States ask EPA to designate several PFAS as Hazardous Air Pollutants

RALEIGH - To address the air emissions of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” three state environmental agencies today submitted a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to add four specific PFAS chemicals to the list of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) under the Clean Air Act. PFAS air emissions affect surface water, groundwater and soil, and result in the contamination of public and private drinking water sources.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are requesting the following chemicals be regulated under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act:

• PFOA (perflurooctanoic acid),
• PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid),
• PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid) and
• GenX (HFPO dimer acid).

In the request to EPA, the petitioning States demonstrate the need for PFAS emission standards to prevent the spread of PFAS contamination.

“The EPA has been proactive in addressing PFAS and supporting efforts to address PFAS contamination in our states,” said North Carolina DEQ Secretary Elizabeth S. Biser. “Adding these forever chemicals to the list of regulated pollutants addresses a gap in our regulatory authority and makes it possible to tackle a critical part of the PFAS life cycle: air emissions.”

“With EPA’s bold actions to the clean-up of forever chemicals from our water and land, we cannot afford to transfer these toxic pollutants to our air,” said New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney. “We must act quickly and holistically to protect our communities from drinking and breathing these toxic chemicals.”

"To best protect Americans from exposure to the toxic PFAS forever chemicals that have poisoned our environment, we must reduce PFAS pollution that flows through our waters, upon our land, and into our air," said New Jersey Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn M. LaTourette. "Over the last three years, the USEPA has taken bold and necessary steps toward reducing PFAS pollution, especially​ within the nation's drinking water supplies. Grateful for these critical efforts, New Jersey stands ready to partner with USEPA in reducing air emissions of PFAS, which begins with listing these contaminants as hazardous air pollutants under the federal Clean Air Act. Today's action by North Carolina, New Mexico, and New Jersey is another reflection of our longstanding state and federal commitment to improving and protecting public health and the environment we all share."

The EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap included a goal to address PFAS emissions under the Office of Air and Radiation, including an evaluation of listing compounds as HAPs. The petitioning States have presented the necessary evidence that PFAS are air pollutants and are causing adverse effects to human health or adverse environmental effects. All three states have experience with PFAS pollution from PFAS manufacturing sites or military releases of fire-fighting foam. Communities throughout the country have experienced the effects of water contamination as a result of PFAS, including air pollution releases that impacted thousands of private drinking water wells in the vicinity of the Chemours Fayetteville Works facility in North Carolina.

A copy of the petition is available here.

Contact: Sharon Martin, NC DEQ

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