Cash buyback
None
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NH
New Hampshire
Active programCollected
10,000 gal
concentrate, 2024
Target
,
Destruction
Revive Environmental. SCWO
Deadline
PassedCollected 2024
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 New Hampshire
Senate Bill 257 (2019), codified at RSA 154:8-b ↗
What's still allowed
PFAS Class B foam has been banned for training/testing since 2020; Part 139 airport and military uses remain exempt.
How to get rid of PFAS foam
Through the NH DES AFFF Take-Back, legacy PFAS AFFF concentrate was collected (2024) and destroyed by Revive Environmental via SCWO at no cost. Only legacy PFAS AFFF is accepted.
Funding and help
Collection and destruction run through the New Hampshire 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
The first collection round (10,000+ gal, 125+ departments) is complete; no further round publicly scheduled.
Destruction & vendors
Foam in New Hampshire is handled by: Revive Environmental. SCWO. 125+ departments, 10 regional events. First state to use SCWO.
Official sources
New Hampshire 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 ↗