On November 14, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the release of EPA’s third annual progress report on EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap, and the report indicates a growing focus on PFAS-related enforcement and compliance. Among other things, the report highlights the designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the related enforcement policy that “reinforces the EPA’s laser focus on the significant contributors to the PFAS contamination challenge—and not on entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, such as farms where biosolids are applied to the land, community water systems, or publicly owned treatment works.” The report also highlights EPA’s addition of ”Addressing Exposure to PFAS” as a National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative that will “ensure [EPA] continues to build upon its goals to take enforcement actions to protect public health.”
The Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement can be found here, and EPA’s Third Annual Progress Report can be found here.
