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Washington D.C – Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized rules under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), more commonly known as the Superfund law, to help ensure that companies that are responsible for contamination will be responsible for the costs of cleaning up contamination of dangerous PFAS chemicals. The EPA’s designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances allows the EPA to require tracking of any releases of these chemicals. It allows them to compel potentially responsible parties to clean up or pay for it. In response, Defend Our Health’s VP of Programs and Policy, Sarah Woodbury, stated:

“The designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances is a step in the right direction to hold polluters accountable for the contamination they have caused across the country. We are grateful to the EPA and the Biden administration for taking yet another important step to help protect the public health and environment from PFAS contamination Maine has continually led on this issue, designating PFAS as a hazardous substance in 2021. We hope the EPA will follow Maine’s lead and continue to take bold action to protect public health and the environment from PFAS exposure.”