Kentucky lawmakers are discussing a proposal that would set reporting requirements for PFAS. A broad family of chemicals used in products like nonstick pans, PFAS have been linked to a range of diseases and found in drinking water across the state.
At a Thursday meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment, Democratic state Rep. Nima Kulkarni presented what she called an “aspirational bill.”
Kulkarni has introduced resolutions and bills about PFAS since 2021. This draft legislation would study whether clusters of disease in Kentucky communities are linked to PFAS, and require companies to disclose when they dump “forever chemicals.”
In an interview with LPM News, Kulkarni likened the challenge to issues like lead, where it took decades for science and policy to develop.
“Initially it was ‘this is not a problem’ and then it was ‘this is such a big problem we can’t possibly do anything about it’ and now I think people are looking at how to mitigate it, and states specifically,” Kulkarni said.
Some lawmakers at the meeting seemed open to Kulkarni’s ideas and praised previous actions Kentucky has taken on PFAS. Others worried about the state coming into conflict with businesses.
Republican state Sen. Robin Webb of Carter County told LPM she is concerned about PFAS and has supported Kulkarni’s past efforts. Webb said that while the state could take some action, it would need funding and stable policy from Washington.
“Any response that’s meaningful is going to have to come from the federal government and come down,” Webb said.
Webb said the federal government and the “Make America Healthy Again” movement are taking action on PFAS, referencing a federal grant program that will provide Kentucky with $9.4 million this year. That program, Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities, is funded by the 2021 infrastructure bill signed by former President Joe Biden.
According to Robin Hartman, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, that program’s projects have included a new water treatment plant for Lewisport and a permanent connection to a new water source for South Shore. Those Ohio River communities previously had some of Kentucky’s highest levels of PFAS in drinking water.
Since 2023, mandatory EPA tests found potentially dangerous levels of two of the best-studied PFAS chemicals in 10 Kentucky water systems. That puts them afoul of limits that will become legally enforceable in three years, though the EPA is moving to cancel regulations on four other types of PFAS in drinking water.
A report from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet also found PFAS in every fish they caught from Kentucky lakes and streams.