Proposed state regulations would allow any commercial farm with elevated levels of harmful forever chemicals – regardless of the source of the contamination – to apply for financial assistance from Maine’s first-in-the-country PFAS relief fund.

In the past, Maine has focused its time and money on PFAS contamination caused by a now-defunct state Department of Environmental Protection program that used wastewater sludge as fertilizer on hundreds of farms across Maine dating to the 1970s.

The new rules would allow commercial farms tainted by other sources of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances to tap into the state’s $60 million PFAS Fund, including the PFAS-laced foam used by firefighters, airports and the military to douse high-intensity fires.

“The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is concerned with the health and safety of food and commerce,” Fund Director Beth Valentine said. “If a farm is impacted by PFAS, we want to know and we want to help find a path forward, regardless of the source.”