Ten AGs Urged EPA to Take Actions to Prevent the Harms of PFAS

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro led a coalition of 10 attorneys general in urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take action to protect public health and the environment from the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in hydraulic fracturing and drilling operations, which are a threat to necessary resources like drinking water. The AGs urged EPA to take the following actions:

  1. Reassess the allowable level of any chemicals that contain PFAS—or have the ability to degrade into them—that may be used in hydraulic fracturing and drilling operations;

  2. Close loopholes and have more rigorous reviews when PFAS are used in any allowable circumstance;

  3. Reexamine methods to collect information on the types of chemicals and substances used in hydraulic fracturing and drilling operations; and

  4. Collect data on PFAS used in hydraulic fracturing and make the information publicly and widely available.