The absence of any federal standards for tracking and managing wastes contaminated with toxic per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) poses a major and growing threat to our health, water, and soil.
That is why, on January 15, 2020, on behalf of the Green Science Policy Institute and community groups nationwide whose drinking water is contaminated with PFAS, the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of California at Berkeley petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate hundreds of known-dangerous PFAS chemicals as “hazardous waste,” and regulate them stringently from cradle to grave.
Similarly, on September 19, 2019, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility petitioned EPA for issuance of a rule to list waste containing PFAS as a hazardous waste under Subpart C of the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA).
EPA’s failure to address the cradle-to-grave management of waste contaminated with PFAS means the problems associated with PFAS contamination will grow exponentially worse over time, imposing tremendous financial, health, and environmental costs on society, while allowing those who created the problem to avoid or minimize financial responsibility for the harm caused by this waste.
