v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
PFAS Strategic Roadmap:
EPA's Commitments to Action
2021-2024

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A Note from
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan
For far too long, communities across the United
States have been suffering from exposure to PFAS
pollution. As the science has continued to develop,
we know more now than ever about how PFAS
build up in our bodies over long periods of time,
and how they can cause adverse health effects that
can devastate families. As Secretary of the North
Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, I saw
this devastation firsthand. For years, the Cape Fear
River had been contaminated by these persistent
"forever" chemicals. As I spoke with families and
concerned citizens, I could feel their suffering and
frustration with inaction. I knew my job was going to
be trying and complex. But we were able to begin
to address this pervasive problem by following the
science, following the law, and bringing all stake-
holders to the table.
As one of my earliest actions as EPA Administrator,
I established the EPA Council on PFAS and charged
it with developing an ambitious plan of action to
further the science and research, to restrict these
dangerous chemicals from getting into the envi-
ronment, and to immediately move to remediate
the problem in communities across the country.
EPA's PFAS strategic roadmap is our plan to deliver
tangible public health benefits to ail people who are
impacted by these chemicals—regardless of their
zip code or the color of their skin.
Since I've been EPA Administrator, I have become
acutely aware of the invaluable and central role EPA
has in protecting public health in America. For more
than 50 years, EPA has implemented and enforced
laws that protect people from dangerous pollution
in the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the
land that forms the foundation of their communities.
At the same time, my experience in North Carolina
reinforced that EPA cannot solve these challenges
alone. We can only make progress if we work in
close collaboration with Tribes, states, localities,
and stakeholders to enact solutions that follow
the science and stand the test of time. To affect
meaningful change, engagement, transparency, and
accountability will be critical as we move forward.
This roadmap will not solve our PFAS challenges
overnight. But it will turn the tide by harnessing the
collective resources and authority across federal,
Tribal, state, and local governments to empower
meaningful action now.
I want to thank the co-chairs of the EPA Council on
PFAS—Radhika Fox, Assistant Administrator for
Water, and Deb Szaro, Acting Regional
Administrator in Region 1 —for their leadership in
guiding the development of this strategy.
Let's get to work.
,
. m
\ £
Administrator Michael S. Regan
PFAS Strategic Roadmap: EPA's Commitments to Action 2021-2024	1

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PFAS Council Members
The following policy and technical leaders serve as members of the EPA Council on PFAS. They have been
instrumental in working with their respective offices to develop the Agency's strategy. The Council will
continue to coordinate across all EPA offices and Regions to accelerate progress on PFAS.
Co-Chairs
Radhika Fox, Assistant Administrator for Water
Deb Szaro, Acting Regional Administrator,
Region 1
Office of the Administrator
John Lucey, Special Assistant to the
Administrator
Andrea Drinkard, Senior Advisor to the Deputy
Administrator
Office of Air and Radiation
John Shoaff, Director, Air Policy and Program
Support
Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
Jeffrey Dawson, Science Advisor
Tala Henry, Deputy Director, Pollution Prevention
and Toxics
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Cyndy Mackey, Director, Site Remediation
Enforcement
Office of Land and Emergency Management
Dana Stalcup, Deputy Director, Superfund
Remediation and Technology Innovation
Dawn Banks, Director, Policy Analysis and
Regulatory Management
Office of Research and Development
Tim Watkins, Acting Director, Center for Public
Health and Environmental Assessment
Susan Burden, PFAS Executive Lead
Office of Water
Jennifer McLain, Director, Ground Water and
Drinking Water
Deborah Nagle, Director, Science and
Technology
Zachary Schafer, Senior Advisor to the Assistant
Administrator
EPA Regions
John Blevins, Acting Regional Administrator,
Region 4
Tera Fong, Water Division Director, Region 5
Karin Leff, Director, Federal Facilities
Enforcement
Office of General Counsel
Dawn Messier, Deputy Associate General
Counsel, Water
Jen Lewis, Deputy Associate General Counsel,
Solid Waste and Emergency Response
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Contents
Introduction	5
The Agency's Approach	6
Goals and Objectives	9
Key Actions	10
Conclusion	22
Endnotes	23
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Introduction
Harmful per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
are an urgent public health and environmental issue
facing communities across the United States. PFAS
have been manufactured and used in a variety of
industries in the United States and around the globe
since the 1940s, and they are still being used today.
