By Glynn Wilson – 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — For 25 years since I was first hired by newspapers to cover the environment as a news beat activists have begged, pleaded and prodded the federal government to pass and enforce laws and regulations to force polluting industries to do more to protect public health.

Progress had been made in the late 1960s and early ’70s. But much of that progress was reversed in the anti-regulation period of the 1980s.

The movement gained steam again in the 1990s with Al Gore in the White House as Vice President. But the progress came to a screeching halt again when the first female justice of the United State Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Conner, cast the deciding vote to halt recounts in Florida in the year 2000 and handed the White House back to anti-regulation Republicans led by the corporate supporters of George W. Bush.

After eight disastrous years, with debilitating wars and the economy nearly plunged into a global depression, the people elected an administration that came to deal with environmental threats during and after the BP oil spill of 2010. It was the largest, most devastating environmental disaster in the nation’s history, and ultimately the most expensive disaster of any kind. This prompted the Obama administration to roll back much of the Bush policy framework and move to once again regulate pollution.

Then Donald Trump came along in 2017 and reversed it all over, setting back progress again.

It’s not clear how many more of these on-again, off-again periods people have left to prevent the environmental destruction from spiraling out of control and making much of the planet uninhabitable due to climate change from global warming because of the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation. But once again there is an administration in charge in Washington that is pushing ahead on every possible front.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule on April 9 that once implemented will significantly reduce toxic air pollution from chemical plants, including ethylene oxide and chloroprene, according to a press announcement.

And on April 10, the Biden-Harris administration issued the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to harmful ‘forever chemicals,’ according to another press announcement.

It remains to be seen whether enough people will continue to support this direction for the country in the coming election in November. This news is not the kind of sensational clickbait that gets shared to the point of going viral on social media. There’s nothing sexy about it. But it is the job of the press in the country to report the details of these stories whether people care enough to share them or not.

Regulating Chemical Plants

EPA’s action is designed to advance President Joe Biden’s commitment to environmental justice by slashing more than 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution each year, dramatically reducing the number of people with elevated cancer risk due to toxic air pollution in communities surrounding plants covered by the rule. The regulation of chemical plants is designed to reduce emissions by close to 80 percent, not everything environmentalists demanded but more than anything that has ever been done before.

“President Biden believes every community in this country deserves to breathe clean air,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in making the announcement. “We promised to listen to folks that are suffering from pollution and act to protect them. Today we deliver on that promise with strong final standards to slash pollution, reduce cancer risk, and ensure cleaner air for nearby communities.”

Companies will now be requirement to conduct fenceline monitoring for key toxic chemicals and EPA will make the data available to the public.

“By issuing strong clean air standards and requiring companies to monitor pollution at the fenceline, the Biden-Harris Administration is protecting communities from toxic chemicals that can cause cancer and ensuring people know what is in their air,” White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory said. “This critical step advances President Biden’s commitment to environmental justice for overburdened communities and will help keep children safe from toxic chemical exposure.”

The rule also reduces the emissions of air toxics such as benzene, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride and is projected to dramatically reduce the risks of people developing cancer from breathing in toxic air pollutants. It is expected to reduce smog-forming volatile organic compounds by 23,700 tons a year.

“This announcement is a monumental step towards safeguarding public health and the environment,” said Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter. “By slashing over 6,200 tons of toxic air pollutants annually and implementing fenceline monitoring, this addresses health risks in surrounding communities and promotes environmental justice in states like Louisiana. With a substantial reduction of nearly 80 percent in emissions from covered sources, this is a significant stride towards protecting current and future generations from the harmful effects of these carcinogenic chemicals and demonstrates a path forward for communities and industry to coexist.”

The regulations apply to equipment and processes at about 200 plants that make synthetic organic chemicals and a variety of polymers and resins, including neoprene and chloroprene. Long-term exposure to these chemicals can increase the risk of certain types of cancer, such as lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer and liver cancer. EPA also expects the rule to better protect children who are more exposed and more susceptible to the effects of toxic chemicals.

“Today marks a victory in the pursuit for environmental justice, with the final rule poised to significantly reduce the toxic air pollution that harms communities in Texas’s Gulf Coast, Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, and throughout the U.S.,” said Earthjustice Vice President for Healthy Communities Patrice Simms. “Setting protective air standards for over 200 chemical plants and requiring fenceline monitoring for some of the most toxic emissions shows a commitment to protecting public health. We look forward to the EPA’s swift implementation and rigorous enforcement of this critical rule.”

Clean Drinking Water

The administration also issued the first legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to harmful polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals” that persist in the environment. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to deadly cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children.

“This final rule represents the most significant step to protect public health under EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap,” EPA administrator Regan said in the announcement.

