Pine State News

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Vice Chairman of the SenateAppropriations Committee, announced that she secured $20 million to establish a PFAS Center of Excellence through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS) New England Plant, Soil and Water Research Laboratory in the Fiscal Year 2024 Agriculture appropriations bill. The bill, which was officially approvedby the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 22, 2023, now awaits consideration by the full Senate and House.  

“The University of Maine has been at the forefront of efforts to identify and address PFAS contamination, which are known to be harmful to the livelihoods of Maine’s farmers, as well as our water and food supplies,” said Senator Collins.  “This funding will support UMaine’s research on ways to better deter PFAS, its movement in soil, predict exposure, and mitigate impacts.  As the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to champion this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”

“Establishing a federal PFAS Center of Excellence at our flagship campus in Orono that has hosted a USDA-ARS plant, soil and water laboratory since the 1970s leverages the leadership and the long-standing collaboration among UMaine, USDA-ARS and Maine’s agriculture community,” said University of Maine President and University of Maine System Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Joan Ferrini-Mundy.  “We are grateful to Senator Collins for securing past federal investment to expand our capacity to deliver PFAS-related research and technical assistance.”

This funding will support the modernization, renovation, and expansion of existing facilities at the New England Plant, Soil, and Water Laboratory — located on the University of Maine’s Orono campus — to support the creation of a PFAS Center of Excellence. Funding will support research to address PFAS contamination across agricultural industries.  This includes research that supports short-term farm management decisions and assesses future options for viable uses of contaminated land.

This funding builds on the $8 million secured by Senator Collins in the FY 2023 appropriations cycle to support the University of Maine’s efforts to address PFAS contamination.

 In 2021, Congress reinstituted Congressionally Directed Spending. Following this decision, Senator Collins has secured more than $500 million for hundreds of Maine projects for FY2022 and FY2023.  As the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins is committed to championing targeted investments that will benefit Maine communities.   

Original source can be found here.