Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Friday marks one year since the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its latest plan to address the crisis of the toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS, which have likely contaminated a majority of drinking water supplies nationwide. But President Trumps so-called action plan has met few of the milestones parents expect from a one-year-old.

The 72-page plan would certainly help anyone sleep through the night. But Trumps plan has barely crawled, much less walked. After one year, the Trump administration has:

The EPA has approved a new method to detect PFAS in drinking water, but the Food and Drug Administration has taken steps to hide detections of PFAS in food. The administration has also proposed more reporting of industrial PFAS discharges into the air and water but did not identify which of the compounds would have to be reported.

No wonder those and other meager efforts earned Trumps EPA a grade of D minus from Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the top-ranking Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee. But the agencys poor PFAS report cards date back more than two decades.

Heres a timelineof the agencys shameful record.

In 1998, EPA officials were firstnotifiedby 3M that PFAS chemicals were toxic. In 2001 the agencyreceivedinternal company studies documenting PFAS health risks, and two years laterreceivedmore animal studies. But underpressurefrom industry, in 2006, EPA said the agency was unaware of studies linking PFOA, used to make Teflon, to health harms even though the agency had just fined DuPont for failing to report its health effects, and EPAs own Science Advisory Boardfoundthat PFOA was a likely human carcinogen.

Not until 2009 did the EPAissueits first PFAS action plan andestablisha non-enforceable provisional health advisory for PFOA and PFOS, an ingredient in Scotchgard. The second PFAS action plan, issued a year ago, contains many of the same recommendations and includes no deadlines.

Without irony, EPA recentlyissueda statement touting the agencys aggressive efforts to address PFAS pollution just hours before the White House threatened to vetoHouse legislationthat would set deadlines for EPA action on PFAS.

So it should be no surprise that Congress recently passed H.R. 535, the bipartisan PFAS Action Act. The legislation would immediately designate PFOA and PFOS ashazardous substances, set a two-year deadline for EPA to establish a drinking water standard, and set deadlines for EPA to finallyrestrict PFAS releasesinto the air and water.

Clearly, at one year old, the EPAs PFAS action plan needs more adult supervision.

Continue reading here:

One Year Into Trump's PFAS Action Plan, Few Signs of Progress - Environmental Working Group