Opportunity for Action – Federal PFAS amendments

Opportunity for Action – Federal PFAS amendments

Wisconsin’s Green Fire is part of a statewide coalition of groups working on PFAS (the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances also known as “forever chemicals”) in Wisconsin drinking water, soils, and people. PFAS can cause serious environmental and human health problems.

We encourage you to consider taking action with us on federal amendments that would undo progress made over the past few years. Here are some more details:

Under the leadership of Governor Evers and President Biden, steps have been taken to clean up PFAS from Wisconsin’s drinking water. Banning the use of certain fire-fighting foams like AFFF was one of the first and most important actions to stop more PFAS from getting into our water.

Now, Senate Republicans have introduced Section 319 of S. 2296, the Fiscal Year 2026 Senate National Defense Authorization Act. This provision lifts the existing moratorium on incineration of PFAS-containing aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and PFAS-containing waste from cleanup activities, thereby putting frontline communities, servicemembers, their families, and veterans who live downwind at risk.

What You Can Do (Deadline is 10am EST Sep. 2, 2025):

1. Add your name to this sign-on letter. The letter opposes the ban reversal on the Department of Defense’s incineration moratorium of PFAS.
   1. Sign-On: Impacted Communities Against PFAS Incineration
   2. Update: Read the completed letter here with over 140+ co-signers.
2. Write your own email or call your representative or senator. You can use one of these template messages as an example:
   1. NDAA PFAS Template Emails – Google Docs

Let us know how it goes when you make contact with you representative or senator or their staff. We are powerful together and your voice can make a difference for conservation, clean water, and healthy communities. Learn more about WGF’s work on PFAS. Some examples include:

Past WGF Publications on PFAS:

• New Opportunities Now Paper: PFAS 2.0
• 2023 PFAS Conference 
• PFAS: Forever Chemicals in Wisconsin Webinar Recording 
• PFAS: Forever Chemicals in Wisconsin — Wisconsin’s Green Fire Opportunities Now 2021-2023 Report on PFAS

According to our coalition partners, here is the anticipated timeline:

• Senate NDAA is likely to be on the floor sometime next week (week of Sept 1).
• House NDAA is likely to be on the floor the following week (week of Sept 8).
• Once both chambers have passed their separate bills, they will conference their differences into a final bill (this is not on a set timeline, ideally is complete by end of the FY but usually takes longer).
• Once the conference report is out, both chambers then have to vote on the final conference report which is not amenable.

Photo: Aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) containing PFAS at use in a fire at a city of Madison electric substation in July, 2019. Photo credit: Wisconsin State Journal.