Administrator Michael Regan, Remarks For PFAS Roadmap Announcement, As Prepared for Delivery
October 18, 2021
Thank you, Governor. I’m so proud of the work we did together – and grateful for your exceptional leadership and for the strong partnership we have between your administration and EPA.
Secretary Biser, I know DEQ is in great hands with you at the helm. Thanks for all you do to protect the health of North Carolina families and to safeguard our environment.
Congresswoman Ross, thank you for joining us and welcoming us to your district. And thank you for your leadership on so many environmental challenges, especially PFAS.
I also want to recognize EPA’s Office of Research and Development who’ve contributed so much to our understanding of PFAS and our efforts to take on this complex environmental challenge.
Before I get started today, I would like to take a moment to recognize the loss of a true American hero, General Colin Powell. His contributions to this country are immeasurable. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
It’s great to be home because there’s no place like North Carolina. The people are kind. They look out for one another. And they care deeply about the wellbeing of their communities.
So, when Governor Cooper appointed me Secretary of DEQ back in 2017, I felt like I had hit the jackpot. During the interview he asked me, “Michael what do we tell people who think you are too young for the job?” I paused and said, “Governor, I promise I will work on that every single day.” And we never looked back!
The opportunity to work every day to improve the lives of my fellow North Carolinians was a tremendous honor and responsibility.
But almost immediately, I was confronted with the most complex pollution challenge I’d face as Secretary. We all had given a great deal of thought to how we tackle the impacts of climate change, advance environmental justice, and clean up coal ash… but GenX was a startling discovery.
An NC State engineering professor and his students were conducting water sampling in the Cape Fear River, which is about 50 miles from where we’re standing today. They discovered the presence of a compound called GenX – a pollutant that has been linked to a variety of health effects, including thyroid and liver issues, decreased infant birth weights, and even certain types of cancers.
Not only is our Cape Fear River a state treasure, but it provides drinking water for 1.5 million people, many of whom are people of color or low-income.
PFAS chemicals were considered a “silver bullet” when they were developed in the 1940s… ironically, a means of making our lives easier. They were used in households across America – from nonstick cookware to grease-resistant food packaging, stain- and-water resistant fabrics to cleaning products.
These unregulated compounds quickly became prominent in our everyday life – propelled by the promise of a better life, made easier by technology.
The discovery made by this NC State professor, and subsequent investigations by the North Carolina DEQ, would help uncover the truth about these toxic chemicals, and in short order, identify the culprit.
It didn’t take long to determine that all roads led to Chemours, a chemical manufacturing company in Fayetteville. It turned out that Chemours had been polluting our air and our water with these “forever” chemicals since the ‘70s.
They knew they were putting these chemicals into the environment, and yet, they remained silent as huge profits rolled in. All this time, there had been no one keeping Chemours in check, holding them accountable, or preventing them from indiscriminately dumping chemicals into the environment in the first place.
As Secretary, I knew tackling this challenge would require state and federal leadership. But we were hindered by a General Assembly that had significantly weakened DEQ with budget cut after budget cut, and at the federal level, an administration who was more concerned with undoing environmental laws than protecting people.
So, we stepped it up. We immediately revoked Chemours’ discharge permit, and by following the science and following the law, we issued a consent order that took bold steps to hold Chemours accountable.
That consent order resulted in the largest fine against a corporate polluter in North Carolina history. More importantly, it required Chemours to pay for and execute a cleanup plan and protect public drinking water sources for people in the Cape Fear River.
But that consent order could not undo the damage that had already been inflicted upon these communities. It could not eliminate the lingering questions people had about whether PFAS was the reason a loved one developed cancer. It could not completely ease a mother’s worry about years of bathing her child in contaminated water.
As a parent, I wish it could have accomplished all those things. But what this consent order did accomplish was it set down a marker. It put polluters on notice – not just in North Carolina, but across the country – from Litchfield, New Hampshire, to Security, Colorado.
Today, I may have a different title, but I want the American people to know that I’m just as committed, just as laser-focused, and just as prepared to do whatever it takes to protect our communities from PFAS and to hold polluters accountable. Enough is enough. It’s time we prioritize the health of the American people over the profits of big polluters.
I want to go as far and as fast as we can to keep our families safe and to get these toxic chemicals out of our communities.
Today, because of researchers at NC State, scientists at EPA, advocacy organizations, and so many communities that depend on the drinking water from the Cape Fear River – we’ve expanded our understanding of PFAS, and we know more now than ever before.
That’s why when I stepped into the role of EPA Administrator, one of my first actions was establishing the EPA Council on PFAS. Despite the previous administration’s anti-science stance, which severely strained EPA’s financial and human capital, I charged the Council with undertaking a comprehensive review of the problem and identifying solutions that we could implement right away.
