The commission responsible for adopting rules to protect the state’s air and water resources voted Thursday to wait on hearing proposed monitoring and minimization rules for PFAS and 1,4-dioxane from industrial users and dischargers.
The Environmental Management Commission committees met Wednesday and the full commission met Thursday in the Archdale Building in Raleigh.
Supporter Spotlight
Not enough members voted Thursday to waive the 30-day rule that would allow the full commission to take action on proposed rules for for 1,4-dioxane and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
For a waiver to be granted, at least two-thirds of the members must vote in favor of waiving the bylaw that requires 30 days between when a committee votes on a rule and when it goes before the commission.
Though PFAS and 1,4-dioxane are human-made and long-lasting chemicals, they’re not the same because the compounds have different structures and different uses.
PFAS are long-lasting chemicals used in industrial and commercial processes as well as consumer products, while 1,4-dioxane, a likely carcinogen, is an organic synthetic chemical used in specialized industrial processes that may enter the environment through discharges where it is used or produced.
With PFAS, because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many “are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world, including NC, and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment,” documents state.
Supporter Spotlight
The commission’s water quality committee tasked staff within the Division of Water Resources, under the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, on Nov. 12, 2024, to develop a PFAS minimization initiative for all industrial direct dischargers to surface water and all significant industrial users that discharge to publicly owned treatment works.
“The minimization initiative will require monitoring for PFAS, and implementation of minimization activities required to eliminate or significantly reduce discharges of PFOS, PFOA, and GenX, (levels TBD) over a 3-to-5-year period,” according to agenda documents.
In March of this year, the EMC water quality committee directed staff to develop a rule to support their “effort towards understanding the sources and levels of 1,4-dioxane.”
The proposed rules for both chemicals were drafted to monitor publicly owned treatment works with local pretreatment programs, and monitor and minimize significant industrial users, and industrial direct dischargers.
