The EPA’s New PFAS Safe Drinking Water Rule with John Gardella


Once again we dive into one of the hottest topics in environmental law right now: PFAS.  Specifically, our guest talks about the EPA’s new PFAS Safe Drinking Water Final Rule, which mandates acceptable levels of PFAS in public water systems.

This episode is based on a CLE webinar our guest recorded for HB Litigation a couple months back. Since then,  if you’ve been following PFAS developments, you know pushback on the rule is coming from several directions, as our guest predicted. Industry groups, chemical manufacturers, and water utilities alike are challenging the rule as, among other things, arbitrary and capricious and exceeding the EPA’s authority. Water utilities are especially concerned about compliance costs. 

On the technical side, there is debate over whether current technology can even reliably detect PFAS at the levels EPA seeks. Also raised are the complexities associated with increased monitoring and lab testing. 

Our guest is John P. Gardella, whose 2024 CLE webinar on the subject explored the PFAS litigation landscape, from multidistrict and class action lawsuits to medical monitoring and greenwashing claims. He talks about federal and state regulations that are driving litigation, and offers an outlook for what may be in store in the next few years. 

A leading voice in PFAS litigation and recognized thought leader, John is a Shareholder at CMBG3 Law, known for his expertise in environmental and toxic tort litigation. A veteran of more than 75 trials, John chairs the firm’s PFAS, Environmental, Risk Management & Consulting, and ESG practice groups.

This episode comprises audio from John’s excellent webinar. If you are interested in the CLE version of the episode, look for it on the West LegalEdcenter. Go to our page to learn more and to use our partner link. 

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This podcast is the audio companion to the Journal of Emerging Issues in Litigation. The Journal is a collaborative project between HB Litigation, a brand ofCritical Legal Content(a custom legal content service for law firms and service providers)and the vLex Fastcaselegal research family, which includes Full Court Press, Law Street Media, and Docket Alarm.

If you have comments, ideas, or wish to participate, please drop me a note at Editor@LitigationConferences.com.