PFAS Regulation in Flux: Legal Insights from Environmental Attorney Phil Comella

The Environmental Transformation Podcast with Sean Grady

Veteran environmental attorney Phil Comella joins host Sean Grady on the Environmental Transformation Podcast to break down the EPA’s proposed rollback of PFAS drinking water regulations. With over 40 years of experience, Comella offers expert legal insight on how the delayed compliance deadlines, potential MCL reductions, and CERCLA implications could affect municipalities, water utilities, waste management companies, and communities already exposed to PFAS. The conversation covers legal risks, scientific uncertainty, and the regulatory gaps that complicate cleanup and accountability.

Thanks to our sponsors: Cascade Environmental, E-Tank, and WASTELINQ

📍 Chapters:0:00 – Introduction and Phil Comella’s background2:42 – What the EPA’s PFAS proposal actually means6:30 – Delays, politics, and public health impact10:10 – Why the proposed changes matter for communities14:50 – Legal risk for utilities, ratepayers, and manufacturers19:25 – Superfund and the challenge of hazardous substance listings24:40 – The case for a dedicated PFAS statute28:35 – Wastewater treatment, landfills, and managing leachate33:45 – PFAS in household products and regulatory blind spots38:50 – Exposure, science, and tort law consequences44:25 – Thoughts on the path forward for EPA regulation50:00 – Dark Waters, science-based policy, and legal legacy🧪 Get expert legal context on one of today’s most pressing environmental health challenges.