WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) and Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change Republican Leader John Shimkus (R-IL) praised the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Administrator Andrew Wheeler for their proposal to regulate perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in drinking water.
This builds on recent announcements to direct resources to ensure safe drinking water.
“This is an important step forward under both the EPA’s PFAS Action Plan and the Safe Drinking Water Act to address PFOA and PFOS in drinking water," said Walden and Shimkus. “Administrator Wheeler, the hardworking Agency staff, and Republicans on this committee are all focused on protecting the environment and the public through a deliberative approach based on high-quality science. We look forward to following the Agency’s progress to issuing a final regulatory determination and in ensuring communities across the country are protected."
Background
* The Democrats partisan bill, The PFAS Action Act of 2019, uses aggressive, anti-science regulatory framework to regulate PFAS substances under several environmental statutes - the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Clean Air Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
* According to EPA’s website, thereare more than 7,860 PFAS chemicals - of those, only 29 have scientifically valid ways to measure their presence in drinking water.
* In the NDAA and December spending package, additional progress in protecting health could have been made but the House Democrats rejected establishing a drinking water standard for PFOA and PFOS, and mandating cleanup of PFOA and PFOS at all DOD facilities.
For more information on the EPA’s PFAS Action Plan, please visit this site.
