More than 30 members of the U.S. Congress are calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to speed up its efforts to stop industries such as metal finishing from discharging PFAS into wastewater systems.
The 29 Democrats and two Republicans who signed a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan on April 25 say they want new rules per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) expedited. They also want EPA to take action against additional industries besides the nine that the EPA has targeted with new PFAS rules, including metal finishing.
"We are very concerned by the delays in the updated plan for the OCPSF and metal finishing categories, and by the lack of deadlines set by the agency for the other priority industry categories," the letter says.
“The U.S. House of Representatives has twice passed bipartisan legislation that would require the EPA to set PFAS standards for nine priority categories with known or suspected releases of PFAS within four years,” the letter says, calling out industries such as electroplating; metal finishing; organic chemicals, plastics, and synthetic fibers (OCPSF); landfills; textile mills; leather tanning and finishing; paint formulating; electrical and electronic components; and plastics molding and forming.
“We are very concerned by the delays in the updated plan for the OCPSF and metal finishing categories and by the lack of deadlines set by the agency for the other priority industry categories,” says the letter, which was spearheaded by Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).
“We’re also concerned that the EPA has decided not to develop effluent limitation guidelines for four categories: electrical and electronic components; leather tanning and finishing, paint formulating; and plastics molding and forming,” the letter says. “The EPA should not push back previously set deadlines for industries with known industrial discharges of PFAS or punt on developing regulations for other industries likely to be discharging PFAS. Communities living downstream and downwind of industrial PFAS polluters rightfully expect swift action from the EPA after decades of exposure.”
The EPA added 248 shops — while also removing 28 others — from the list of shops they will survey in the coming months on the use of PFAS in their wastewater treatment system. The 74-question survey will be sent to 2,034 shops to gather PFAS discharge information, as well as questions on chromium use.
“Communities have waited decades for action,” the letter says. “Now is the time to protect them. Polluters have been given a free pass for far too long, and our constituents deserve more aggressive action.”
Other members of Congress who signed the letter include Debbie Dingell, Jill Tokuda, Rashida Tlaib, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Shontel M. Brown, Betty McCollum, Haley M. Stevens, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Daniel T. Kildee, Troy Carter, Jennifer L. McClellan, Michael V. Lawler, Katie Porter, Raúl M. Grijalva, Brittany Pettersen, Adriano Espaillat, Adam B. Schiff, Deborah K. Ross, Josh Gottheimer, Elissa Slotkin, James P. McGovern, Sheila Jackson Lee, Mikie Sherrill, Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D., Jerrold Nadler, Hillary J. Scholten, Greg Landsman, Patrick K. Ryan, and Dina Titus.
