Resources:
- Click here to view the EPA roadmap
- Click here for more information about the PFAS bills and get involved in the stakeholder process to create a certificate of registration program
On October 18, 2021, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan announced the agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap which entails how the EPA will address the issue of PFAS. PFAS are man-made chemicals that have properties that make them useful for consumer and industrial use, but also make them persistent in the environment. PFAS chemicals from firefighting foam, personal products, and other substances are toxic and can move into the groundwater and surface water, contaminating Colorado’s drinking water supplies. There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse human health effects including low infant birth weights, cancer and effects on the immune system.
- Research: Invest in research, development, and innovation to increase understanding of PFAS exposures and toxicities, human health and ecological effects, and effective interventions that incorporate the best available science.
- Restrict: Pursue a comprehensive approach to proactively prevent PFAS from entering air, land, and water at levels that can adversely impact human health and the environment.
- Remediate: Broaden and accelerate the cleanup of PFAS contamination to protect human health and ecological systems.
The department supports key actions in the EPA’s newly released PFAS roadmap, including their efforts to develop regulatory limits for PFAS in drinking water ahead of their statutory deadline. They propose a draft rule in fall 2022 with a final rule in fall 2023.
Additionally, the EPA identified more than 120,000 facilities that may expose the public to PFAS. Colorado was at the top of the list for states with potential PFAS sources. It’s important to remember a few things about potential sites identified in Colorado:
- The data represents facilities in industries that may handle PFAS chemicals. This does not necessarily mean that every location identified is handling PFAS chemicals, or that PFAS has ever been released into the environment from these sites.
- Identifying where we have releases of PFAS in the environment that impact drinking and irrigation water is a top priority for CDPHE.
- These potential sources do not tell us whether people have been exposed to levels that might harm their health. We are developing a potential vulnerability map to further investigate drinking water sources that have the potential to be impacted and our upcoming grant program will support further testing.
- Colorado’s oil and gas regulations are more restrictive than many other states, which may result in more facilities reporting to the EPA. This could be a reason why Colorado has been identified as having more potential PFAS sites than other states.
The state continues to address PFAS issues through House Bill 20-1119 and Senate Bill 20-218. A PFAS Takeback Program launched in September to pay Colorado fire departments to take firefighting foam containing these chemicals out of service and have them safely stored until we can properly dispose of it. The grant program for Senate Bill 20-218 will launch later this fall and will provide funding opportunities for sampling efforts to test groundwater and surface water, water treatment infrastructure, and support emergency assistance for communities and water systems affected by these chemicals. Drinking water providers will be able to use this funding opportunity to test their treated drinking water and source water.
