Compost is a Passive Receiver: Support this Bill to Exempt Our Industry

The compost industry continues to be drawn into remediation of a suite of chemicals more commonly known as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances) that has innocently plagued some composts, despite our concerns about the dangers to human health and the wish not to have it pollute our product. However, we are considered passive receivers because PFAS enters our compost stream, through food, non-compostable food packaging (BPI has forbidden intentional PFAS in its certified products), biosolids—even rainwater and upstream sources.

Due to this, some states are considering regulation that would disallow compost to be spread on farmland, even though there is no quantified research to determine what levels of PFAS might be considered unsafe for farmland.

WE WILL NEED YOUR HELP to support two initiatives that would help our compost manufacturers survive this threat that hangs over our small but thriving industry:

1. Legislation to ensure composters are exempted from EPA enforcement of CERCLA, also known as Superfund, a proposal to be decided later this year that would require payment from “covered” entities-which includes composting right now. Sen. Cynthia Lummis would exempt our industry, and we ask you to go to the Compost Action Center to ask your federal legislators to support this bill.
2. PFAS Research: Watch for a Compost Action Center campaign to help us push for funds for PFAS Research. For your information, our research asks can be found here.

Thank you for your support!