Because of the duration and breadth of use, PFAS
can be found in surface water, groundwater, soil,
and air—from remote rural areas to densely-pop-
ulated urban centers. A growing body of scientific
evidence shows that exposure at certain levels to
specific PFAS can adversely impact human health
and other living things. Despite these concerns,
PFAS are still used in a wide range of consumer
products and industrial applications.
Every level of government—federal, Tribal, state,
and local—needs to exercise increased and sus-
tained leadership to accelerate progress to clean
up PFAS contamination, prevent new contami-
nation, and make game-changing breakthroughs
in the scientific understanding of PFAS. The EPA
Council on PFAS developed this strategic road-
map to lay out EPA's whole-of-agency approach
to addressing PFAS. To deliver needed protections
for the American people, the roadmap sets time-
lines by which the Agency plans to take specific
actions during the first term of the Biden-Harris
Administration. The strategic roadmap builds on
and accelerates implementation of policy actions
identified in the Agency's 2019 action plan and
commits to bolder new policies to safeguard public
health, protect the environment, and hold polluters
accountable.
The risks posed by PFAS demand that the Agency
attack the problem on multiple fronts at the same
time. EPA must leverage the full range of statutory
authorities to confront the human health and eco-
logical risks of PFAS. The actions described in this
document each represent important and meaningful
steps to safeguard communities from PFAS con-
tamination. Cumulatively, these actions will build
upon one another and lead to more enduring and
protective solutions.
EPA's integrated approach to PFAS is focused on
three central directives:
•	Research. Invest in research, development, and
innovation to increase understanding of PFAS
exposures and toxicities, human health and
ecological effects, and effective interventions
that incorporate the best available science.
•	Restrict. Pursue a comprehensive approach to
proactively prevent PFAS from entering air, land,
and water at levels that can adversely impact
human health and the environment.
•	Remediate. Broaden and accelerate the
cleanup of PFAS contamination to protect
human health and ecological systems.
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The Agency's Approach
EPA's approach is shaped by the
unique challenges to addressing PFAS
contamination. EPA cannot solve the
problem of "forever chemicals" by tackling
one route of exposure or one use at a
time. Rather, EPA needs to take a lifecycle
approach to PFAS in order to make
meaningful progress. PFAS pollution is not
a legacy issue—these chemicals remain
in use in U.S. commerce. As such, EPA
cannot focus solely on cleaning up the
downstream impacts of PFAS pollution.
The Agency needs to also look upstream
to prevent new PFAS contamination from
entering air, land, and water and exposing
communities. As the Agency takes tangible
actions both upstream and downstream,
EPA will continue to pursue a rigorous
scientific agenda to better characterize
toxicities, understand exposure pathways,
and identify new methods to avert and
remediate PFAS pollution. As EPA learns
more about the family of PFAS chemicals,
the Agency can do more to protect public
health and the environment. In all this work,
EPA will seek to hold polluters accountable
for the contamination they cause and
ensure disadvantaged communities
equitably benefit from solutions.
Consider the
Lifecycle of PFAS
EPA will account for the full lifecycle of PFAS,
their unique properties, the ubiquity of their
uses, and the multiple pathways for exposure.
PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals that con-
tinue to be released into the environment throughout
the lifecycle of manufacturing, processing, distribu-
tion in commerce, use, and disposal. Each action in
this cycle creates environmental contamination and
human and ecological exposure. Exacerbating this
challenge is that some PFAS persist in the envi-
ronment. PFAS are synthesized for many different
uses, ranging from firefighting foams, to coatings for
clothes and furniture, to food contact substances.
Many PFAS are also used in industrial processes
and applications, such as in the manufacturing
of other chemicals and products. PFAS can be
released into the environment during manufacturing
and processing as well as during industrial and
commercial use. Products known to contain PFAS
are regularly disposed of in landfills and by inciner-
ation, which can also lead to the release of PFAS.
Many PFAS have unique properties that prevent
their complete breakdown in the environment, which
means that even removing PFAS from contaminated
areas can create PFAS-contaminated waste. This is
currently unregulated in most cases.
Get Upstream of
the Problem
EPA will bring deeper focus to preventing
PFAS from entering the environment in the
first place—a foundational step to reducing the
exposure and potential risks of future PFAS
contamination.
