A group of state attorneys general (AGs) is urging EPA to use its upcoming plan for how it will spend money from the fiscal year 2022 spending law on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to step up its leadership on the issue while also ensuring the funding is directed to ensure the agency accomplishes the goals in its PFAS Strategic Roadmap.
“We urge the EPA to exercise increased and sustained leadership in its spend plan to accelerate progress to clean up PFAS contamination, prevent new contamination, and make game-changing breakthroughs in the scientific understanding of PFAS,” the AGs of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, Connecticut, Oregon, Hawaii, Delaware, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Rhode Island write in an April 13 letter to the agency.
The AGs letter comes as EPA faces a May 15 deadline to craft a congressionally mandated plan for how officials intend to spend the $75 million EPA received in FY22 to address the chemical class.
Environmentalists have already urged EPA Administrator Michael Regan to prioritize limits on industrial wastewater discharges of PFAS into the nation’s waters and to funnel additional money beyond the $75 million toward PFAS in FY22.
And beyond the $75 million Congress is expecting the agency to spend in FY22, the Biden administration is also seeking an estimated $126 million in FY23 to address a range of issues related to PFAS.
Read More: https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ags-press-epa-step-pfas-leadership-fy22-spend-plan