Response to interpellation 2023/24:733 on the government's measures against PFAS contamination in drinking water
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the government's measures against PFAS contamination in drinking water and how municipalities can meet new limit values. L argues that the government is working in parallel to limit further spread through active work within the EU and internationally to phase out PFAS substances 1. L emphasizes that Sweden is pushing for bans in food packaging and that authorities are cooperating to improve risk assessment and environmental monitoring 2. L admits that new limit values entail major challenges and increased costs for the municipalities, especially for smaller municipalities, and that the government will follow the developments 3. S argues that it is crucial that municipalities have resources and technology to purify the water 4. S emphasizes that it is very expensive to purify from PFAS and demands concrete measures, financial support, or legislative changes to support the municipalities 4 5. S notes that the issue of the municipalities' conditions lacks a clear and final solution 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Madam Speaker! Joakim Järrebring has asked me what specific measures I and the government have taken since the receipt of the petition from Mälarens vattenvårdsförbund on 8 December 2023 (KN2023/04510) and how I and the government intend to ensure that the new limit values for PFAS in drinking water, which enter into force on 1 January 2026, will be able to be maintained. Joakim Järrebring has also asked what support I and the government plan to offer local authorities and other affected actors to manage and remediate PFAS contamination.
Since I recently received similar questions from Jytte Guteland on this theme, in interpellation 2023/24:708 The work to stop the emissions of PFAS, my answer is partly the same.
The Government's work to protect the Swedish people from exposure to PFAS substances takes place along two parallel tracks, partly by trying to limit continued spread, and partly by managing the consequences of previous spread in the best possible way. The latter work includes managing the risks to public health that result from the presence of PFAS substances in the food chain, which falls under the Minister for Rural Affairs' area of responsibility. The work to limit continued spread falls within my area of responsibility.
To limit continued emissions, the government continues Sweden's active work nationally, within the EU, and internationally to phase out the use of PFAS substances. Sweden has been proactive in introducing a ban on PFAS in food packaging in the new EU regulation on packaging and packaging waste. The Swedish Chemicals Agency continues the work with a broad PFAS restriction. The government also continues to push for the commitments in the EU's chemical strategy to be implemented. Prior to the ministerial meeting in March this year, we discussed, together with like-minded countries, at Sweden's invitation, among other things issues concerning PFAS in pesticides and the phasing out of PFAS.
To manage the consequences of previous spread, the government wants more contaminated areas on land and in the sea to be remediated. In cases where it is not possible to hold anyone responsible for a pollution damage, the Riksdag has allocated special funds for this in the so-called remediation grant, which is, among other things, available to remediate contaminated areas with state funding. PFAS-contaminated areas constitute a particular problem, and therefore several initiatives and assignments are underway with a focus on reducing the spread of PFAS in the environment.
The new limit value for drinking water is covered by a transitional period and shall begin to be applied on 1 January 2026. The new limit values for PFAS in drinking water and food are based on the risk assessment of PFAS that the European Food Safety Authority published in 2020 and correspond to the latest state of knowledge. According to the Act on Public Water Services, the municipalities are responsible for the public drinking water supply, and they have the right to charge fees to finance the water supply. It is important that the development of fees in the municipalities over time corresponds to the investment needs, among other things, to procure necessary purification technology in drinking water production. The supervisory authorities then ensure that the legislation is complied with.
Joakim Järrebring (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer to the interpellation!
PFAS, for those who have not heard the term before, is what is called an eternal chemical. It breaks down very slowly, if at all.
This interpellation is submitted based on the fact that PFAS has been identified in Mälaren, which is Sweden's largest drinking water source. It supplies drinking water to 2.4 million people. Mälaren's water management association has highlighted the need for immediate measures to protect the drinking water from these contaminants.
On 8 December 2023, a petition was submitted to the government with clear demands for state interventions to stop the spread of PFAS, fund remediation, and simplify the regulatory framework to achieve more efficient management of remediation measures. It is in light of that which I have submitted the interpellation to the Minister.
Firstly, I have asked whether the government has taken specific measures since they received the petition from Mälarens vattenvårdsförbund. It is a question of great importance, because with every passing day without effective interventions, the risks of more serious consequences for both the environment and health increase.
Secondly, I have asked whether the government intends to ensure that the new limit values for PFAS in drinking water, which enter into force on 1 January 2026, will be able to be maintained. It is crucial that we begin preparing now so that these limit values can be complied with and that we ensure that the municipalities responsible for the drinking water supply have the resources, knowledge, and technology required to purify the water from these dangerous chemicals.
For the third, I wonder if the government has planned to support local authorities and other affected actors in the work of managing and remediating PFAS contamination. It is not just a matter of establishing new rules and limit values. We must also ensure that those on the ground who are actually to carry out the remediation work have sufficient resources and sufficient support to do so in an effective manner.
The Minister's response was partially satisfactory, but I still lack concrete information on whether the government has taken or plans to take any specific measures. Therefore, I follow up with the question of whether the Minister can, in that case, specify which concrete measures the government has taken as a result of the motion of 8 December 2023 regarding the management of PFAS contamination in Mälaren, and also whether the Minister is considering supporting the municipalities financially or regulatorily, i.e., with a legislative change, to ensure that the new limit values for PFAS in drinking water can be maintained from 1 January 2026.
Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Madam Speaker! Very active work is underway to counteract the spread of PFAS and also to ensure that the PFAS that is spread is remediated in the best possible way. It is very important for me and the entire government to succeed in preventing and addressing the exposure to PFAS - and other harmful chemicals, for that matter. This is a task for which I share the responsibility with, for example, Minister Kullgren. Within my area of responsibility, and it remains so, the primary tool is to succeed in the limitation of the authorization of these types of chemicals at the EU level and international level.