Intervening at the beginning of the PFAS lifecycle—
before they have entered the environment—is a
foundational element of EPA's whole-of-agency
approach. While hundreds of individual PFAS
compounds are in production and use,1 a relatively
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modest number of industrial facilities produce
PFAS feedstock," and a relatively narrow set of
industries directly discharge PFAS into water or
soil or generate air emissions in large quantities."'
This context helps to pinpoint clear opportunities to
restrict releases into the environment. EPA will use
its authorities to impose appropriate limitations on
the introduction of new unsafe PFAS into commerce
and will, as appropriate, use all available regulatory
and permitting authorities to limit emissions and
discharges from industrial facilities. This approach
does not eliminate the need for remediation where
releases and exposures have already occurred,
but it is a critical step to preventing ongoing con-
centrated contamination of soil and surface and
groundwaters.
Hold Polluters Accountable
EPA will seek to hold polluters and other
responsible parties accountable for their actions
and for PFAS remediation efforts.
Many communities and ecosystems are contin-
uously exposed to PFAS in soil, surface water,
groundwater, and air. Areas can be exposed due to
their proximity to industrial sites, airports, military
bases, land where biosolids containing PFAS have
been applied, and other sites where PFAS have
been produced or used and disposed of for spe-
cific and repeated purposes. When EPA becomes
aware of a situation that poses a serious threat
to human health or the environment, the Agency
will take appropriate action. For other sites where
contamination may have occurred, the presence of
certain PFAS in these environments necessitates
coordinated action to understand what specific
PFAS have been released, locations where they are
found, where they may be transported through air,
soil, and water in the future, and what remediation is
necessary. EPA will seek to hold polluters and other
responsible parties accountable for their actions,
ensuring that they assume responsibility for remedi-
ation efforts and prevent any future releases.
Ensure Science-Based
Decision-Making
EPA will invest in scientific research to fill gaps
in understanding of PFAS, to identify which
additional PFAS may pose human health and
ecological risks at which exposure levels, and to
develop methods to test, measure, remove, and
destroy them.
EPA's decisions regarding PFAS will be grounded in
scientific evidence and analysis. The current body
of scientific evidence clearly indicates that there are
real, present, and significant hazards associated
with specific PFAS, but significant gaps remain
related to the impacts of other PFAS on human
health and in the environment. Regulatory devel-
opment, either at the state or federal level, would
greatly benefit from a deeper scientific under-
standing of the exposure pathways, toxicities, and
potential health impacts of less-studied PFAS. The
federal government, states, industry, academia, and
nonprofit organizations—with appropriate coordina-
tion and resources—have the capability to conduct
this necessary research.
EPA is conducting new research to better under-
stand the similar and different characteristics of
specific PFAS and whether and how to address
groups and categories of PFAS. The Agency is
focused on improving its ability to address multiple
chemicals at once, thereby accelerating the effec-
tiveness of regulations, enforcement actions, and
the tools and technologies needed to remove PFAS
from air, land, and water.
To break the cycle of contamination and expo-
sure from PFAS, additional research is needed to
identify and/or develop techniques to permanently
dispose of or destroy these durable compounds.
Government agencies, industry, and private labora-
tories need tools and validated methods to measure
PFAS in air, land, and water to identify pollution
sources, demonstrate facility compliance, hold
polluters accountable, and support communities
during and after cleanups.
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Prioritize Protection
of Disadvantaged
Communities
When taking action on PFAS, EPA will ensure
that disadvantaged communities have equitable
access to solutions.
Many known and potential sources of PFAS
contamination (including military bases, airports,
industrial facilities, and waste management and
disposal sites) are near low-income communities
and communities of color. EPA needs to ensure
these affected populations have an opportunity
to participate in and influence the Agency's deci-
sion-making. This may call for the Agency to seek
out and facilitate the communities' engagement
by providing culturally appropriate information and
accommodations for people with Limited English
Proficiency, facilitating community access to public
meetings and comment periods, and offering tech-
nical assistance to build community-based capacity
for participation. EPA's actions need to consider the
unique on-the-ground conditions in these communi-
ties, such as outdated infrastructure, to help ensure
they benefit equitably from policy solutions.
EPA will also collect more data and develop new
methodologies to understand PFAS exposure
pathways in disadvantaged communities; to what
extent PFAS pollution contributes to the cumulative
burden of exposures from multiple sources in these
communities; and how non-environmental stressors,
such as systemic socioeconomic disparities, can
exacerbate the impacts of pollution exposure and
vice versa.
