https://news.yahoo.com/epa-unveils-strategy-regulate-toxic-130310326.html
Associated Press
EPA unveils strategy to regulate toxic 'forever chemicals'
MATTHEW DALY
Mon, October 18, 2021, 6:03 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it is launching a
broad strategy to regulate toxic industrial compounds associated with
serious health conditions that are used in products ranging from
cookware to carpets and firefighting foams.
Michael Regan, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said his
agency is taking a series of actions to limit pollution from a cluster
of long-lasting chemicals known as PFAS that are increasingly turning up
in public drinking water systems, private wells and even food.
The Defense Department said it is moving to assess and clean up
PFAS-contaminated sites throughout the country, while the Food and Drug
Administration will expand testing of the food supply to estimate
Americans' exposure to PFAS from food. And the Agriculture Department
will boost efforts to prevent and address PFAS contamination in food.
The plan is intended to restrict PFAS from being released into the
environment, accelerate cleanup of PFAS-contaminated sites such as
military bases and increase investments in research to learn more about
where PFAS are found and how their spread can be prevented.
“This is a bold strategy that starts with immediate action" and includes
additional steps "that will carry through this first term" of President
Joe Biden, Regan said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We’re
going to use every tool in our toolbox to restrict human exposure to
these toxic chemicals.''
PFAS, called “forever chemicals” because they last so long in the
environment, have been associated with serious health conditions,
including cancer and reduced birth weight.
PFAS is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are used in
nonstick frying pans, water-repellent sports gear, stain-resistant rugs
and countless other consumer products. The chemical bonds are so strong
that they don’t degrade or do so only slowly in the environment and
remain in a person’s bloodstream indefinitely.
Under the strategy announced Monday, the EPA will move to set aggressive
drinking water limits for PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act and
will require PFAS manufacturers to report on how toxic their products
are. The agency also will designate PFAS as hazardous substances under
the so-called Superfund law that allows the EPA to force companies
responsible for the contamination to pay for the cleanup work or do it
themselves.
The actions will make it easier for the EPA to ensure that cleanups are
conducted safely and that “the polluter pays for that,″ Regan said.
Environmental and public health groups welcomed the announcement.
Advocates have long urged action on PFAS by the EPA, FDA, Pentagon and
other agencies.
Thousands of communities have detected PFAS chemicals in their water,
and PFAS have been confirmed at nearly 400 military installations,
according to the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy
organization.
“No one should have to worry about toxic forever chemicals in their tap
water,” said Scott Faber, the group's senior vice president. The group
is grateful that the Biden administration will fulfill the president's
pledge to address PFAS and "begin to turn off the tap of industrial PFAS
pollution,” Faber said.
The American Chemistry Council, which represents major chemical
companies, said it supports “strong, science-based regulation of
chemicals, including PFAS substances.'' But the group added: “All PFAS
are not the same, and they should not all be regulated the same way.
EPA’s Roadmap reinforces the differences between these chemistries and
that they should not all be grouped together. We hope and expect any
federal actions will be consistent with sound science.”
The regulatory strategy comes as Congress considers wide-ranging
legislation to set a national drinking water standard for certain PFAS
chemicals and clean up contaminated sites across the country, including
military bases where high rates of PFAS have been discovered.
Legislation passed by the House would set a national drinking water
standard for PFAS and direct the EPA to develop discharge limits for a
range of industries suspected of releasing PFAS into the water. The bill
has stalled in the Senate.
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., lead sponsor of the House bill, applauded
the EPA announcement and said cleanup of PFAS-contaminated sites must
begin immediately.
“We’ve known about PFAS and its dangerous effects for years, and today,
the federal government made a commitment to the American people that
these chemicals cannot be ignored any longer,'' she said.
Even with EPA action, Congress still must approve legislation to
regulate and clean up PFAS, Dingell said. "It’s time for the Senate to
act,'' she said.
Regan, a former North Carolina environmental regulator who took over as
the EPA head in March, said he saw firsthand in his home state how
dangerous PFAS can be.
As North Carolina's top environmental official, Regan led negotiations
that resulted in the cleanup of the Cape Fear River, which has been
dangerously contaminated by PFAS industrial compounds that were released
for decades from a manufacturing plant run by a spinoff of chemical
giant DuPont.
“I spent time with families in their communities, talking to them about
the fears and worries that they had,'' said Regan, who announced the
agency plan at a news conference in Raleigh. “I spent time talking to
mothers who were concerned about potential long-term impacts to their
children, caregivers who were wondering if terminal illnesses of their
loved ones were connected" to the PFAS release from the Fayetteville
Works plant.
“So there is a real sense of urgency,'' he added.
While praising enforcement actions in North Carolina, Regan said the
state would have been in a stronger position “if the federal government
would have been a better, stronger partner.''
The EPA under his leadership has “done more in eight months" on PFAS
than the previous administration did in four years, he said.
Officials expect a proposed rule on PFAS in drinking water by 2023,
Regan said. “We’re going to move as quickly as possible to set these
safe drinking water limits,'' he said.
Action on PFAS will not be done “on the backs of the American people,''
Regan added. “We are holding the polluters accountable, and we’re using
the full extent of our statutory authority to be sure that they pay for
what they’ve done.''