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Fund to Address PFAS Contamination
On this page:
- What is the PFAS Fund and when will funding be available?
- How does the PFAS Fund intersect with the Department’s other PFAS response efforts?
- PFAS Fund Advisory Committee Mission
- Public Meetings and Public Hearings
- Advisory Committee Members
What is the PFAS Fund and when will funding be available?
The PFAS Fund is a new and evolving program that will provide direct support to PFAS-impacted farmers. It will also purchase and manage PFAS-contaminated agricultural land and fund research to help farmers make informed decisions about how to adjust their operations. Finally, the PFAS Fund will support access to blood testing, medical monitoring, mental health care, and other health-related initiatives.
The PFAS Fund was created in 2022 by Governor Mills to support farmers whose land and/or water are contaminated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The Legislature appropriated $60 million dollars from the General Fund for this purpose.
The Department was required to develop an implementation plan before money from the PFAS Fund can be spent. From the fall of 2022 through the spring of 2023, an advisory committee, supported by four issue-focused subcommittees, developed a draft Plan for the Administration of the Fund to Address PFAS Contamination.
A public hearing was held on June 12, 2023, to take public comments on the draft plan. The Advisory Committee finalized the plan on July 10, 2023. The Department will initiate rulemaking later this summer. It expects to begin delivering support by the fall of 2023.
Notably, while the plan proposes about $70 million in expenditures over five years, these are preliminary financial estimates. The Department is not presently seeking additional State funding because the PFAS Fund will seek to leverage funding from other sources and will continue to evaluate financial needs going forward.
How does the PFAS Fund intersect with the Department’s other PFAS response efforts?
The Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources (BAFRR) has been at the forefront of the Department’s response to the PFAS crisis. BAFRR staff assist impacted farms by conducting comprehensive testing to determine sources of exposure and the levels of PFAS in soil, water, forage, compost, manure, milk, and vegetative and animal tissue. They also work with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC), to assess results and create mitigation plans to reduce contamination at the farm level, produce safe products, and enable farms to remain viable.
BAFRR also provides financial support for testing (soil, water, and other media), water filtration systems, infrastructure (up to a limit of $150,000 per project), equipment, clean feed, livestock indemnification, etc. The PFAS Fund will build upon and augment the financial support provided by BAFRR.
PFAS Fund Advisory Committee Mission
The PFAS Fund Advisory Committee was established by statute to make recommendations to the Department regarding the administration of the Fund to Address PFAS Contamination. The Advisory Committee met for the first time in November 2022.
The PFAS Fund Advisory Committee was instrumental in developing the draft PFAS Fund Implementation Plan. They were aided by four subcommittees that developed and recommended implementation strategies.
Enabling Statute, Reports, and Other Documents
- Public Law 2021, Chapter 635, Title 7, Chapter 10-D
- Annual Report from the DACF to the Legislature, March 2023 (PDF)
- Annual Report from the PFAS Fund Advisory Committee to the Legislature, March 2023 (PDF)
- Draft Plan for Administration of the Fund to Address PFAS Contamination, May 25, 2023 (PDF)
Public Meetings & Public Hearings
Subscribe to be notified about PFAS Fund updates, advisory committee meetings, and public hearings.
Questions may be directed to PFASFund.DACF@maine.gov.
Upcoming Meetings & Hearings
- January 11, 2024 : PFAS Fund Advisory Committee Public Hearing
Meeting Archive
PFAS Fund Advisory Committee Members
The composition of the PFAS Fund Advisory Committee was established by statute.
| Seat Number | Name | Additional Info |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stacy Brenner, Co-Chair | Member of the Senate; appointed by the President of the Senate |
| 2 | Rick Bennett | Member of the Senate; appointed by the President of the Senate |
| 3 | Jessica Fay, Co-Chair | Member of the House of Representatives; appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representative |
| 4 | Randy Hall | Member of the House of Representatives; appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representative |
| 5 | Amanda Beal | Commissioner of Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry or the Commissioner’s designee |
| 6 | Melanie Loyzim | Commissioner of Maine Department of Environmental Protection or the Commissioner’s designee |
| 7 | Nancy Beardsley | Commissioner of Maine Department of Health and Human Services or the Commissioner’s designee |
| 8 | Diane Rowland | Dean of Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station or Dean of University of Maine Cooperative Extension; appointed by the President of the University of Maine |
| 9 | Sherry Hamel | Representing the financial sector; expertise in agricultural finance and lending; appointed by Commissioner of DACF |
| 10 | Jim Buckle | Representing the agricultural sector; appointed by Commissioner of DACF |
| 11 | Steve Crane | Representing the agricultural sector; appointed by Commissioner of DACF |
| 12 | Jenni Tilton Flood | Representing the agricultural sector; appointed by Commissioner of DACF |
| 13 | Katia Holmes | Representing the agricultural sector; appointed by Commissioner of DACF |
| 14 | Adrienne Lee | Representing the agricultural sector; appointed by Commissioner of DACF |
| 15 | Rebecca Boulos | Expert in public health; appointed by Commissioner of DACF |