County PFAS pilot: 540 applications, 480 samples; rebates rolling out as results arrive

Public Health Sanitarian Brian Stevens told the committee the PFAS pilot has produced hundreds of participant responses: "there have been 540 testing applications, 480 sample tests completed," and the State is notifying residents of results and authorizations to install treatment. Stevens said initial rebate requests are arriving and the State will offer training next week on how local staff should process rebate claims.

"At this point the program is a Proof of Concept to create a baseline," Public Health Director Rian Rodriguez said, adding county staff have seen a preliminary exceedance rate of "a little over 20%" but cautioned those results are early and may reflect who has chosen to be tested rather than a confirmed geographic cluster.

Stevens described three rebate categories: up to $5,000 for a full system, $1,000 for sink-only installations in constrained homes, and up to $10,000 where hooking up to public water supply is possible. He told residents they may contact any qualified vendor for installation and should obtain multiple price quotes because costs may vary by supplier and parts.

Committee members raised homeowner-privacy and real-estate disclosure concerns. Stevens said the State controls access to individual test results and that local staff signed disclosure agreements; he said he did not know whether results must be disclosed on a home sale and Legislator Addonizio asserted that disclosure would be required. Rodriguez said none of a locally-encumbered $300,000 has been spent yet because rebates are just being received, and that the original $1.5 million program—designed as a five-year initiative—may be used sooner than planned if demand continues.