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Goals and Objectives
EPA's comprehensive approach to addressing PFAS is guided by the following goals and
objectives.
RESEARCH
Invest in research,
development, and
innovation to increase
understanding of PFAS
exposures and toxicities,
human health and
ecological effects, and
effective interventions
that incorporate the best
available science.
Objectives
•	Build the evidence base on individual PFAS and define categories
of PFAS to establish toxicity values and methods.
•	Increase scientific understanding on the universe of PFAS,
sources of environmental contamination, exposure pathways, and
human health and ecological effects.
•	Expand research on current and emerging PFAS treatment,
remediation, destruction, disposal, and control technologies.
•	Conduct research to understand how PFAS contribute to the
cumulative burden of pollution in communities with environmental
justice concerns.
RESTRICT
Pursue a comprehensive
approach to proactively
prevent PFAS from
entering air, land, and
water at levels that
can adversely impact
human health and the
environment.
Objectives
•	Use and harmonize actions under all available statutory
authorities to control and prevent PFAS contamination and
minimize exposure to PFAS during consumer and industrial uses.
•	Place responsibility for limiting exposures and addressing
hazards of PFAS on manufacturers, processors, distributors,
importers, industrial and other significant users, dischargers, and
treatment and disposal facilities.
•	Establish voluntary programs to reduce PFAS use and release.
•	Prevent or minimize PFAS discharges and emissions in all
communities, regardless of income, race, or language barriers.
REMEDIATE
Broaden and accelerate
the cleanup of PFAS
contamination to protect
human health and
ecological systems.
Objectives
•	Harmonize actions under all available statutory authorities to
address PFAS contamination to protect people, communities, and
the environment.
•	Maximize responsible party performance and funding for
investigations and cleanup of PFAS contamination.
•	Help ensure that communities impacted by PFAS receive
resources and assistance to address contamination, regardless of
income, race, or language barriers.
•	Accelerate the deployment of treatment, remediation, destruction,
disposal, and mitigation technologies for PFAS, and ensure that
disposal and destruction activities do not create new pollution
problems in communities with environmental justice concerns.
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Key Actions
This section summarizes the bold actions
that EPA plans to take from 2021 through
2024 on PFAS, as well as some ongoing
efforts thereafter. The actions described in
this roadmap are subject to the availability
of appropriations and other resources.
Each of these actions—led by EPA's
program offices—are significant building
blocks in the Agency's comprehensive
strategy to protect public health and
ecosystems by researching, restricting,
and remediating PFAS contamination. As
EPA takes each of these actions, it also
commits to transparent, equitable, and
inclusive engagement with all stakeholders
to inform the Agency's work.
These are not the only actions underway
at EPA, nor will they be the last. As the
Agency does more, it will learn more. And
as EPA learns more, it will do more. As EPA
continues to build the evidence base, as
regulatory work matures, and as EPA learns
more from its partnerships across the
country, the Agency will deliver additional
actions commensurate with the urgency
and scale of response that the PFAS
problem demands.
Office of Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention
Publish national PFAS testing strategy
Expected Fall2021
EPA needs to evaluate a large number of PFAS for
potential human health and ecological effects. Most
PFAS have limited or no toxicity data. To address
this data gap, EPA is developing a national PFAS
testing strategy to deepen understanding of the
impacts of categories of PFAS, including potential
hazards to human health and the environment. This
will help EPA identify and select PFAS for which the
Agency will require testing using Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA) authorities. In the 2020 National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress
directed EPA to develop a process for prioritizing
which PFAS or classes of PFAS should be subject
to additional research efforts based on potential for
human exposure to, toxicity of, and other available
information. EPA will also identify existing test data
for PFAS (both publicly available and submitted
to EPA under TSCA) that will be considered prior
to requiring further testing to ensure adherence to
the TSCA goal of reducing animal testing. EPA will
use the testing strategy to identify important gaps
in existing data and to select representative chem-
ical(s) within identified categories as priorities for
additional studies. EPA expects to exercise its TSCA
Section 4 order authority to require PFAS manufac-
turers to conduct and fund the studies. EPA plans to
issue the first round of test orders on the selected
PFAS by the end of 2021.
