Bipartisan lawmakers call for the EPA to move faster on ‘forever chemical’ releases

A group of 31 lawmakers is calling on the Biden administration to move faster in its efforts to address the release of toxic chemicals into water.

The group of 29 Democrats and two Republicans said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plan for addressing a group of cancer-linked chemicals “falls short of the agency’s commitment … to ‘get upstream’ of the forever chemicals problem.”

Forever chemicals, also called PFAS, have become pervasive in U.S. waterways and are estimated to be in the blood of 97 percent of Americans. They have been linked to health problems, including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, and high cholesterol. 

The lawmakers took issue with the time that the EPA’s plan is expected to take. 

“The newly released plan will take years to complete, delaying much-needed restrictions on PFAS discharges into waterways,” read the Tuesday letter, which was spearheaded by Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.). 

“Polluters have been given a free pass for far too long, and our constituents deserve more aggressive action,” they added. 

In addition to the timing, the group said they would hope to see the EPA take action against additional industries, particularly those dealing with electrical and electronic components, leather tanning and finishing, paint formulating, and plastics molding and forming. 

The plan, released in January, says the agency intends to propose a rule addressing PFAS discharges from facilities that make the chemicals in the spring of 2024. 

It plans to propose a separate rule to address PFAS discharges from the metal finishing and electroplating industries by the end of 2024. 

 It is not clear when such rules would be finalized or implemented. 

An EPA spokesperson said that the agency will review the letter and respond “via appropriate channels.”

The agency has taken other steps to address PFAS, including proposing limits on how much of the chemicals can be in drinking water. 

This story was updated on April 26 at 1:24 pm ET.