One of EPA’s most consequential “forever chemicals” proposals will be under the microscope at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing this week.
On the agenda is a draft rule that would designate the two most widely detected and studied PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, also known as the Superfund law.
That designation would trigger stricter reporting requirements and require polluters to foot the bill for cleanup. It means areas contaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) could soon be eligible to be listed as Superfund sites.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a class of thousands upon thousands of chemicals used in a slew of products, from cookware and clothing to semiconductors and solar panels.