Ensure a robust review
process for new PFAS
Efforts Ongoing
EPA's TSCA New Chemicals program plays an
important gatekeeper role in ensuring the safety
of new chemicals, including new PFAS, prior to
their entry in U.S. commerce. Where unreasonable
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risks are identified as part of the review process,
EPA must mitigate those risks before any manu-
facturing activity can commence. The 2016 TSCA
amendments require EPA to review and make a
determination regarding the potential risks for
each new chemical submission. Since early 2021,
EPA has taken steps to ensure that new PFAS are
subject to rigorous reviews and appropriate safe-
guards, including making changes to the policies
and processes underpinning reviews and determi-
nations on new chemicals to better align with the
2016 amendments. In addition, EPA has previously
allowed some new PFAS to enter the market
through low-volume exemptions (LVEs), following an
expedited, 30-day review process. In April 2021, the
Agency announced that it would generally expect
to deny pending and future LVE submissions for
PFAS based on the complexity of PFAS chemistry,
potential health effects, and their longevity and per-
sistence in the environment. Moving forward, EPA
will apply a rigorous premanufacture notice review
process for new PFAS to ensure these substances
are safe before they enter commerce.
Review previous decisions on PFAS
Efforts Ongoing
EPA is also looking at PFAS that it has previously
reviewed through the TSCA New Chemicals pro-
gram, including those that it reviewed prior to
the 2016 TSCA amendments. For example, EPA
recently launched a stewardship program to encour-
age companies to voluntarily withdraw previously
granted PFAS LVEs. EPA also plans to revisit past
PFAS regulatory decisions and address those that
are insufficiently protective. As part of this effort,
the Agency could impose additional notice require-
ments to ensure it can review PFAS before they are
used in new ways that might present concerns.
In addition, EPA plans to issue TSCA Section 5(e)
orders for existing PFAS for which significant new
use notices (e.g., a new manufacturing process
for an existing PFAS, or a new use or user) have
recently been filed with EPA. The orders would
impose rigorous safety requirements as a condition
of allowing the significant new use to commence.
More broadly, EPA is planning to improve
approaches for overall tracking and enforcement of
requirements in new chemical consent orders and
significant new use rules (SNURs) to ensure that
companies are complying with the terms of those
agreements and regulatory notice requirements.
Close the door on abandoned PFAS
and uses
Expected Summer2022
Many existing chemicals (i.e., those that are already
in commerce and listed on the TSCA Inventory of
chemicals), including PFAS, are currently not sub-
ject to any type of restriction under TSCA. In some
instances, the chemicals themselves have not been
actively manufactured for many years. In others,
chemicals may have certain past uses that have
been abandoned. Absent restriction, manufacturers
are free to begin using those abandoned chemicals
or resume those abandoned uses at any time. Under
TSCA, by rule, EPA can designate uses of a chem-
ical that are not currently ongoing—and potentially
all uses associated with an inactive chemical—as
"significant new uses." Doing so ensures that an
entity must first submit a notice and certain informa-
tion to EPA before it can resume use of that chemical
or use. TSCA then requires EPA to review and make
an affirmative determination on the potential risks
to health and the environment and to require safety
measures to address unreasonable risks before
allowing the PFAS use to resume. EPA is considering
how it can apply this authority to help address aban-
doned uses of PFAS as well as future uses of PFAS
on the inactive portion of the TSCA Inventory.
Enhance PFAS reporting under the
Toxics Release Inventory
Expected Spring 2022
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) helps EPA
compile data and information on releases of certain
chemicals and supports informed decision-making
by companies, government agencies, non-govern-
mental organizations, and the public. Pursuant to
the 2020 NDAA, certain industry sectors must report
certain PFAS releases to TRI. However, certain
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exemptions and exclusions remain for those PFAS
reporters, which significantly limited the amount of
data that EPA received for these chemicals in the
first year of reporting.™ To enhance the quality and
quantity of PFAS information collected through TRI,
EPA intends to propose a rulemaking in 2022 to
categorize the PFAS on the TRI list as "Chemicals
of Special Concern" and to remove the de minimis
eligibility from supplier notification requirements for
all "Chemicals of Special Concern." EPA will also
continue to update the list of PFAS subject to TRI
and expects to announce an additional rulemaking
to add more PFAS to TRI in 2022, as required by the
2020 NDAA.
Finalize new PFAS reporting under
TSCA Section 8
Expected Winter2022
TSCA Section 8(a)(7) provides authority for EPA to
collect existing information on PFAS. In June 2021,
EPA published a proposed data-gathering rule
that would collect certain information on any PFAS
manufactured since 2011, including information on
uses, production volumes, disposal, exposures,
and hazards. EPA will consider public comments
on the proposal and finalize it before January 1,
2023. Ultimately, information received under this
rule will enable EPA to better characterize the
sources and quantities of manufactured PFAS in the
United States and will assist the Agency in its future
research, monitoring, and regulatory efforts.
