EPA PFAS Progress Report and 2023 Community Engagements
EPA has published a new report entitled, “A Year of Progress Under EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap,” that highlights key Agency actions taken since the Roadmap’s release in October 2021. EPA’s efforts are part of a whole-of-government approach that is led by the White House and coordinated across federal agencies to protect public health and the environment from PFAS. The report also provides information about planned activities for the next year, that include priorities for EPA’s work to research, restrict, and remediate PFAS such as proposing national drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, moving forward with the regulatory process for CERCLA hazardous-substance designations, improving the availability of data on PFAS, and further restricting upstream PFAS discharges. Key EPA actions highlighted in the report from this past year include:
- Proposing to designate two PFAS as CERCLA hazardous substances
- Releasing of drinking water health advisories
- Issuing of the first test order under EPA’s National PFAS Testing Strategy
- Finalizing the UCMR5 for sampling 29 PFAS in drinking water to begin in 2023
- Beginning to distribute $10 billion in funding to address emerging contaminants under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
- Releasing more than 30 scientific publications by EPA researchers and EPA’s PFAS Thermal Treatment Database
- Developing new PFAS methods and conducting toxicity assessments
- Issuing the Draft Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for PFOA and PFOS
- Continuing engagement with the public and with EPA’s federal advisory committees
Upcoming Regional Community Engagements: EPA also announced that it will hold virtual community engagement events in each EPA Region in 2023. These engagements align with recommendations from the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and EPA’s Roadmap commitment to engage directly with stakeholders. More information on these sessions will be available on EPA’s website, including an opportunity to register to provide input.
For more information, visit EPA’s PFAS website, view the news release, and read the PFAS Progress Report here.
