DoD Certifies Fluorine-Free Foam for Use at Airports, FAA Releases Transition Plan
On September 13, 2023, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a CertAlert announcing that a fluorine-free foam has met the military specification for fluorine-free foam use at Title 14 CFR Part 139 airports (MIL-PRF-32725). The approved foam is included on the Department of Defense (DoD) Quality Product List. DoD is expected to certify other fluorine-free foam formulations in the coming months.
Title 14 CFR Part 139 airports are not required to use fluorine-free foam and may continue using aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) that meets the AFFF military specification (MIL-PRF-24385). To assist airports with transitioning to fluorine-free foam, the FAA, DoD, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and industry partners released an Aircraft Firefighting Foam Transition Plan on May 8, 2023. The plan describes policy and guidance and includes technical, environmental, and economical considerations for fluorine-free foam transition. Additional information on firefighting foam transition is also available on the FAA’s website.
EPA Releases Resources for Addressing PFAS in Discharge Permits
In August, the EPA added resources to its website for addressing PFAS discharges under the Clean Water Act. The new resources target permit writers and pretreatment coordinators and include examples of discharge limits, monitoring requirements, and permits, as well as training materials and a best management practices (BMP) fact sheet. In the BMP factsheet, the EPA encourages permit writers and pretreatment coordinators to include PFAS monitoring in permits when PFAS are suspected of being present in industrial discharges and specifically names metal finishing, airports, semiconductor manufacturing, textile manufacturing, and chemical manufacturing as example industries with potential PFAS discharges.
South Australia EPA Issues PFAS Guidance for PFAS Waste and Reuse
In July 2023, the South Australia Environmental Protection Agency (SA EPA) released a Consultation Report on the outcome of their industry stakeholder engagement as they work toward finalizing two documents that will determine how PFAS waste is managed in SA, including: (1) PFAS-contaminated waste disposal site suitability guideline (Draft Siting Guideline), and (2) PFAS in waste soils guideline (Draft Reuse Guideline). The industry consultation occurred in February and March 2023 and included over 400 industry and government stakeholders.
Also in July 2023, the SA EPA released an Interim Guideline for the reuse of waste soils containing PFAS. The Interim Guideline outlines the SA EPA’s Waste Fill criteria and Intermediate Waste Soil interim criteria for PFAS. Soil criteria are provided for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS). The Interim Guideline will apply until changes are made to the 2009 Environment Protection Regulations, which includes the current criteria for classifying waste.
DoD to Increase Transparency of PFAS Drinking Water Data
On August 24, 2023, the DoD released a memorandum titled Managing Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in DoD Environmental Cleanup Data and Reports. Previously, the DoD has withheld PFAS data from private drinking water well sampling due to concerns over releasing personal information. In the memorandum, the DoD clarifies what is considered CUI. Moving forward, the DoD will release coordinates of private PFAS sampling locations with property owner permission but will continue to withhold personal names and sampling location addresses.
RemTEC & Emerging Contaminants Summit Next Week
The RemTEC and the Emerging Contaminants Summit will take place October 3 – 5 in Westminster, Colorado. The conference aims to advance the environmental industry through the discussion and exchange of ideas on the latest developments within the remediation technology and emerging contaminants fields.
Geosyntec is the Platinum Sponsor for the Summit and many of our lead PFAS-focused practitioners will be in attendance to exchange new information and best practices surrounding PFAS and other contaminants.
For more information on the event, visit RemTecSummit.com.
