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Republicans are attempting to exempt some major polluters from paying for Pfas \u201cforever chemical\u201d cleanup. If successful, it could mark a major setback in US effort to rein in Pfas pollution.<\/p>\n
The Republican-led House energy and commerce committee recently held a hearing<\/a> at which it invited representatives from the water treatment and landfill industries, among others, to make the case about why they should be exempted from rules that hold polluters financially accountable for the cleanup of two types of dangerous Pfas.<\/p>\n Water treatment plants and landfills are major polluters and represent critical points in the effort to curb Pfas<\/a> water pollution nationwide. Utilities already have to remove hundreds of chemicals, so it is unclear why they are so opposed to removing two types of Pfas, said Scott Faber, vice-president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group non-profit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only real difference is Pfas are more toxic \u2026 so the fact that water utilities and landfills are being such crybabies about Pfas says something about how little regard for public health they have,\u201d Faber said.<\/p>\n Pfas are a class of at least 16,000 compounds often used to help products resist water, stains and heat. They are called \u201cforever chemicals\u201d because they do not naturally break down and accumulate in the environment, and they are linked to serious health problems such as cancer, kidney disease, liver problems, immune disorders and birth defects.<\/p>\n Over industry objections, the Environmental Protection Agency in April 2024, under Joe Biden, put in place the rules when it designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the nation\u2019s Superfund law.<\/p>\n The designation gives the EPA the option to require polluters to pay for cleanups, though it isn\u2019t mandated, and the agency has already said it in many cases may not take enforcement action against water utilities.<\/p>\n Still, reversing the rule has been at the top of industry\u2019s wishlist since Trump\u2019s election, but the EPA in September reaffirmed the rule. The hearings represent a first step toward attacking the rule from a different angle by chipping away at it, public health groups opposed to the plan say.<\/p>\n