Cash buyback
None
← Scoreboard
PR
Puerto Rico
No programCollected
,
Target
,
Destruction
,
Deadline
,
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 Puerto Rico
What's still allowed
No Puerto Rico firefighting-foam ban; AFFF use is unrestricted under local law. Military and airport uses follow federal rules.
How to get rid of PFAS foam
No territorial takeback, store foam or ship it to a licensed PFAS-disposal facility on the U.S. mainland. Military foam (former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Fort Buchanan, Camp Santiago) is handled by DoD / Army Environmental Command under CERCLA.
Funding and help
There is no state takeback funding in Puerto Rico yet. The federal options below apply everywhere.
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
Federal PFAS site assessments continue at PR military sites; ~$19M in federal water-infrastructure funding has been allocated for emerging contaminants.
Destruction & vendors
No state-designated destruction vendor. No territorial AFFF program or ban. Severe military-driven PFAS contamination, former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Fort Buchanan, Camp Santiago. EPA Region 2 + DoD under CERCLA. Disposal: store or ship to the mainland.
Official sources
Puerto Rico official program page ↗EPA Region 2 ↗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 ↗