EPA will require polluters to pay to clean up two permanent chemicals

The Biden administration is designating two permanent chemicals — man-made compounds — linked to serious health risks as hazardous under the Superfund law and shifting responsibility for their cleanup from taxpayers to polluters.

The new rules announced Friday empower the government to force many companies that produce or use perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOA, and perfluorooctane sulfonate, known as PFOS, to monitor any releases into the environment and be responsible for cleaning them up. These companies could face billions of dollars in liabilities.

These compounds, found in everything from dental floss to firefighting foam to children’s toys, are called forever chemicals because they degrade very slowly and can accumulate in the body and environment. According to the EPA, exposure to PFAS has been linked to metabolic disorders, reduced fertility in women, developmental delays in children, and an increased risk of certain prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers.

These chemicals are so ubiquitous that they can be found in the blood of nearly every American. A recent government study detected PFAS chemicals in nearly half of the nation’s tap water. In 2022, the EPA found that these chemicals may cause far less harm than previously understood, and that almost no exposure levels are safe.

The pair of compounds are part of a large family of chemicals collectively known as PFAS.

The news comes after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week took the unusual step of requiring water companies to reduce PFAS levels in drinking water to near-zero levels. The agency also proposed designating seven additional PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances.

President Biden understands the threat chemicals pose to the health of families across the country, said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan. Bringing these chemicals within our Superfund authority will allow EPA to address more contaminated sites, take action earlier, and speed cleanups while ensuring polluters pay the cost of cleaning up contamination that threatens community health.

Under the new rules, companies must immediately report releases of PFOA and PFOS that reach or exceed 1 pound within 24 hours to the National Response Center and state, tribal and local emergency responders.

The EPA says it’s important to detect PFAS contamination quickly because delays can allow the chemicals to migrate into soil and water sources.

Ken Cook, chairman of the advocacy group Environmental Working Group, said it’s long past time for the polluters who poison us all to be held accountable. It comes too late for all those who were poisoned without their knowledge or consent and paid the price for one of the worst environmental crimes in history. But today’s designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances is the first step in bringing justice to those who have been harmed.

Dr. Tracy Woodruff, director of the university’s reproductive health and environment program, said shifting cleanup costs to polluters is good news for many communities grappling with PFAS contamination, many of which are also low-income and people of color. Various communities of people, California, San Francisco. This is another step toward protecting people from the health hazards of this notoriously toxic chemical.

Industries that use these chemicals say the designation is too costly. In public comments submitted after the EPA proposed the rule in 2022, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote that it was concerned about the high regulatory cost burden of such an expensive and unnecessary designation, estimating that industries would have to pay up to $22 billion Used to follow rules and clean up pollution.

The National Association of Manufacturers writes: This approach could quickly engulf nearly every manufacturing industry, downstream user communities and other entities, including municipal water districts and commercial airports, launching lengthy and expensive litigation over legacy activities far beyond their control. . Not only is this unfair, but perhaps more importantly, it won’t speed up cleanup: it will have the opposite effect.

The rule also requires that federal entities transferring or selling their property must provide notification of the storage, release, or disposal of PFOA or PFOS on the property and assurances that the contamination has been removed or, if required, will be done so in the future. It will also lead the Department of Transportation’s efforts to classify and regulate these substances as hazardous materials under the Transportation of Hazardous Materials Act.

This rule will take effect in 60 days.