We write on behalf of the city of Lebanon in response to the Aug. 3 op-ed by Mindi Messmer on the PFAS drinking water standards recently adopted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.
The health and safety of citizens is the highest priority of municipal government, and this is certainly the case in the city of Lebanon. We take the development and implementation of regulations pertaining to the control of PFAS chemicals very seriously.
Our concern is that these regulations be scientifically based and developed in accordance with legal requirements, including required opportunities for public comment. We believe that the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules approved the PFAS rules while violating their own rules in the process.
Messmer referenced Section 301.2(b) of the JLCAR rules, which she suggests precluded JLCAR from hearing public testimony. That rule simply states that “testimony shall not be considered relevant that does not focus upon issues in the rules and instead argues only that a statute should be changed.” The very next sentence, Section 301.2(c), states that “all persons with relevant testimony shall be heard,” but allows the chair to limit the time allotted to individual speakers. There was a large audience for the JLCAR hearing on July 18, with many waiting patiently for the opportunity to provide “relevant testimony” about the proposed rule and grounds for JLCAR to object to it according to JLCAR’s own rules.
Messmer concluded her column by stating that the “people have spoken” and JLCAR “listened.” On the contrary, the JLCAR chair made the decision to not listen and not allow any public testimony in clear contravention of the committee’s own administrative rules. The N.H. Supreme Court has stated that properly adopted administrative rules “have the force and effect of laws.” The city’s consideration of legal action is appropriate to help preserve the rule of law.
In her column, Messmer also asserts that it was appropriate for the NHDES to revise the proposed PFAS standard downward (from the current 70 parts/trillion and previously proposed 38 part/trillion to 11-18 parts/trillion) following the public comment period and before the JLCAR hearing, effectively barring municipalities and other impacted entities from having any input. This action made it even more important that “relevant testimony” be heard as part of the JLCAR hearing, but it was not. To put 1 part/trillion in perspective, it is like 1 second in 31,700 years.
The city of Lebanon supports rational and fact-based rules that protect public health and the environment. We also believe that government bodies should follow their own rules and people deserve the opportunity to be heard on issues of public importance. This is a principle of democracy. We actively practice this at the local level, and we should expect nothing less from our elected state officials.
(Timothy McNamara is the mayor of Lebanon. Clifton Below is assistant mayor and served as chair and vice chair of JLCAR from 1999-2002 while a state senator.)