April 12, 2022
A group of House lawmakers is urging EPA to step up its timeline for a promised rule that would broaden Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), calling the agency’s failure to meet a self-imposed March target for the proposal “deeply concerning.”
In the April 11 letter, 41 House members including Reps. Dan Kildee (D-MI), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), among many others who have been active on PFAS regulation, write that they are “highly concerned that the agency is running behind its own schedule as a recent EPA news release indicates that the proposed rule is now expected to be released this summer.”
The Trump EPA added PFAS to the TRI roster for the first time in 2020, under a congressional mandate in that year’s national defense authorization act (NDAA), but include a de minimis reporting threshold and other exemptions that the lawmakers say amount to “reporting loopholes,” and which they say led to an “exceptionally low” number of facilities actually reporting PFAS releases in their 2021 data.
“[T]he way in which the EPA codified the TRI-listed PFAS into law allows polluters to utilize exemptions to significantly underreport or avoid reporting its PFAS releases entirely,” reads the letter, which is addressed to chemicals chief Michal Freedhoff.
Source: https://insideepa.com/daily-news/house-group-urges-epa-quickly-close-tri-loophole-pfas-reports?s=em