Office of Water
Undertake nationwide monitoring for
PFAS in drinking water
Final Rule Expected Fall2021
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) establishes
a data-driven and risk-based process to assess
drinking water contaminants of emerging concern.
Under SDWA, EPA requires water systems to
conduct sampling for unregulated contaminants
every five years. EPA published the proposed Fifth
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5)
in March 2021. As proposed, UCMR 5 would provide
new data that is critically needed to improve EPA's
understanding of the frequency that 29 PFAS are
found in the nation's drinking water systems and at
what levels. The proposed UCMR 5 would signifi-
cantly expand the number of drinking water systems
participating in the program, pending sufficient
appropriations by Congress. The data gathered from
an expanded set of drinking water systems would
improve EPA's ability to conduct state and local
assessments of contamination, including analyses
of potential environmental justice impacts. As pro-
posed, and if funds are appropriated by Congress,
all public water systems serving 3,300 or more
people and 800 representative public water systems
serving fewer than 3,300 would collect samples
during a 12-month period from January 2023 through
December 2025. EPA is considering comments on
the proposed UCMR 5 and preparing a final rule.
Going forward, EPA will continue to prioritize addi-
tional PFAS for inclusion in UCMR 6 and beyond, as
techniques to measure these additional substances
in drinking water are developed and validated.
Establish a national primary drinking
water regulation for PF0A and PF0S
Proposed Rule Expected Fall2022,
Final Rule Expected Fall2023
Under the SDWA, EPA has the authority to set
enforceable National Primary Drinking Water
Regulations (NPDWRs) for drinking water con-
taminants and require monitoring of public water
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supplies. To date, EPA has regulated more than 90
drinking water contaminants but has not established
national drinking water regulations for any PFAS. In
March 2021, EPA published the Fourth Regulatory
Determinations, including a final determination
to regulate Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and
Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking
water. The Agency is now developing a proposed
NPDWR for these chemicals. As EPA undertakes
this action, the Agency is also evaluating additional
PFAS and considering regulatory actions to address
groups of PFAS. EPA expects to issue a pro-
posed regulation in Fall 2022 (before the Agency's
statutory deadline of March 2023). The Agency
anticipates issuing a final regulation in Fall 2023
after considering public comments on the proposal.
Going forward, EPA will continue to analyze whether
NPDWR revisions can improve public health protec-
tion as additional PFAS are found in drinking water.
Publish the final toxicity assessment
for GenX and five additional PFAS
Expected Fall2021 and Ongoing
EPA plans to publish the toxicity assessments for
two PFAS, hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid
and its ammonium salt. These two chemicals are
known as "GenX chemicals." GenX chemicals have
been found in surface water, groundwater, drinking
water, rainwater, and air emissions. GenX chemicals
are known to impact human health and ecosystems.
Scientists have observed liver and kidney toxicity,
immune effects, hematological effects, reproductive
and developmental effects, and cancer in animals
exposed to GenX chemicals. Completing a tox-
icity assessment for GenX is essential to better
understanding its effects on people and the envi-
ronment. EPA can use this information to develop
health advisories that will help communities make
informed decisions to better protect human health
and ecological wellness. The Office of Research and
Development is also currently developing toxicity
assessments for five other PFAS—PFBA, PFHxA,
PFHxS, PFNA, and PFDA.
Publish health advisories
for GenX and PFBS
Expected Spring 2022
PFAS contamination has impacted drinking water
quality across the country, including in under-
served rural areas and communities of color. SDWA
authorizes EPA to develop non-enforceable and
non-regulatory drinking water health advisories to
help Tribes, states, and local governments inform
the public and determine whether local actions are
needed to address public health impacts in these
communities. Health advisories offer a margin of
protection by defining a level of drinking water
concentration at or below which lifetime exposure
is not anticipated to lead to adverse health effects.
