Alabama agencies will not be able to pass stronger environmental regulations than what the federal government has already imposed, as Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB 71.
The “sound science” bill quickly passed both houses of the state’s legislature this year, following Tennessee as the first states to require certain benchmarks for research on which regulators rely.
One possible area that will be impacted is PFAS – a group of chemicals used in firefighting foam and consumer products that have made their way into the bodies of virtually every American. Some claim they lead to illnesses like cancer, while others say more research is needed to fully explain and regulate them.
The federal government in 2024 finalized drinking water standards for some PFAS, years after states had established their own as they hired private lawyers to sue companies like 3M and DuPont.
The results were different standards in different states for companies to comply with, in addition to litigation that led to settlements worth billions of dollars. Now, environmental advocates are concerned the state won’t be able to respond to contaminants like arsenic and cyanide as strongly as it needs to.
Sarah Stokes, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, testified against the bill at a Senate committee meeting in January. She said the bill was in response to a successful petition to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management that complained current water toxicity standards for 12 pollutants were too weak.
“But industrial groups didn’t like ADEM’s ruling,” Stokes said. “And so now, they are proposing a bill that would keep these toxic standards at harmful levels.”
ADEM will be able to adopt rules if certain criteria with the research it cites are met, a direct causal link between the pollutant and illness can be shown and there is an absence of regulation from the federal government.
Sen. Donnie Chesteen, a Republican, introduced the bill in January, citing a need for “guardrails and guidelines” to the rulemaking process.
Jon Barganier, the president of Manufacture Alabama, testified in support of the bill, which he argued would lead to more consistency and reliability for the group’s member companies that spend millions of dollars a year on compliance issues.
“We believe that a striking balance between best available science and regulatory matters is the best way to balance environmental stewardship and economic development as well,” he said.
