Evers will veto forever chemicals bill, urges lawmakers to release funding

MADISON – Gov. Tony Evers will not sign a bill approved by Republican lawmakers to address "forever chemicals" and is instead asking the Legislature to institute a program that would avoid harming the ability of the state to hold polluters accountable.

Evers, a Democrat, said Tuesday in a release he would not sign the bill approved by the Assembly last week and the Senate last year, and is instead calling on the Legislature's powerful budget committee to release the funding to the Department of Natural Resources to spend on helping communities impacted by PFAS.

Democrats in both houses voted against the bill.

At the center of the disagreement between Republicans and Democrats is the $125 million PFAS trust fund created during the budget process last summer. Even with the proposed legislation, the DNR would still have to go before the Joint Finance Committee to ask for funding to be released. Evers has consistently asked for that process to be abandoned, but his requests have not been heeded.

“There’s not one good reason that $125 million the Legislature and I both approved over 230 days ago to fight PFAS contaminants statewide should still be sitting in Madison today. Ensuring Wisconsinites have access to clean, safe drinking water should never be a partisan issue, which is why Republicans should have released these critical investments months ago," he said in the release. “Wisconsinites shouldn’t have to wait any longer than they already have. I’m urging lawmakers to support this bipartisan compromise that’s mostly based on the bill Republicans passed last week and release these funds so we can get these resources out to communities and folks across Wisconsin who need them.”

The proposed bill would have created grant programs aimed at providing aid to communities with contamination, in addition to limiting the actions that the DNR could take to address contamination or hold polluters accountable.

It would also have commissioned studies, required a reduction in costs for testing, expanded a well compensation grant program, and established an innocent buyer program that would help property owners who unknowingly purchase land contaminated with PFAS.

The bill did not include funding for the programs, instead relying on the $125 million set aside in the budget.

Residents of impacted communities, conservationists and clean water advocates have also pushed back on the bill, asking Republicans to protect the ability of the DNR to require polluters to pay for cleanup.

More: 'It just makes you wonder': PFAS contamination discovery at Menomonie 3M site raises worries

“In Wisconsin, if someone pollutes our water, property, and natural resources, Wisconsinites expect them to pay to clean it up. That’s just common sense," Evers said in the release. "I’m not signing a bill that lets polluters off the hook for cleaning up their contamination and asks Wisconsin taxpayers to foot the bill. No way.”

Instead, he asked the Legislature to release certain amounts to fund measures to help communities and residents impacted by PFAS, including $100 million in financial assistance for testing, disposal of wastewater treatment sludge contaminated with PFAS and for treatment solutions.

The other $25 million would be used to provide financial assistance to innocent buyers of land contaminated with PFAS, landowners who had contaminated sludge spread on their fields as fertilizer, and to provide potable water to those with impacted private wells.

What are PFAS?

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of man-made chemicals used for their water- and stain-resistant qualities in products like clothing and carpet, nonstick cookware, packaging and firefighting foam.

The family includes 5,000 compounds, which are persistent, remaining both in the environment and human body over time.  The chemicals have been linked to types of kidney and testicular cancers, lower birth weights, harm to immune and reproductive systems, altered hormone regulation and altered thyroid hormones.

The chemicals enter the human body largely through drinking water. PFAS have been found across Wisconsin in both surface water and drinking water sources.

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers will veto PFAS bill, calls for release of $125 million