with an eye towards balancing the costs and risks posed by the environmental conditions. Mr. Lee is the founder and editor of the firms’ Emerging Contaminants/Emerging Solutions blog, and writes and lectures regularly on a variety of topics including Proposition 65 and the developing regulation of PFAS.

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Ralph A. DeMeo
Shareholder
Guilday Law, PA

Mr. DeMeo practices, inter alia, environmental, land use, and administrative law, with special emphasis in domestic and industrial wastewater, hazardous and solid waste, surface water and groundwater quality, and toxic torts. He represents industry, businesses, landowners, corporate and individual clients, as well as local governments, throughout Florida and the U.S. in state and federal courts, before state and federal agencies, and before the legislature. Mr. DeMeo is a nationally recognized expert on PFAS regulation and liability, and has three cases pending in the Multi-District PFAS litigation in South Carolina federal court.

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Hannah M. Flesch
Attorney
Vinson & Elkins LLP

Ms. Flesch’s principal area of practice is environmental and natural resources law, including environmental litigation, regulatory compliance, permitting, and transactional support.

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Description

The EPA started preliminary work on a pollution rule on the acceptable amount of PFAS discharge into sewage treatment systems and surface waters from "facilities manufacturing PFAS" that are part of the organic chemicals, plastics, and synthetic fibers industries. EPA plans to work on a PFAS pollution rule for industries that perform metal-finishing operations.

Industrial discharges of PFAS have caused significant contamination in places like the Cape Fear River Basin, North Carolina, Parkersburg, West Virginia, Hoosick Falls, New York, and Belmont, Michigan. However, the problem is likely widespread across the United States.

The plan, called the "Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15," identifies actions the EPA plans to take to regulate wastewater pollution. As part of the plan, the agency announced it would craft a rule to limit PFAS discharges from some industries.

In addition to the rulemakings, EPA will conduct "detailed studies" on PFAS in wastewater discharges from landfills and textile and carpet mills. Based on information collected from the preliminary Multi-Industry PFAS Study, EPA identified wastewater discharge from textile and carpet manufacturing industries--a subset of facilities regulated under the textile mills ELGs--as a PFAS source resulting from the use of PFAS chemicals in such operations.

EPA is committed to addressing and ultimately limiting PFAS in industrial wastewater discharges. It is also evident that more industries, not just OCPSF, metal finishing, landfills, and textile mills, will be subject to revised regulations by EPA in the future. With the continued focus on PFAS, businesses should continue to follow EPA's actions in this area and identify and mitigate potential risks associated with PFAS in their operations moving forward.

Listen as our expert panel discusses the rules, the status of current studies on PFAS in wastewater, and how industries can identify potential risks with PFAS to meet future compliance standards.

Outline

  1. PFAS prior regulations
  2. Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15
  3. Multi-industry PFAS study
  4. Ongoing comment period
  5. Affected industries
  6. Future regulation

Benefits

The panel will discuss these and other key topics:

  • What are the limitations on PFAS in the Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15?
  • What industries are most impacted by these rules? What future industries are most likely to be regulated?
  • How can industry affect future regulation of these rules?