Thursday, February 6, 2025

State Senator Wimberger set to re-introduce PFAS legislation

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PESHTIGO – Wisconsin State Sen. Eric Wimberger, a Republican from Oconto who represents District 2 and was the lead sponsor of last year’s SB312 PFAS legislation, said he plans to re-introduce PFAS legislation this month with an “innocent landowner” provision that would protect landowners who detect “forever chemicals” on their property from incurring the cost of the clean up, his office confirmed Monday.

Wimberger wants Gov. Tony Evers’ help with the legislation, as Evers has said publicly innocent landowners should be protected from the cost of PFAS remediation they didn’t cause, Wimberger’s office said.

“I’ve asked Governor Evers for language to protect innocent landowners that he would be more comfortable with, but he has so far declined,” Wimberger said in response to the Peshtigo Times’ request for an update on the Dec. 20 letter. “Without the Governor’s engagement, the bill will fail and the law will continue to punish innocent landowners the same as those who knowingly put pollutants into the ground,” Wimberger said.

As of Monday, Wimberger’s office had received email correspondence from the governor’s staff indicating its willingness to see new PFAS legislation passed, but falling short of providing specific language for Wimberger to use in re-introducing legislation, according to email correspondence from the governor’s office that Wimberger’s office provided to the Peshtigo Times.

Many states are looking at ways to address PFAS contaminations. PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which have been linked to health issues — such as cancer, thyroid problems, low birth weight and liver conditions. They’re thought to have contributed to an estimated $99.4 million in health care costs, according to the state Division of Executive Budget and Finance.

Rural communities are disproportionately affected, the state said. The chemicals have been used in firefighting foam, nonstick coatings, carpeting, shoes, food wrappers, wastewater biosolids used for fertilizer and some consumer products, such as dental floss and shampoo.

Wimberger proposed SB312 last year, which would have required the Department of Natural Resources to create a municipal PFAS grant program to provide funds for PFAS testing, related infrastructure and disposal of PFAS-containing biosolids.

An “innocent landowner grant program” would have required DNR to provide grants up to $250,000 to owners of property with PFAS contaminations not known to be their responsibility.

The legislation also would have prohibited the DNR from disclosing PFAS test results conducted under the grant program without at least 72 hours notice, and it wouldn’t require a grant recipient to take action unless PFAS levels exceeded an existing state or federal standard.

The bill would have covered any “perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance for which a standard has been promulgated under state or federal law.”

According to media accounts, Evers’ veto was based on concerns the legislation wouldn’t hold corporations accountable for their pollution.

In a Jan. 6 email from Gov. Evers office, Evers’ Legislative Affairs Director Zach Madden said the governor hasn’t changed his position on holding corporations accountable. “There is no reason to believe passing the same bill in a new legislative session would reach a different fate,” Madden said.

The email also tells the senator’s office, “if you have new ideas or new language to address the concerns raised by the Governor, experts at the DNR, local elected officials, environmental advocates and those with contaminated wells (including some of your own constituents), we would be happy to sit down and discuss those ideas and language.”

The Peshtigo Times reached out to the Gov. Evers press office with a request for additional comments, but has yet to receive a response.

In Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court was set to begin hearing oral arguments Tuesday in the Wisconsin Manufacturers Commerce Inc. v Department of Natural Resources case involving the Spill Law, putting in question the timing of Wimberger’s new legislation, as the outcome of the Supreme Court case could affect how the Spill Law is used in the future. The oral arguments in Madison occurred after the deadline for this issue of the Peshtigo Times.

Wimberger’s Chief of Staff Zachary Stollfus said Monday Wimberger believes, “Landowners who did not cause PFAS on the property need some kind of exemption from the Spill Law. The DNR didn’t want to give up power.”

According to Wimberger’s letter to Evers, “Current law does not distinguish participation or intent in the polluting act. The innocent landowner is subject to the exact same emitter rules and penalties as the point source polluter upstream simply because they possess contaminated land regardless of how it became contaminated. This wrongly punishes victims and we can change it.”

Wimberger accused Evers of “lack of clarity” on how to protect individual landowners from government overreach and said this has delayed solving PFAS problems.

Madden’s email pointed out another delay and asked Republican state lawmakers to release $125 million in funds approved for combatting PFAS contaminants statewide. The funds have been delayed for over 500 days, since the 2023-25 biennial budget was enacted, Madden said.

“So, as we begin this new year and new legislative session, we again request you and your colleagues on the committee to release these resources, so our administration can do the real work of getting the dollars to communities and folks across Wisconsin who need them,” Madden said.

In a Jan. 10 response to Madden’s email, Stollfus doesn’t address the $125 million in funds some say are being held hostage, but he reminded the governor’s office of the progress made last year on SB312 legislation. Stollfus further points out: “The bill’s designations are nearly identical to the parties the Biden EPA has decided not to hold federally liable for contamination under the Superfund process.”

Many Wisconsin landowners aren’t applying for grant funds because they don’t want to put in writing a possible PFAS contamination on their property and be held responsible for remediating it, Wimberger’s letter suggested. It said just 26 of 450 applications for federal Covid-19 America Rescue Plan Act funds to the Well Compensation fund were for PFAS remediation.

The homeowner’s application for a grant “is a self-incriminating statement they have a polluted property and are an emitter. The DNR will approve a grant application but also send a notice of responsibility to the innocent landowner,” Wimberger’s letter said. Further, the landowner “will have to disclose the status to any potential buyer,” Wimberger said.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said of 27 ARPA awards to address contaminations in Oconto County, 24 were for PFAS contamination and three were for other contaminations.

Just one grant was awarded in Marinette County for PFAS in the Peshtigo area, said Martin Nessman, private water section manager with the Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The program also received 29 applications from Oneida County, with 27 receiving awards and two determined were ineligible due to income, he said.

“Overall, a majority of funds were used to drill new wells with deeper casing, but some of them were to install treatment equipment. Of the 491 grant awards for contaminated wells (statewide), 384 were used to drill new wells, 104 were used to install treatment and 3 were used to hook up to municipal water systems,” Nessman said.

In a phone interview with the Peshtigo Times, Nessman said another state-funded program not yet open will provide assistance to landowners with PFAS contamination on their property, but the eligibility will be restricted to households with no more than $60,000 in annual income. The ARPA funds were available to households with annual income up to $100,000, he said.

In the meantime, Wimberger hopes to have new state legislation for PFAS.

“The senator would like to reintroduce a draft of the bill that had gotten good reception last session, but he wants to solve that one narrow problem related to the innocent landowner piece,” Stollfus said. “If that can be solved, it will be very easy to get to the finish line.”

Wisconsin State Sen. Eric Wimberger, republican, Oconto, District 2, PFAS, forever chemicals, SB312 PFAS legislation

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