Government & Regulators

Local citizens groups tried to fight and ban sludge application in their counties for decades. In 1994, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law that effectively pre-empted almost all local authority over sludge by outlining in detail how the state Water Control Board, the state Health Department, and the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) would have total control over sludge regulations and the issuance of permits. After a 2001 decision by the Virginia Supreme Court, one of the only undisputed authorities left available to municipalities was the ability to create a testing and monitoring program.

Virginia has 95 counties. We’re not sure how many of them have testing and monitoring programs, but there are seventeen of them are listed on the site of the industry group Virginia Biosolids. Presumably, all seventeen also have biosolids (sludge) ordinances, although some may have created the programs through zoning or other regulations.

Not included in that list is Rappahannock County, which has an ordinance that has helped reduced land application there to almost zero. It adds a lot of administrative load to sludge permit applicants and it has some other provisions that make getting a permit much more difficult. One of our goals is to convince Albemarle County’s Board of Supervisors to adopt such an ordinance. We are using Rappahannock’s ordinance as a model. The full text of their ordinance is here. You can learn more about our efforts on the Take Action page.

The Virginia General Assembly has maintained laws for 20 years that pre-empt and restrict the authority of municipalities to regulate or stop the land application of sludge in their jurisdictions. Provisions in the Code that apply to sludge can be found in Chapter 3.1 The State Water Control Law. Specifically, Virginia Code § 62.1-44.19:3 addresses sludge permitting and Section I allows localities to have ordinances with testing and monitoring programs.

In 2023, Code § 62.1-44.34:30 expanded the state’s response to PFAS contamination in drinking water by mandating the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) identify upstream sources whenever PFAS is found by VDH testing. (See the Maps page for VDH testing information.)

As PFAS contamination from sludge becomes more of a scientific certainty, environmental groups have more opportunities for legal challenges to the state. There are many provisions in the water control law that could be affected by the recognition of the toxic nature of biosolids. But for now, the DEQ remains the gatekeeper for all things sludge-related and continues its long tradition of siding with industry interest over public interest.

In terms of controlling the application of biosolids, the ultimate regulatory authority rests with EPA. Some whistleblowers have accused the EPA of being conspiratorially involved with industry to keep sludge flowing on to farmland. Whether or not that is true, the fact remains that EPA has been very slow in dealing with the crisis of PFAS contamination. It has taken a one-at-a-time approach to issuing standards for a class of chemicals that numbers over fifteen thousand, with new ones still being derived. The focus has been on drinking water, with the onus for clean-up put on local authorities.

Specifically, biosolids are governed by EPA’s Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge (40 CFR Part 503), which have not been significantly updated since their passage in 1993 and contain no provisions for handling PFAS.

Congress could pass a national ban on the spread of sludge, but given the well-established lobbying power of industrial agriculture and the sludge industry, that is highly unlikely to happen. There has been an effort to include money in the Farm Bill that would create a fund for farmers who have lost their land and livelihood to PFAS contamination, but it has not yet succeeded in becoming part of the bill.