The PFBS assessment was a day one priority for the Biden administration, with EPA officials working to withdraw and replace the evaluation almost immediately after the president’s inauguration. Other efforts have been more slow-going but still very much underway, including work to revisit final risk evaluations for the first 10 chemicals singled out under the overhauled Toxic Substances Control Act.
Advocacy groups have cheered those moves while arguing they could go further. Kyla Bennett, who directs science policy for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the Trump administration made “indefensible decisions” around chemicals but asserted the problems run much deeper. She cited whistleblower complaints out of the chemicals office that have sprung up under Biden and concerns voiced by staff regarding industry interference (Greenwire, Dec. 23, 2021).