They include information on health effects, analytical
methodologies, and treatment technologies and are
designed to protect all lifestages. EPA will publish
health advisories for Perfluorobutane sulfonic acid
(PFBS) and GenX chemicals based on final toxicity
assessments. The Agency will develop accompa-
nying fact sheets in different languages to facilitate
access to information on GenX and other PFAS.
Going forward, EPA will develop health advisories
as the Agency completes toxicity assessments for
additional PFAS.
Restrict PFAS discharges from
industrial sources through a
multi-faceted Effluent Limitations
Guidelines program
Expected 2022 and Ongoing
Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELGs) are a powerful
tool to limit pollutants from entering the nation's
waters. ELGs establish national technology-based
regulatory limits on the level of specified pollut-
ants in wastewater discharged into surface waters
and into municipal sewage treatment facilities.
EPA has been conducting a PFAS multi-industry
study to inform the extent and nature of PFAS
discharges. Based on this study, EPA is taking a
proactive approach to restrict PFAS discharges
from multiple industrial categories. EPA plans to
make significant progress in its ELG regulatory
work by the end of 2024. EPA has established
timelines for action—whether it is data collection
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or rulemaking—on the nine industrial categories in
the proposed PFAS Action Act of 2021, as well as
other industrial categories such as landfills. EPA's
multi-faceted approach entails:
•	Undertake rulemaking to restrict PFAS
discharges from industrial categories where
EPA has the data to do so—including the
guidelines for organic chemicals, plastics and
synthetic fibers (OCPSF), metal finishing, and
electroplating. Proposed rule is expected in
Summer 2023 for OCPSF and Summer 2024 for
metal finishing and electroplating.
•	Launch detailed studies on facilities where EPA
has preliminary data on PFAS discharges, but
the data are currently insufficient to support a
potential rulemaking. These include electrical
and electronic components, textile mills,
and landfills. EPA expects these studies to
be complete by Fall 2022 to inform decision
making about a future rulemaking by the end of
2022.
•	Initiate data reviews for industrial categories
for which there is little known information on
PFAS discharges, including leather tanning and
finishing, plastics molding and forming, and
paint formulating. EPA expects to complete
these data reviews by Winter 2023 to inform
whether there are sufficient data to initiate a
potential rulemaking.
•	Monitor industrial categories where the phaseout
of PFAS is projected by 2024, including pulp,
paper, paperboard, and airports. The results of
this monitoring, and whether future regulatory
action is needed, will be addressed in the Final
ELG Plan 15 in Fall 2022.
Leverage NPDES permitting to reduce
PFAS discharges to waterways
Expected Winter2022
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) program interfaces with many pathways by
which PFAS travel and are released into the envi-
ronment and ultimately impact people and water
quality. EPA will seek to proactively use existing
NPDES authorities to reduce discharges of PFAS at
the source and obtain more comprehensive informa-
tion through monitoring on the sources of PFAS and
quantity of PFAS discharged by these sources. EPA
will use the effluent monitoring data to inform which
industrial categories the Agency should study for
future ELGs actions to restrict PFAS in wastewater
discharges.
•	Leverage federally-issued NPDES permits to
reduce PFAS discharges." EPA will propose
monitoring requirements at facilities where
PFAS are expected or suspected to be present
in wastewater and storm water discharges, using
EPA's recently published analytical method
1633, which covers 40 unique PFAS. In
addition, EPA will propose, as appropriate,
that NPDES permits: 1) contain conditions
based on product elimination and substitution
when a reasonable alternative to using PFAS
is available in the industrial process; 2) require
best management practices to address PFAS-
containing firefighting foams for stormwater
permits; 3) require enhanced public notification
and engagement with downstream communities
and public water systems; and 4) require
pretreatment programs to include source control
and best management practices to protect
wastewater treatment plant discharges and
biosolid applications.
•	Issue new guidance to state permitting
authorities to address PFAS in NPDES
permits. EPA will issue new guidance
recommending that state-issued permits that
do not already include monitoring requirements
for PFAS use EPA's recently published analytical
method 1633, which covers 40 unique PFAS, at
facilities where PFAS is expected or suspected
to be present in wastewater and stormwater
discharges. In addition, the new guidance
will recommend the full suite of permitting
approaches that EPA will use in federally-issued
permits. The guidance will enable communities
to work closely with their state permitting
authorities to suggest monitoring at facilities
suspected of containing PFAS.
