Gillibrand Demands Answers From EPA On Why It Has Yet To Act And Protect Communities Across The Country From Toxic PFAS Chemicals

Statement

At a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand questioned an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official on the agency's unwillingness to protect communities from per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. Gillibrand questioned Charlotte Bertrand, the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Policy for the Office of Water at the EPA, over the agency's slow action to determine whether or not to move forward with developing a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for PFAS chemicals under the Safe Drinking Water Act. A MCL would set an enforceable standard and a legal limit of the chemicals to be permitted in public water systems. In the hearing, Gillibrand outlined that the EPA has all the information it needs to make a decision today.

"Ms. Bertrand, I was very disheartened when during a House Committee hearing last month, David Ross, the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water at the EPA, was unable -- or unwilling -- to commit that EPA would make a determination to regulate PFAS chemicals under the Safe Drinking Water Act," said Senator Gillibrand. "You may be aware that under the Safe Drinking Water Act, there are three criteria that the EPA must consider when deciding to move forward with setting a drinking water regulation… There's so much publicly available information already that supports conclusions on those three elements."

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