Cash buyback
None
← Scoreboard
NC
North Carolina
Active programCollected
1,000 gal
destroyed, Jan 2026
Target
60,000 gal
Destruction
Revive SCWO + 374Water
Deadline
UpcomingVendor selection ~Jun 2026
Federal law applies in every state
- EPA set enforceable drinking-water limits for PFOA and PFOS at 4 parts per trillion (2024). A May 2026 proposal would keep those two, extend compliance to 2031, and rescind the others. Proposed, not final.
- Under CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act), PFOA and PFOS are hazardous substances, so cleanup liability is strict, retroactive, and joint and several.
- Federally required uses at Part 139 airports and military installations follow federal rules regardless of state law.
- The Department of Defense is phasing out AFFF under the NDAA.
State law and program in North Carolina
North Carolina General Statutes section 58-82B-1 (Article 82B) ↗
What's still allowed
North Carolina has an AFFF inventory/takeback framework rather than a blanket use ban; federally-required Part 139 airport and military uses are unaffected.
How to get rid of PFAS foam
Participate in the NC Collaboratory AFFF Take-Back, collection, interim storage (Haw River), and destruction are state-funded at no cost to departments. Destruction is by SCWO (Revive Environmental and 374Water).
Funding and help
Collection and destruction run through the North Carolina program; check the official page for what the state covers.
Federal funding, available in every state
- EPA Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities grant ↗, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- Drinking Water State Revolving Fund ↗, including the infrastructure-law set-aside for emerging contaminants like PFAS.
- FAA airport foam transition support ↗ for Part 139 commercial airports moving off fluorinated foam.
- Fire departments with contaminated water may qualify as claimants in the aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) settlements.
Future plans
Final destruction vendor selection was expected around June 2026; the program targets up to 60,000 gallons of the ~120,094 gallons inventoried statewide.
Destruction & vendors
Foam in North Carolina is handled by: Revive SCWO + 374Water. 120,094 gal inventoried; 60k targeted; only 1,000 gal verifiably destroyed so far.
Official sources
North Carolina official program page ↗A note for smaller departments
Large departments and municipalities usually have legal counsel and a budget to manage PFAS liability. Small and volunteer departments often do not. That makes a documented chain of custody and a certificate of destruction the strongest protection a small department has: proof that the foam was handled lawfully and never released. See liability and litigation.
⚠ Never discharge PFAS foam. Keep the certificate of destruction.
Firefighting foam containing PFAS cannot lawfully be released anywhere: not overboard, in a harbor or slip, down a drain or sewer, onto the ground, or into an ordinary landfill. Under CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act), PFOA and PFOS are hazardous substances, and disposal liability is strict, retroactive, and joint and several, so whoever sent the waste can be billed for the cleanup years later. Keep the certificate of destruction: if you cannot document that the foam was destroyed, you cannot prove where it went, and foam you cannot account for can be treated as a release to the environment, with the liability that follows. EPA / CERCLA ↗