{"id":3538,"date":"2023-05-22T05:04:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T05:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=3538"},"modified":"2023-06-15T15:25:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T15:25:18","slug":"wisconsins-joint-finance-committee-okays-125-million-pfas-trust-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=3538","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin\u2019s Joint Finance Committee Okays $125 Million PFAS Trust Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wisconsindailystar.com\/news\/joint-finance-committee-okays-125-million-pfas-trust-fund\/tcsquare\/2023\/05\/22\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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by Benjamin Yount<\/h5>\n

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Wisconsin is looking to set aside $125 million for PFAS (Polyfluorinated Substances<\/a>) contamination abatement across the state.<\/p>\n

The budget-writing Joint Finance Committee (JFC) on Thursday agreed to create a trust fund to help local communities deal with PFAS in their local water supplies.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said Wisconsin needs to take some time and figure out the best strategy for dealing with PFAS contamination, but he said setting $125 million aside now will guarantee there will be money in the future to address the state\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to this historic funding and PFAS we want to work with other people to create the right ways to make sure that this money is having the right impact on this serious issue here in Wisconsin,\u2019 Born said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big problem, obviously, in our state, and the Legislature is taking this problem very seriously by committing $125 million to it,\u201d JFC co-chair State Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, told reporters.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay, has driven the Republican plan for PFAS contamination. He called the $125 million a \u201cmassive\u201d investment that will \u201cbe a resource to address the issue in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats at the Capitol are happy with the trust fund, but want the Republican-controlled legislature to do more about water quality right away.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents shouldn\u2019t have to worry about the water their kids are drinking. That\u2019s why Gov. Evers\u2019 budget proposed bold action to address contaminants like nitrates and lead, as well as PFAS, in Wisconsin\u2019s water supply. By rejecting provisions to address water contamination in Gov. Evers\u2019 budget, Republicans on the JFC are ignoring the problem and failing their constituents,\u201d the JFC\u2019s Democrats said in a joint statement after Thursday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n

PFAS, the acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are widely used, long-lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time. They are used in everything from Teflon coating to firefighting foam. Studies vary on their harmful effects; more is known about their impact on animals than on humans.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin lawmakers have turned their attention to PFAS contamination after a Department of Natural Resources report from earlier this year said 13 communities in the state say they\u2019ve found at least one PFAS chemical above the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s guidelines.<\/p>\n

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Benjamin Yount is a regular contributor to The Center Square<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The post Wisconsin\u2019s Joint Finance Committee Okays $125 Million PFAS Trust Fund<\/a> appeared first on The Wisconsin Daily Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wisconsindailystar.com\/news\/joint-finance-committee-okays-125-million-pfas-trust-fund\/tcsquare\/2023\/05\/22\/ by Benjamin Yount \u00a0 Wisconsin is looking to set…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wi-daily-star"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3539,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538\/revisions\/3539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}