News Releases from Headquarters›Water (OW)

EPA Releases Agenda for Fayetteville Community Engagement Event

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an early agenda for the next per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) community engagement event in Fayetteville, North Carolina. This community engagement event allows EPA to hear directly from North Carolina communities, state, local, and tribal partners to take action on PFAS. 

Additional details will be posted on the PFAS Community Engagement Website.

Both sessions are open to the public and the press. If you are interested in attending the event, please register here: https://www.epa.gov/pfas/forms/pfas-community-engagement-fayettevile-nc. Those interested in speaking should select the option to speak while registering. 

Please check back at the PFAS Community Engagement website for further information leading up to the event. Citizens are also encouraged to submit written statements to the public docket at https://www.regulations.gov/ enter docket number: OW-2018-0270.

Addressing PFAS is a national priority. At the National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. in May, EPA announced a four-step action plan:

1. EPA will initiate steps to evaluate the need for a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFOA and PFOS. We will convene our federal partners and examine everything we know about PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.
2. EPA is beginning the necessary steps to propose designating PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” through one of the available statutory mechanisms, including potentially CERCLA Section 102.
3. EPA is currently developing groundwater cleanup recommendations for PFOA and PFOS at contaminated sites and will complete this task by fall of this year.
4. EPA is taking action in close collaboration with our federal and state partners to develop toxicity values for GenX and PFBS by this summer.

Background

PFAS is a group of man-made chemicals that have been widely used in everyday products since the 1940s. But PFAS compounds also can enter the environment, raising concerns about the potential environmental and health risks. 

EPA conducted similar engagements in New Hampshire in June, Pennsylvania in July, and will be headed to both Colorado and North Carolina in August. These community engagement events are critical to understand ways the Agency can best support the work that’s being done at the state, local, and tribal levels. Using information from the National Leadership Summit, community engagements, and public input provided by the docket, EPA plans to develop a PFAS Management Plan for release later this year.

To learn more about PFAS, please visit: www.epa.gov/pfas