I consider it very important that the EU Commission gives high priority to the work on restrictions. I have pressured the Commission on this on several occasions, not least during the Swedish presidency of the Environment Council. We are working full-scale to gather all the ambitious, like-minded countries that exist, including during the most recent Environment Council where, at Sweden's invitation, we gathered to discuss how we should work to limit the spread of PFAS. We also discussed how we should push forward to ensure that all commitments in the chemical strategy are fulfilled.
Sweden is very keen that this work should be carried out. We work in this way to succeed with the limitation of PFAS substances not only in Sweden but in the entire European Union's internal market. It is important because PFAS substances are often spread via the products and goods that move across our countries' borders within the internal market.
It is therefore relevant to handle the current EU regulatory framework - that which is in place - which is intended for chemicals and the limitation of harmful chemicals so that it can be elevated so that we concretely succeed in phasing out the use of PFAS.
Primarily within the REACH chemical regulation, a proposal for a ban covering all PFAS is currently being developed. Sweden is very proactive there. Sweden has not wasted any time when the Commission has not presented these larger restrictions; for example, during the ongoing work on the EU regulation on packaging and packaging waste, Sweden has succeeded in getting a ban on PFAS in food packaging while awaiting REACH.
There is, therefore, a very active work ongoing in the parts that I am now describing and on my part as Minister for the Environment.
In addition to that, we have the questions about how we work to succeed locally in countering the spread of PFAS substances. Very many Swedish authorities are working on this. This obviously applies to the Swedish Chemicals Agency but also the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, the Swedish Food Agency, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the Geological Survey of Sweden, the Swedish Geotechnical Institute, and the Medical Products Agency. They are all actively working on assignments from the government regarding issues of PFAS substances in soil and water.
The purpose of all these collaborations currently taking place among various agencies is to improve risk assessment, develop regulations and environmental monitoring, review technological development, exercise public control, and so on. It is a task that, not least, reaches out into the local level.
Joakim Järrebring (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the detailed answer.
The previous interpellation debate had a different perspective but still also dealt with the wastewater issue. The Minister and I have had a number of debates where we have very often returned to the major challenges that the primary actors, the municipalities, face regarding investments in water and sewage. It is about managing, for example, the treatment of PFAS with the technology currently available. Even though much promising research is ongoing in the area, it is very expensive to treat for PFAS.
I return to the same fundamental problem that I raised when we discussed the conditions for the new sewage directive, regarding whether these rules will be implemented. It boils down to the regulatory framework for how the municipalities are to manage the new investments and reinvestments that are required.
That is why I have included this question here. Is the government considering any changes in the legislation to support the municipalities in the way that can be done through legislation? Can we expect a better financing model for water and wastewater authorities to handle, for example, the challenge with PFAS?
Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank Member Järrebring, who I know has a fantastic commitment to many environmental issues and not least this one.
Let me once again clarify that there are parts of this work that fall within my area of responsibility. When it comes to matters such as when, for example, food exceeds limit values or how we should ensure that local development keeps pace with how regulations at, for example, the EU level, which I work for, can be implemented, the responsibility lies elsewhere.
Let me repeat what my colleague Minister Kullgren said in an interpellation debate in which he participated: The Government is well aware that when we have new limit values for PFAS in, for example, drinking water, it will entail major challenges in the form of increased costs.
This concerns your question about the waste systems, that it is a municipal responsibility and how one is to manage the whole thing. The answer here is that we are aware that it can involve challenges, especially for smaller municipalities, and that we will follow the developments and have a dialogue. That is the statement I can give, even though it does not concern my responsibility.
If I return to the work being done from my side, I can say that it is very active. I gladly accept input on how Sweden can further sharpen its chemical policy. In that regard, we have a historically good heritage, and we would like to safeguard it. We know that we can lead the way for better regulation of harmful chemicals and not only in Sweden but also in the entire EU and internationally.
The work continues, not least at the national level as we have dialogue and cooperation between all the agencies that work with different aspects of the whole. This I mentioned at the end of my previous speech. As mentioned, work is ongoing regarding risk assessment, regulatory development, environmental monitoring, research on PFAS substances, how we can have a sound public control that functions well, and how the technological development of, for example, purification functions develops and can be incorporated into the work being done to counteract the spread.
Joakim Järrebring (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to conclude by also thanking the Minister for this debate.
If one makes an effort and looks at all the debates that Romina Pourmokhtari and I have had, one will notice that the question of the municipalities' conditions to manage the important task they have to provide the residents with water and sewage services recurs.
We may have to return to this in more debates. It concerns issues that, for the time being, do not have a clear and final solution.
I take hold of the positive news I received that the government seems to be considering reviewing the conditions for the water authorities to meet their obligations, even when it comes to the management of PFAS. With that, I thank you for the debate.
Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank the member for a well-posed interpellation and a good debate on how we can in different ways limit these chemicals.
It is well worth mentioning that Sweden has a strong commitment here and follows the issue very closely, primarily at the EU level, where we want to achieve a proper restriction of the substances in a larger group in order to simply be able to limit and regulate them in the best possible way. But we also work to make progress and take small steps forward in the regulations where it is appropriate. This also matters, not least regarding food packaging.
We work in many different ways based on the state of knowledge that is constantly evolving. It is positive that much research is ongoing regarding what danger these substances pose and how we handle them in the best way.
Hopefully we will be able to handle the issue when the commission submits its proposal. To the extent that it does not, the work is continuing in full at the national level.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.