The final rule will reduce PFAS exposure for approximately 100 million people, prevent thousands of deaths, and reduce tens of thousands of serious illnesses. In addition to the final rule, EPA is announcing nearly $1 billion in newly available funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help states and territories implement chemical testing and treatment at public water systems and to help owners of private wells address this contamination. This is part of a $9 billion investment to help communities with drinking water impacted by the chemicals and other emerging contaminants. An additional $12 billion is available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for general drinking water improvements, including addressing emerging contaminants like PFAS.

Regan joined Mallory to announce the final standard at an event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where in 2017, area residents learned that the Cape Fear River, the drinking water source for 1 million people in the region, had been heavily contaminated with forever chemical pollution from a nearby manufacturing plant, according to a press announcement.

“Drinking water contaminated with PFAS has plagued communities across this country for too long,” Regan said. “That is why President Biden has made tackling PFAS a top priority, investing historic resources to address these harmful chemicals and protect communities nationwide. Our PFAS Strategic Roadmap marshals the full breadth of EPA’s authority and resources to protect people from these harmful forever chemicals. I am proud to finalize this critical piece of our Roadmap, and in doing so, save thousands of lives and help ensure our children grow up healthier.”

“President Biden believes that everyone deserves access to clean, safe drinking water, and he is delivering on that promise,” Mallory said. “The first national drinking water standards for PFAS marks a significant step towards delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing environmental justice, protecting communities, and securing clean water for people across the country.”

EPA is taking a signature step to protect public health by establishing legally enforceable levels for several PFAS known to occur individually and as mixtures in drinking water and sets a limit for mixtures of any two or more of the chemicals. By reducing exposure, this final rule is projected to prevent thousands of premature deaths and tens of thousands of serious illnesses, including certain cancers and liver and heart impacts in adults, and immune and developmental impacts to infants and children.

“Under President Biden’s leadership, we are taking a whole-of-government approach to tackle PFAS pollution and ensure that all Americans have access to clean, safe drinking water. The announcement by EPA complements these efforts and will help keep our communities safe from these toxic ‘forever chemicals,’” said Deputy Assistant to the President for the Cancer Moonshot, Dr. Danielle Carnival. “Coupled with the additional $1 billion investment from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help communities address PFAS pollution, the reductions in exposure to toxic substances delivered by EPA’s standards will further the Biden Cancer Moonshot goal of reducing the cancer death rate by at least half by 2047 and preventing more than four million cancer deaths — and stopping cancer before it starts by protecting communities from known risks associated with exposure to PFAS and other contaminants, including kidney and testicular cancers, and more.”

EPA estimates that between about 6 percent and 10 percent of the 66,000 public drinking water systems subject to this rule may have to take action to reduce the chemicals to meet the new standards. All public water systems have three years to complete their initial monitoring for these chemicals. They must inform the public of the level of PFAS measured in their drinking water. Where PFAS is found at levels that exceed these standards, systems must implement solutions to reduce PFAS in their drinking water within five years.

The new limits in this rule are achievable using a range of available technologies and approaches including granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and ion exchange systems. For example, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, serving Wilmington, NC – one of the communities most heavily impacted by PFAS contamination – has effectively deployed a granular activated carbon system to remove PFAS regulated by this rule. Drinking water systems will have flexibility to determine the best solution for their community.

EPA will be working closely with state co-regulators in supporting water systems and local officials to implement this rule.

“We are thankful that Administrator Regan and the Biden Administration are taking this action to protect drinking water in North Carolina and across the country,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. “We asked for this because we know science-based standards for PFAS and other compounds are desperately needed.”

In the coming weeks, EPA will host a series of webinars to provide information to the public, communities, and water utilities about the final drinking water regulation. EPA has also published a toolkit of communications resources to help drinking water systems and community leaders educate the public about PFAS, where they come from, their health risks, how to reduce exposure.

“For decades, the American people have been exposed to the family of incredibly toxic ‘forever chemicals’ known as PFAS with no protection from their government. Those chemicals now contaminate virtually all Americans from birth. That’s because for generations, PFAS chemicals slid off of every federal environmental law like a fried egg off a Teflon pan — until Joe Biden came along,” said Environmental Working Group President and Co-Founder Ken Cook.

“We commend EPA Administrator Michael Regan for his tireless leadership to make this decision a reality, and CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory for making sure PFAS is tackled with the ‘whole of government’ approach President Biden promised,” Cook said. “There is much work yet to be done to end PFAS pollution. The fact that the EPA has adopted the very strong policy announced today should give everyone confidence that the Biden administration will stay the course and keep the president’s promises, until the American people are protected, at long last, from the scourge of PFAS pollution.”

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