News
January 23, 2025 | By Benjamin Yount
Policy Issues
Environment

Wisconsin AG Joins Other Democrats in Pushing for Federal PFAS Rules

Kaul is just one of 18 AGs from blue states to sign-on to the case. In fact, he's one of the last.

Wisconsin’s attorney general is the latest to sign-on to a push from other Democratic A-Gs in other states to try and save the EPA’s rules aimed at limiting PFAS chemicals across the country.

Josh Kaul’s office on Wednesday signed-on to an amicus brief in support of the EPA is a case before the federal appeals court in Washington.

“This EPA rule will protect people’s health by limiting PFAS in the water we drink,” Kaul said in a statement.

Kaul is just one of 18 A-Gs from blue states to sign-on to the case. In fact, he's one of the last.

The case comes as the EPA is looking to curb the use of PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, GenX, PFNA, and PFBS chemicals, which are all made by injecting fluorine gas into plastics to make them hard. The chemicals are used in everything from non-stick pans and stain-resistant clothing, to fast food wrappers, and of course firefighting foam.

Kaul and the Democratic A-Gs say there are worries that the chemicals cause cancer.

The proposed EPA rules would give the federal government more power to regulate PFAS chemicals, which until recently were not banned or even limited.

But there are questions about both the science, and the way that the EPA went about making the rules.

A federal court in New Orleans last year ruled that the EPA overstepped its authority with a set of PFAS rules by using power to regulate new chemicals to regulate the decades-old PFAS chemicals.

Kaul said the case before the D.C. court is important to bring clarity.

"The states argue that the rule would significantly improve public health and should be upheld. The brief supports EPA’s decision to regulate PFAS contaminants both individually and as mixtures using a well-established hazard index approach, as well as the economic analysis underpinning the regulations, and EPA’s compliance with all procedural requirements," Kaul's office said in a statement.

Several states, including Wisconsin, have repeatedly urged Congress and EPA to take prompt and aggressive actions on PFAS.

In addition to Wisconsin, A-Gs in Connecticut, California, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Rhode Island all signed-on to the PFAS brief.

Interested in the content of this Article?

Reach out to the MacIver Institute to aquire more information