PFAS Regulation Likely to Spur Increased PFAS Litigation
Legal analysts forecast that PFAS-related lawsuits will continue to rise in 2023. The analysts assert that the EPA’s efforts to list PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, which will require facilities to report releases of PFAS and authorize the EPA to enforce cleanup efforts, and growing public awareness about PFAS and its health effects are responsible for this likely increase. Several plaintiffs in various suit involving PFAS have already stated that once the EPA finalizes its rule designating PFAS as a hazardous substance they will seek leave to amend their complaints to assert CERCLA cost-recovery claims. The EPA seeks to finalize this PFAS-designation rule before the end of 2023.
January 12, 2023 | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Designating PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA Hazardous Substances, U.S. EPA