EPN In Action July-August 2022

Welcome to your EPN In Action newsletter

Highlights

  • EPN sent a letter to EPA urging the agency to swiftly designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances. We also sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Environment and Public Works urging them to adopt two amendments in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2023 regarding critical actions on PFAS.

  • EPN submitted comments on the draft revised risk determinations for the risk evaluations of Methylene Chloride (MC), Perchloroethylene, (PCE) and n-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP). We also submitted comments on EPA’s proposed Asbestos Part 1 rule, urging the agency to finalize the rule as quickly as possible.

  • EPN submitted comments and presented testimony on the agency’s proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule.

  • EPN sent a letter to EPA expressing our concerns about EPA’s plans to retire its online archive and we submitted comments on the EPA-proposed rule for “Confidential Business Information (CBI) Claims Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).”

EPN Announcements

EPN’s Work on PFAS

Letter Suggesting That PFOA and PFOS Be Designated as Hazardous Substances Under CERCLA

EPN sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management Barry Breen urging EPA to swiftly designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA. We are concerned about the impact this rule may have on wastewater and drinking water utilities and issued recommendations on how EPA can mitigate those impacts.

Letter to Senate Committees Urging Amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 4543) Regarding PFAS

EPN sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Environment and Public Works regarding S. 4543, the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2023. Among other things, we recommended that S. 4543 include amendments that require EPA to use the definition of PFAS developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for the PFAS reporting rule mandated by the FY2020 NDAA and promulgate national technology-based PFAS permit limits for the wastewater discharges of ten industries by 2027.

PFAS in the News

EPN Seeks PFAS ‘Emergency’ in Senate NDAA to Back CWA Streamlining

August 17, 2022 / by

Rick Weber /

Inside EPA

This article referenced EPN’s letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works and Armed Services Committees urging the inclusion of two PFAS amendments in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2023.

SAB Backs EPA’s PFAS Findings for SDWA Rule, but Urges Some Fixes

August 24, 2022 / by

Suzanne Yohannan /

Inside EPA

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted and EPN was mentioned in this article discussing the EPA Science Advisory Board’s report on the scientific analyses EPA will use to set safe drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS.

More Than 8 million Illinoisans Get Drinking Water from a Utility Where Forever Chemicals Have Been Detected

July 12, 2022 / by

Michael Hawthorne /

Chicago Tribune

Linda Birnbaum, former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program and former EPA scientist, and Elsie Sunderland, Professor of Environmental Chemistry, Harvard University, and former Environmental Scientist, EPA Office of Policy, were quoted in this article regarding the toxic health effects of PFOA and PFOS, the two most prevalent PFAS found in drinking water in Illinois, even at very low levels.

EPN’s Work on Toxics

EPN Submits Comments on Revised Risk Determinations for PCE and NMP

EPN submitted comments on the draft revised risk determinations for the risk evaluations of PCE and NMP. We support the agency’s proposed revised risk determinations for these chemicals, which find that the chemicals as a whole present unreasonable risks for injury under their conditions of use and do not assume the use of personal protective equipment.

Comments on Proposed Asbestos Part 1 Rule

EPN submitted comments on EPA's proposed rule Asbestos Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos: Regulation of Certain Conditions of Use Under Section 6(a) of TSCA. EPN is very supportive of the proposed Asbestos Part 1 Rule and urges EPA to finalize this rule as quickly as possible.

Toxics in the News

Birnbaum Says TSCA Grouping Could Help EPA Break Statutory Silos

August 4, 2022 / by

Maria Hegstad /

Inside EPA

Linda Birnbaum, former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program and former EPA scientist, was quoted in this article discussing how a class-based approach to handling chemicals under TSCA could help assess the cumulative human health effects that multiple chemicals have across different media.

Environmentalists Urge EPA To Group Chemicals For TSCA Review

July 11, 2022 / by

Maria Hegstad /

Inside EPA

Bob Sussman, former EPA Deputy Administrator, was quoted in this article suggesting that EPA combine TSCA risk evaluations for different substances in the same chemical category to reduce program costs.

EPN’s Work on Water


Water in the News

How Manchin’s Climate Deal Could Thwart EPA Permitting Rule

August 4, 2022 / by

Hannah Northey and Kelsey Brugger /

E&E News

This article mentions EPN’s comments on EPA’s proposed revisions to the Clean Water Act 401 certification rule and possible impacts Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) permitting reforms could have on the 401 revisions.

EPN’s Work on CBI and Transparency

Comments on TSCA Confidential Business Information Claims

We submitted comments on the EPA-proposed rule for CBI under TSCA. We generally support all aspects of the proposed rule, including EPA’s proposal to organize/centralize most procedural requirements for asserting and maintaining confidential claims under TSCA.

EPN Member Op-Eds

EPN members penned their own op-eds on hydrogen production, the Inflation Reduction Act, and small refinery exemptions.

What Color Is Your Hydrogen? Not All Hydrogen Is Clean

August 11, 2022 / by

Margo Oge /

Forbes

Margo Oge, former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, wrote this op-ed for Forbes urging people to switch from fossil fuels to hydrogen but cautioning that not all hydrogen is clean/green.

Inflation Reduction Act Will Boost EPA Efforts to Tackle the Climate Crisis

August 22, 2023 / by

David F. Coursen /

The Hill

Dave Coursen, former Attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, wrote this op-ed on August 1, 2022, discussing how the Inflation Reduction Act will help EPA address the challenges of climate change and support environmental and climate justice.

A Hidden Regulatory Tax on Large Refiners and Fuel Consumers Goes Away

July 5, 2022 / by

Michael H. Levin /

Bloomberg Tax

Michael Levin, former Director of Regulatory Reform, EPA Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation, wrote this commentary explaining EPA’s rationale in its recent denials of over 100 small refiner exemption requests.

More Examples of EPN in the News

In addition to the articles above, EPN members contributed to a range of articles on topics such as the Inflation Reduction Act, methane regulation, and West Virginia v. EPA.

Biden Signed the Climate Law. Now the Bureaucrats’ Hard Slog Begins.

August 17, 2022 / by

Jennifer Dlouhy /

Bloomberg

Jeff Alson, former Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article about the amount of new policies that need to be written and implemented and the amount of new work for regulators after the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Methane Reductions Sought by EPA Get Boost From Climate Deal

August 3, 2022 / by

Jennifer Hijazi /

Bloomberg Law

Jeremy Symons, EPN consultant and former Climate Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, was quoted in this article regarding measures in the Inflation Reduction Act that could broaden the scope of methane emitters regulated by EPA.

EPA Seen as Prepared for Big Challenges Ahead of Carbon Rules

July 7, 2022 / by

Stephen Lee and Jennifer Hijazi /

Bloomberg Law

Stan Meiburg, former EPA Acting Deputy Administrator and former Regional Administrator, EPA Regions 4 and 6, was quoted in this article about how ready EPA was when the Supreme Court’s decision on power plant emissions was released and the impact the decision would have on forthcoming carbon rules from the agency. Stan was quoted in related articles published in WFAE 90.7 and E&E News.

Read all recent EPN in the News items here