Strategic Roadmap to address PFAS contamination

On October 18, 2021 EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the agency’s comprehensive Strategic Roadmap to address PFAS contamination. This roadmap replaces the agency’s previous PFAS Action Plan of 2019. Although there are many carryovers from the previous plan, the action items in this roadmap are more detailed, have more aggressive timelines, and there are new goals to achieve.

The three tenants of EPA’s new plan are research, restrict and remediate. Every division within the agency will have a role to play in supporting these directives. The timelines are ambitious. Some goals were immediately fulfilled while others have already passed. 2022 promises to be a busy year with a new National Defense Authorization Act looming and EPA commitments to initiate various rule making efforts in the new year.

Some of the most notable directives or pending actions include:

• Establish a national primary drinking water regulation for PFOA and PFOS Proposed Rule. The Agency is now developing a proposed NPDWR for PFOA and PFOS. As EPA undertakes this action, the Agency is also evaluating additional PFAS and considering regulatory actions to address groups of PFAS. EPA expects to issue a proposed regulation in Fall 2022 - Expected Fall 2022, Final Rule Expected Fall 2023
• Propose to designate certain PFAS as CERCLA hazardous substances. EPA is developing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to designate PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA hazardous substances. The rulemaking will be available for public comment in Spring 2022 - Proposed rule expected Spring 2022; Final rule expected Summer 2023
• Finalize new PFAS reporting under TSCA Section 8. In June 2021, EPA published a proposed data-gathering rule that would collect certain information on any PFAS manufactured since 2011, including information on uses, production volumes, disposal, exposures, and hazards. EPA will finalize the rule before January 1, 2023. - Expected Winter 2022
• Enhanced PFAS reporting under the Toxics Release Inventory. EPA intends to propose a rulemaking in 2022 to categorize the PFAS on the TRI list as “Chemicals of Special Concern” and to remove the de minimis eligibility from supplier notification requirements for all “Chemicals of Special Concern.” - Expected Spring 2022
• Restrict PFAS discharges from industrial sources through a multi-faceted Effluent Limitations Guidelines (EFG) program. - Expected 2022 and Ongoing