[co-author: Shivani Swami (International Law Advisor)]
On May 29, 2025, David Quigley (head of Akin’s Environment & Natural Resources Section) led a discussion among Katrina Kessler (Commissioner, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency), Susanne Miller (Bureau Director, Maine Department of Environmental Protection), Amy Rousseau (PFAS Response Coordinator, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services) and Joaquin Esquivel (Board Chair, California State Water Resources Control Board) at a State Regulators Roundtable hosted by the American Conference Institute during its 2nd annual summit on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulation, compliance and litigation. Key takeaways from the discussion included the following:
- Minnesota will not consider a fluoropolymer-based exemption from its all-product ban and reporting regulations. Ms. Kessler views her state’s legislation as applying to all PFAS unless their use is deemed currently unavoidable. With respect to Minnesota’s reporting rule, Ms. Kessler indicated that her agency will make changes to address industry concerns raised during the just-concluded comment period, but that in the end she expects many of the issues concerning number and cost of reports to be resolved by joint submissions. She confirmed that each manufacturer need only pay one annual fee to cover all reports.
- In New Hampshire, Ms. Rousseau indicated that much of the current conversation focuses on funding PFAS work, as a number of legislators asked for her assistance in developing a fee collection proposal, potentially based on Minnesota’s model described above. All of the state officials expressed concerns around the funding piece and advocated for increased federal-state coordination to finance PFAS management, particularly in light of expected federal reductions.
- On the federal front – Travis Voyles, Assistant Deputy Administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (and interim lead for the cross-agency PFAS work group) noted at the summit that the Agency is still reviewing the designation of PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” under Superfund and announced the administration’s intention to get away from a statute-by-statute approach in favor of a greater overarching policy. Mr. Voyles indicated that the Agency soon would appoint a new “PFAS leader” to succeed him in his interim role.
