March 26th, 2019

On Tuesday, March 26 Governor Whitmer asked MPART (Michigan PFAS Action Response Team) to create a Science Advisory Workgroup (SAW) tasked with reviewing existing and proposed Maximum Contaminant Level standards for PFAS in drinking water. After a scientific review, SAW proposed the regulation of 7 PFAS chemicals. After an initial round of informal stakeholder engagement, EGLE formally submitted draft rules to the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules (MOAHR) on October 1, 2019.  Currently the EPA Health Safety Advisory for PFAS is 70 parts per trillion, but the federal advisory is not enforceable and science has demonstrated that the threshold necessary to protect human health and safety is lower. The state level action is particularly important as the EPA has shown few signs that they will take action any time soon in updating national PFAS drinking water standards.