News from the Department of Natural Resources on PFAS and Secretary

Members of the Natural Resources Board at the October 2024 meeting

Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Board met on October 23, 2024.

Here’s an update from WGF’s Policy Director Paul Heinen:

Sorry, no, I don’t have the name of the new Secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). So, we will continue to wait longer than the current one year without a WDNR Secretary. Word is that the Governor will continue to wait to announce the new person who will likely be nominated after the election on November 5, 2024. Then, of course, the State Senate must approve the nominee when the Senate re-convenes in January of 2025.

However, the staff keep working under the direction of Deputy Secretary Little. Recently, they requested that the Natural Resources Board (NRB) approve beginning the new rule process for PFAS standards for drinking water. If you are thinking they just did this last year…you would be correct. But, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed updated standards that are much more stringent than the DNR’s standards from 2023.

The new federal proposed standards are 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for two types of PFAS (PFOA and PFOS) in drinking water. Learn more about the federal proposed standards for other types of PFAS in drinking water and in surface water on the EPA’s website. Wisconsin’s current standards are 70 ppt for drinking water and 20 ppt for surface water. The new federal standards are much more protective. Recall Wisconsin does not have a groundwater standard and the federal government does not regulate groundwater in any state.

These new standards will take at least two years to become law depending how long opponents to the new numbers fight their passage. Wisconsin’s Green Fire will continue to work with the WDNR to pass new rules.

More on PFAS from Wisconsin’s Green Fire

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of chemical compounds famous for their non-stick and firefighting properties but infamous for their negative environmental and human health impacts. Experts in our Contaminants of Emerging Concern Work Group continue to track the PFAS issue in Wisconsin and work to address PFAS contamination in our state.

Read more about PFAS in Wisconsin in WGF publications:

• Opportunities Now 2.0: PFAS in Wisconsin Drinking Water: A Summary of Current Detections and their Implications for Wisconsin
• Opportunities Now 2.0: PFAS – Forever Chemicals in Wisconsin
• Recorded presentations from our 2023 PFAS in Wisconsin Conference

Recent blog posts on PFAS from WGF:

• WGF Comments on DNR’s PFOAS Guidance (September 2024)
• PFAS Update: Status of the $125M in “PFAS Trust Fund” (June 2024)
• PFAS News from Gov. Evers and the EPA (April 2024)
• Discussing PFAS with Gov. Evers  (March 2024)

Contact us with your questions or thoughts about our work on science-based natural resources management!

If our work on PFAS or other topics inspired or informed you, please consider supporting our work with a donation to Wisconsin’s Green Fire. An annual gift of any amount makes you a member. Thank you!