Rep. Eli Crane Leads Three Arizona Republicans in Warning New EPA Rule Will Increase Water Rates

Four of Arizona’s congressional Republicans submitted a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday, warning that a new rule about so-called “forever chemicals” will result in higher water rates and legal liability for Arizona businesses.

Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) (pictured above) was joined by Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04), and Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) in a letter requesting the EPA modify its new rule to keep Arizonan citizens and businesses from bearing “the economic burden of any necessary remediation when they have had no association with water pollution.”

The EPA’s new rule concerns reporting about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) created in the United States. The EPA explains, “PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals” with components “which rbeak down very slowly over time.” The agency says the chemicals are now found in the blood of people and animals “across the nation and the globe” due to their ubiquitous nature in manufactured products, and could be hazardous to human health.

EPA’s new rule could go into effect as early as next month. If it does, any American company that has manufactured, produced, or imported PFAS chemicals since 2011 will be required to report “an expansive range of data that includes the type(s) of PFAS chemical, volume, uses, disposal information, and information on environmental and health effects.”

The United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry explains that PFAS are used in countless common items, including linings of fast food boxes and non-stick cookware, fire-fighting foams, water-repellant clothing, stain resistant fabrics and carpets, cosmetics, and many products advertised for their ability to resist grease, water, and oil.

JD Supra, a legal information website, reveals the EPA’s “new rule will impact many companies which do not currently realize that they are impacted,” and will require “a significant amount of work” for any company subjected to the new rule.

“Without intervention,” wrote Crane in a post on X, formerly Twitter, “needless regulations from Biden’s radical EPA will impose unfair costs on water suppliers [and] consumers.”

Yes, Every Kid

“Entities such as water treatment plants, landfills, farms, and ranches would be held liable for PFAS contamination” without causing it, warned Crane and his colleagues in their letter, adding that “airports, fuel depots, and refineries that are required to use fire suppression foam that contains PFAS would be at risk of litigation.”

Additionally, compliance costs for normal water consumers “would result in a drastic bill increase of around $57 a month.”

Crane and his Republican cosigners note that the American Water Works Association estimated annual costs between $678 and $3,570 per household to remove PFAS from drinking water, with even rural systems with just one well for drinking water likely to exceed $1,000 per year, per household.

The EPA said it specifically created the new rule to “take another important step” to “deliver on President [Joe] Biden’s clear direction to finally address this legacy pollution endangering people across America,” according to Waste Today Magazine, which also reported that entities must submit data to the EPA within 18 months of the effective date for the final rule. An additional six months will be allowed for certain small businesses.

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].

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