WASHINGTON – Today marks the 100-day deadline for an Environmental Protection Agency council to submit recommendations to Administrator Michael Regan about coordinating and accelerating remediation of the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
The following is a statement by Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs:
The EPA has waited more than 20 years to tackle the PFAS pollution crisis, and communities should not have to wait any longer for a plan to reduce PFAS releases and exposures, and to clean up legacy PFAS in our drinking water and groundwater.
There is no mystery about what’s needed to address the PFAS pollution crisis. We need to turn off the tap of ongoing pollution and clean up the mess. The only mystery is why it has taken the EPA this long to act.
Today marks a critical moment in the fight to finally reduce and remediate these toxic forever chemicals. But other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Food and Drug Administration, have a role to play that’s just as big as the EPA’s – and they have understood the risks posed by PFAS even longer.
President Joe Biden made PFAS a priority during his campaign, including a pledge to designate PFAS as hazardous substances, to set a drinking water standard and to end the use of PFAS in household products through government purchasing. We’ll know soon whether his administration intends to honor those commitments and do what’s needed to protect us.
###
The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
