Gov. Tony Evers directed the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to submit a formal request to the Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) to release $125 million in already-approved funds to address per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination statewide, according to a recent press release.
The $125 million in funding was approved through the 2023–25 biennial budget process as enacted by Gov. Evers in July but has since been obstructed by Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature.
Additionally, Gov. Evers and the DNR urged the Legislature to protect Wisconsin’s groundwater from PFAS by passing legislation empowering the DNR to continue the rulemaking process to create standards for PFAS in groundwater. Until legislative action is taken, the DNR is unable to continue its work due to legislation passed in 2017, when then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed a law requiring state agencies to obtain legislative permission to continue working on regulations with compliance costs of at least $10 million over two years.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the DNR has been working on PFAS standards for groundwater — the source of drinking water for roughly two-thirds of Wisconsin residents — for the past year; the agency had to stop, however, as economic impact projections put the cost of compliance for industrial facilities and wastewater treatment plants that discharge to groundwater at $33 million over the first two years the standards would take effect.
