Gov. Evers, DNR Commemorate
Inaugural PFAS Awareness Week
 PFAS Awareness Week Sept. 21 - 25 / Credit: Wisconsin DNR
Today, Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) kick off the inaugural PFAS Awareness Week. This event, running Sept. 21 – 25, highlights the ways that PFAS impact human health and the environment, actions that individuals can do to reduce their exposure and activities that the DNR is taking to address PFAS.
In April, Gov. Evers signed two bipartisan laws which facilitate release of the $125 million PFAS Trust Fund and authorized a new community PFAS grant program, which will allow the DNR to award grants to municipalities to sample for PFAS in drinking water, wells at schools and daycares, high-capacity irrigation wells, biosolids, sludge, wastewater and landfills. Municipalities that find PFAS contamination in public water systems will be able to apply for funding to install treatment systems or construct new wells. Private well owners can apply for funding through the expanded Well Compensation Grant Program to install a new treatment system or construct a new well.
The law also creates a new PFAS grant program to assist airports and owners of certain industrial properties contaminated by PFAS, provides funding for additional fish and wildlife sampling and authorizes the DNR to hire staff to administer these new grant programs. The historic investment of the PFAS Trust Fund into Wisconsin’s communities is a critical step toward ensuring that Wisconsinites have access to safer water and reduced exposure to PFAS through the environment.
PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals used for decades in numerous products, including non-stick cookware, fast food wrappers, stain-resistant sprays, and certain types of firefighting foam. During manufacturing, use and disposal of materials that contain PFAS, these chemicals have reached the environment where they resist degradation. As PFAS cycle through the land, air and water, they can accumulate in the bodies of humans and wildlife and may cause adverse health impacts.
To kick off PFAS Awareness Week, we encourage you to explore the DNR’s website for resources about PFAS and the PFAS Interactive Data Viewer to learn about how PFAS may impact where you live, work and play throughout Wisconsin. Then head over to the DNR’s Instagram, LinkedIn and Nextdoor social media accounts to learn more each day about PFAS, how humans are exposed to PFAS through water, fish and wildlife and consumer products, and specific actions that individuals can take to reduce their exposure and potential risk. The DNR will also highlight work already done to understand and address PFAS throughout Wisconsin.
The DNR’s staff have been working to implement the new PFAS laws and grant programs. Staff have been working to incorporate feedback provided through a series of listening sessions and an online survey regarding the new community grant programs. The first of these programs is set to launch in late October and will focus on PFAS sampling of private wells, wells at school and childcare facilities and biosolids.
Now is the time for communities to think about their local priorities for understanding more about how PFAS impacts them, gather information about community members who would be interested in sampling their private wells and determine how support from a grant could help the community to implement a sampling plan. The first grants from the PFAS Trust Fund will be available starting in late October with applications accepted for approximately six months. Communities that need additional time to develop sampling plans and submit an application for grant funding will be able to apply in additional grant cycles. The PFAS Laws Implementation webpage will continue to serve as the hub for information, including about grant opportunities. Those who prefer receiving updates through email or text messages can sign up for the Wisconsin PFAS Laws GovDelivery list.
More information about PFAS, including new resources to understand how PFAS move through the environment and how grants from the PFAS Trust Fund can support communities, is available on the DNR’s website.
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