Today, I am proud to announce the results of the Council’s work and to put into motion EPA’s comprehensive national strategy to confront this pervasive challenge.
First, we are announcing a national testing strategy that forces PFAS manufacturers – from Chemours to 3M – to disclose in great detail just how toxic their chemicals really are. This would take EPA decades to do on our own at the expense of American families, but instead, the polluters who are poisoning our nation’s waterways will be responsible for conducting and paying for this work.
This strategy outlines how we’ll be addressing PFAS chemicals in groups or categories instead of on an individual basis, saving precious time and resources.
The data and information we receive is what EPA needs to unlock our regulatory arsenal for many PFAS chemicals and to hold these polluters accountable for the harm they’ve caused.
I expect the first mandatory test orders to be sent to industry within a couple of months, and I am certain that among the very first PFAS we require testing on, will be some that have polluted the environment right here in North Carolina.
EPA and its federal partners will also further invest in research, development, and innovation to increase our understanding of how PFAS harms people and the environment. We need to gain a stronger and more complete science-based understanding of the problem, so we can put in place durable solutions that keep people healthy.
Second, EPA will establish national drinking water regulations for PFAS chemicals under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and we are moving forward to designate certain PFAS as hazardous substances under EPA’s Superfund law.
For years, the Superfund program has successfully protected American communities by requiring polluters to pay to clean up the hazardous waste and pollution they’ve released into the environment.
This strategy will leverage EPA’s existing authority to take bold action to restrict PFAS chemicals from entering the air, land, and water at levels that are harmful to public health and the environment. My experience at both the state and federal level has made it clear that we need to strengthen government’s legal authority to protect the people it serves.
Third, EPA will immediately broaden and accelerate the cleanup of PFAS contamination that we know of today. When EPA becomes aware of a situation where PFAS poses a serious threat to the health of a community, we will not hesitate to take swift and strong enforcement action to address the threat and hold the polluters accountable. Where we find contamination, we will seek necessary monitoring and cleanup from polluters.
This strategy is guided by President Biden’s “whole-of-government” approach, which means EPA will work closely with our federal partners – from Health and Human Services to Department of Defense – to identify facilities where PFAS have been used and are a known source of contamination. In partnership with DOD, we will conduct research into testing and control technologies that will support federal agencies and communities in their efforts to address PFAS contamination.
There are many other actions in this strategy, including a final toxicity assessment for GenX that we’re issuing in the coming days, which will help us ensure that no other community has to go through what the Cape Fear River communities had to endure.
Each of these actions is important on its own. But the cumulative impact is greater than the sum of its parts – this is a strategic alignment and acceleration of EPA research, regulation, and enforcement that finally addresses the full lifecycle of these chemicals.
Despite depleted resources and overstretched staff, this year my team has done more to accelerate the pace of meaningful action on PFAS in the last eight months than in the entire previous 48 months.
These actions are critical, but they are not enough. And that’s why I’m grateful to my colleagues in Congress for developing much-needed bipartisan legislation to confront this problem head-on, and I respect and appreciate the voices of citizen activists and non-profits calling for faster and more aggressive action.
President Biden has called for more than $10 billion in funding to help address PFAS contamination through his Build Back Better agenda.
These critical resources will enable EPA and other federal agencies to scale up the research and work, so that they’re commensurate with the scale of the challenge we face.
State regulators throughout the country, on both sides of the aisle, are also stepping up. Here in North Carolina, Secretary Biser just issued a $300,000 fine to Chemours for failing to meet its obligation to the people of this state. This is the kind of accountability we want to see nationwide and that we will work with states to achieve.
When I look across the country and see the challenges communities are facing with PFAS, I know there are lessons that others have learned, that we have learned, and that we can share with each other. Every level of government – from local, to state, to Tribal, to federal will need to exercise increased and sustained leadership to truly make progress on PFAS.
We also need the continued partnership of advocacy groups – they play such an important role. They made us listen. I’ve heard you, and I’ve learned from you and from your experience. You have inspired me to never stop pushing for what is right.
I know many will ask why they should trust EPA now. So many communities have been burned and let down before. You’re tired of sounding the alarm. You’re tired of worrying. You’re tired of feeling like no one is listening.
One thing I have learned throughout my career is that trust must be earned. I know that you need to see action. I believe the national strategy I laid out today demonstrates strong, forceful action from EPA … a willingness to use all our authorities, tools, and talent to tackle PFAS pollution.
We have a long way to go, but we are going to get this right, together. Not with empty rhetoric, but with real solutions and with a pledge to hold polluters accountable for the decades of unchecked devastation they’ve caused.
I am committing to you today that everything this EPA does – from addressing PFAS to advancing environmental justice – will be about putting people first. You will never have to wonder who EPA is about. We are about you. We are about your children. We are about your neighbors and your community. And we will fight for you. Every single day.