Update appended
WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency is reaffirming its decision to list PFOA and PFOS – two of the most notorious “forever chemicals” known as PFAS – as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law.
The EPA’s announcement, in a September 17 press release and court filing, confirms that the rule will remain in place, despite ongoing legal challenges filed by industry groups and others.
The move clears the way for the government to hold PFAS polluters financially responsible for decades of contamination. It will also jumpstart long-overdue cleanup at hundreds of polluted sites throughout the U.S., including Department of Defense bases.
For decades, chemical giants like DuPont and 3M concealed the health risks of PFAS from regulators, workers and surrounding communities. These toxic chemicals not only contaminate land but also air and drinking water supplies.
The Environmental Working Group supports the EPA’s defense of the rule, which the agency issued using authority in the Superfund law, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA.
EWG also supports the EPA’s longstanding enforcement discretion policy, which was updated last year to address PFAS and the agency’s approach to entities like water utilities and municipalities. These policies promote equity without undermining accountability. A clear enforcement policy can protect non-polluting parties without letting PFAS polluters off the hook.
The EPA’s enforcement discretion and existing CERCLA exemptions have been used for more than 40 years to apply liability equitably in cleanups involving the almost 800 other substances designated as hazardous under CERCLA.
PFAS like PFOA and PFOS are linked to cancer, reproductive harm, immune system damage and other serious health problems, even at low levels. They do not break down in the environment and can accumulate in the human body. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has detected PFAS in the blood of 99% of Americans, including newborn babies.
The following is a statement from Melanie Benesh, EWG’s vice president of government affairs:
Designating PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances is not just scientifically necessary – it is morally urgent. This designation gives regulators more power to begin long-overdue cleanup at hundreds of contaminated sites, including nearly 500 military bases.
Communities should never have to pay the price for decades of chemical industry deception. The polluter-pays principle must remain central to Superfund enforcement.
For decades, companies and even the U.S. military knowingly released PFAS into the environment, hiding the dangers while contaminating water and communities nationwide.
This rule gives the federal government the tools it needs to finally hold these corporations and other polluters accountable. EPA’s reaffirmation of this rule is a win for environmental justice, giving communities poisoned without their knowledge a long-overdue path to relief.
The science is clear. The damage is widespread. The public is demanding action. Now, with this designation, PFAS polluters will finally be held responsible, and cleanup can finally begin – with taxpayers no longer footing the bill for corporate negligence.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
Editor's note: This release has been updated to clarify language on enforcement discretion.
