WASHINGTON (CN) — The Biden administration has finalized tougher drinking water standards for toxic “forever chemicals” and is making $1 billion available for thousands of public systems to reach compliance.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, will announce the regulations at an event Wednesday in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Called forever chemicals because they can take hundreds to thousands of years to break down, the regulation governs the prevalence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. The chemicals include several substances that have been used for goods like nonstick pans, food packaging and firefighting foam and have been linked to cancer, liver and heart problems and other severe health issues.
EPA officials say the regulation will reduce exposure for an estimated 100 million people, prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious illnesses.
“With today’s action, we are one huge step closer to shutting off the tap on forever chemicals once and for all,” Regan told reporters Tuesday.
Officials estimate that between 6% and 10% of the 66,000 public drinking water systems will have to take some sort of action to reduce the level of chemicals in their water.
“We know it can be achieved using a range of available technologies and approaches,” Regan said.
Public drinking water systems have three years to complete monitoring for the chemicals and make the findings public. They then have two years to purchase and install the necessary equipment to reduce toxin levels for a total five-year compliance window.
“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,” Mallory said in a press release.
The funding announced Wednesday is part of $9 billion set aside through the bipartisan infrastructure law specifically for drinking water systems impacted by PFAS.
Wednesday’s event location was chosen because, in 2017, area residents learned that the Cape Fear River was “heavily contaminated” because the chemical plant Chemours and its predecessor company, Dupont, had been dumping PFAS into the river for decades.
“No one should ever worry if their tap water will make them sick or give them cancer,” said Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear. “I’m grateful the Biden EPA heard our pleas and kept its promise to the American people.”
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