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Report on Great Lakes Litter
Earlier this month, the Alliance for the Great Lakes released a report on litter collected through its Adopt-a-Beach program. According to the Alliance, plastic accounted for 86 percent of litter collected on Great Lakes beaches across the basin over the past 20 years. It recommends looking at policies to limit single-use plastics and establish extended producer responsibility to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up on beaches.
Read the full report.
New U.S. Rules on PFAS
On April 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced new drinking water standards for six PFAS compounds: PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and mixtures including PFBS. Public water systems will have until 2027 to conduct testing, and until 2029 to implement compliance measures. The EPA will begin enforcement in 2029.
Some states have already begun the process of evaluating the necessary response based on existing test results. Minnesota has identified 22 water systems that currently do not comply with the federal standards, and Wisconsin estimates that 5 percent of their systems will require remediation action. Nationally, the EPA anticipates that between 6-10 percent of water systems will exceed the new standards.
See the EPA information page
New U.S. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Draft Action Plan
The EPA is accepting comment on the GLRI Action Plan IV draft through May 24. The GLRI provides funding to address toxic sediments, habitat restoration, controlling invasive species, and more and the action plan guides funding and programs. In Sept. 2023, the GLLC submitted a resolution to the EPA recommending emphasis on climate resiliency and PFAS response in Action Plan IV. The draft plan does include an enhanced focus on climate resiliency; it addresses PFAS mostly in the context of fish consumption advisories.
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