Launched in 2022, the PFAS monitoring plan lays out a path for PFAS monitoring at solid waste, wastewater, and stormwater facilities; hazardous waste landfills; facilities with air emissions; and sites in the Brownfield or Superfund programs. The plan did not establish facility-specific requirements, but outlined how the MPCA planned to prioritize locations for PFAS monitoring and what the monitoring will entail.
After spending two years working with regulated parties and other stakeholders to implement the PFAS monitoring plan, the programs involved have compiled their initial findings in the report below and are exploring how to develop permitting, guidance, and other strategies to address PFAS at these types of facilities. The MPCA thanks all participating facilities.
Many of the programs expect to receive additional data. For transparency and to respond to public interest in the topic, the initial sample results reviewed for the report are available for download. Although a significant effort, the monitoring conducted was a limited survey and not an in-depth investigatory study.
Data collected and/or recorded after the publication of the initial findings are available upon request.
Developing the PFAS monitoring plan
The MPCA began working with stakeholders in June 2021 to build the PFAS monitoring plan. The plan aligns with the management strategy and near-term priorities in Minnesota’s PFAS Blueprint:
- Prevent. Discover the most significant sources of PFAS in the environment. This information can help facilities switch to PFAS-free products, enact PFAS management plans, or install upstream PFAS treatment and destruction systems.
- Manage. Gather data needed to develop PFAS minimization strategies to meaningfully reduce PFAS releases to the environment.
- Clean up. Discover PFAS-impacted areas to target risk reduction efforts, such as ensuring rapid investigation of potentially impacted drinking water systems or commonly used fisheries.
The PFAS Monitoring Plan was intended as a plan to identify possible sources or conduits of PFAS entering the environment. By partnering with many types of facilities and initiating their own sampling, the MPCA strove to gather enough data to make early decisions on how best to address PFAS.
Plan development timeline
- Summer 2021: Plan development, kick-off event and input meetings
- Nov. 16, 2021: Draft plan released
- Jan. 21, 2022: Public input period ended
- March 2022: Final plan released
- 2022 – 2024: Implementation
- April 2024: Report describing initial findings and next steps released