Republican Officials Delay PFAS Regulations, Hold Stocks in Opposing Companies
Members of the Republican-Controlled Environmental Management Commission Delaying PFAS Regulations Own Stock in Companies that Fought PFAS Regulations
RALEIGH: The Republican-controlled Environmental Management Commission is stalling efforts to regulate PFAS in North Carolina while members of the Commission own stock in companies that lobbied against PFAS regulation. The Commission is responsible for adopting rules for the “protection, preservation, and enhancement of the water and air resources of the State.” Republican legislators took control of the Commission in 2023 through legislation it passed over the Governor’s veto in a broad assault on separation of powers that continues to be litigated in the courts. The Commission’s move to delay anti-pollution rules intended to protect drinking water from PFAS contamination mirrors lobbying from the NC Chamber.
The Commission’s delays come after the Biden Harris Administration announced the first ever national drinking water standard to address PFAS pollution. Reducing discharges of PFAS into North Carolina’s state water supplies is the most cost-effective way to meet the new drinking water standards. Absent DEQ’s proposed rulemaking actions, the entire burden of complying with new drinking water standards will fall to public water systems and North Carolina ratepayers.
Read more about the Republican-controlled Environmental Management Commission’s choice to ignore PFAS below:
Port City Daily: Environmental Management Commission stalls PFAS standards, members own stock in companies lobbying against regulation
Peter Castagno, May 26, 2024
Despite pressure from regulators and activists, North Carolina’s top environmental rule-making body delayed action on PFAS water standards. This comes as several decision-makers own stock in companies reliant on the compounds, many opposing new regulations.
The Environmental Management Commission is a 15-member body appointed by the governor, General Assembly leaders, and the agricultural commissioner. It is charged with reviewing and enacting rules for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
DEQ requested the EMC begin the rulemaking process to adopt PFAS surface water and groundwater standards at its May 10 meeting. Commissioners declined the request, citing the need for more time to study the financial implications of the proposal, namely costs associated with requiring companies to install filtration technology.
[…]
DEQ followed up with a human health-risk assessment for the compound earlier this month, which found NC residents may be exposed to 1,4-dioxane drinking water concentrations more than twice the national average. DEQ found some areas within the Cape Fear River Basin exposed to the third highest 1,4-dioxane concentrations in the country.
The EMC rejected consideration of 1,4-dioxane water standards at its January and March meetings before adopting it as an information item for further review earlier this month.
The chamber and the chemistry council
A Port City Daily review of EMC financial disclosures found at least three commissioners own stock in companies that have either directly lobbied against PFAS and 1,4-dioxane regulation or pay lobbying dues to organizations that lobby on their behalf, such as the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council. Both organizations sent letters to the EPA opposing recent regulatory actions on PFAS and 1,4-dioxane.
[…]
The commission did not find “an actual conflict of interest, but found the potential for a conflict of interest” in EMC chair Solomon’s 2022 filings.
The review cited Solomon’s ownership of environmental management consulting firm J.D. Solomon Inc, which serves water and wastewater utilities. The ethics commission advised him to exercise caution on issues that may relate to his company or clients.
[…]
Solomon owns at least $10,000 in ExxonMobil stock. Exxon and its affiliate trade group, American Petroleum Institute, were among the most prominent entities lobbying against PFAS regulation from 2019 to 2022, according to a November analysis by nonprofit Food & Water Watch. In a secretly recorded 2021 video, Exxon’s senior director admitted the group used the same tactics to oppose PFAS regulations that it has used on climate change initiatives.
The chair also owns at least $10,000 in manufacturer Proctor & Gamble. Like ExxonMobil, the company is a paying member of some of the top lobbying groups opposed to PFAS and 1,4 dioxane regulation, the American Chemistry Council and the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
Read the full article here.
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