The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has formally adopted regulations that set site remediation standards for four PFAS compounds – PFNA, PFOA, PFOS, and GenX.
The final adoption of the rules on Monday formalizes the interim standards which set the contamination levels that trigger required remediation for soil and groundwater. The interim standards had been in place since 2022 and 2023.
The four PFAS compounds are chemicals that have been used in a wide variety of industrial and commercial applications because they repel water and oil and are resistant to heat and chemical reactions. However, they have also been associated with cancer and other health effects involving the liver, thyroid, immune system, and development.
“With the formal adoption of these site remediation standards, the Sherrill administration is delivering on its mission to protect public health, provide clean drinking water to the public, and restore the environment from decades of PFAS pollution across the state,” DEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak said.
“Even as we see wavering at the federal level, New Jersey remains firm in its commitment to strong science, policies and regulations to address the legacy of PFAS pollution,” he said.
New Jersey was the first state to set an enforceable PFAS drinking water standard, adopting a maximum contaminant level for PFNA in 2018 and adding limits for PFOA and PFOS in 2020. DEP has also added PFAS to the list of hazardous substances under its regulations authorized by the Spill Compensation and Control Act.
In October 2022 and June 2023, the DEP set health-based interim standards for three exposure pathways and Monday’s action establishes those standards as final regulations.
The adopted rule requires those responsible for conducting remediation in New Jersey to ensure that these contaminants are cleaned up to prevent future impacts on public health and the environment, including potential impacts on drinking water.
In addition, DEP said it is amending the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation to add PFNA, PFOS, PFOA, GenX chemicals, and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin to require analyses for these chemicals when contaminants are unknown or not well documented at a contaminated site.