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Publish multi-laboratory validated
analytical method for 40 PFAS
Expected Fall2022
In September 2021, EPA (in collaboration
with the Department of Defense) published a
single-laboratory validated method to detect
PFAS. The method can measure up to 40 specific
PFAS compounds in eight environmental matrices
(including wastewater, surface water and biosolids)
and has numerous applications, including NPDES
compliance monitoring. EPA and DOD are continu-
ing this collaboration to complete a multi-laboratory
validation of the method. EPA expects to publish
the multi-lab validated method online by Fall 2022.
Following the publication of the method, EPA will
initiate a rulemaking to propose the promulgation of
this method under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Publish updates to PFAS analytical
methods to monitor drinking water
Expected Fall2024
SDWA requires EPA to use scientifically robust and
validated analytical methods to assess the occur-
rence of contaminants of emerging concern, such
as an unidentified or newly detected PFAS chemi-
cal. EPA will update and validate analytical methods
to monitor additional PFAS. First, EPA will review
reports of PFAS of concern and seek to procure
certified reference standards that are essential for
accurate and selective quantitation of emerging
PFAS of concern in drinking water samples. EPA
will evaluate analytical methods previously pub-
lished for monitoring PFAS in drinking water (EPA
Methods 533 and 537.1) to determine the efficacy
of expanding the established target PFAS analyte
list to include any emerging PFAS. Upon conclusion
of this evaluation, EPA will complete multi-labora-
tory validation studies and peer review and publish
updated EPA PFAS analytical methods for drinking
water, making them available to support future
drinking water monitoring programs.
Publish final recommended ambient
water quality criteria for PFAS
Expected Winter2022 and Fall2024
EPA will develop national recommended ambient
water quality criteria for PFAS to protect aquatic
life and human health. Tribes and states use EPA-
recommended water quality criteria to develop
water quality standards to protect and restore
waters, issue permits to control PFAS discharges,
and assess the cumulative impact of PFAS pollution
on local communities. EPA will publish recom-
mended aquatic life criteria for PFOA and PFOS
and benchmarks for other PFAS that do not have
sufficient data to define a recommended aquatic life
criteria value. EPA will first develop human health
criteria for PFOA and PFOS, taking into account
drinking water and fish consumption. This initiative
will consider the latest scientific information and
will develop human health criteria for additional
PFAS when final toxicity assessments are available.
Additionally, EPA will support Tribes in developing
water quality standards that will protect waters
under Tribal jurisdiction under the same framework
as waters in adjacent states. Aquatic life criteria are
expected in Winter 2022, and human health criteria
are expected Fall 2024.
Monitor fish tissue for PFAS from the
nation's lakes and evaluate human
biomarkers for PFAS
Expected Summer2022
States and Tribes have highlighted fish tissue data
in lakes as a critical information need. Food and
water consumption are important pathways of PFAS
exposure, and PFAS can accumulate in fish tissue.
In fact, EPA monitoring to date shows the pres-
ence of PFAS, at varying levels, in approximately
100 percent of fish tested in the Great Lakes and
large rivers. In Summer 2022, EPA will collect fish
tissue in the National Lakes Assessment for the first
national study of PFAS in fish tissue in U.S. lakes.
This will provide a better understanding of where
PFAS fish tissue contamination is occurring, which
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15

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PFAS are involved, and the severity of the problem.
The new data will complement EPA's analyses of
PFAS in fish tissue and allow EPA to better under-
stand unique impacts on subsistence fishers, who
may eat fish from contaminated waterbodies in
higher quantities. EPA's preliminary analysis on
whether concentrations of certain PFAS com-
pounds in human blood could be associated with
eating fish using the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES) data found a pos-
itive correlation. Completing this analysis will help
make clear the importance of the fish consumption
pathway for protecting communities. EPA will con-
tinue to pursue collaboration with Tribal and federal
partners to investigate this issue of mutual interest.
Finalize list of PFAS for use in fish
advisory programs
Expected Spring 2023
EPA will publish a list of PFAS for state and Tribal
fish advisory programs that are either known or
thought to be in samples of edible freshwater fish
in high occurrence nationwide. This list will serve as
guidance to state and Tribal fish tissue monitoring
and advisory programs so that they know which
PFAS to monitor and how to set fish advisories
for PFAS that have human health impacts via fish
consumption. This information will encourage
more robust data collection from fish advisory
programs and promote consistency of fish tissue
PFAS monitoring results in EPA's publicly accessible
Water Quality Portal. By issuing advisories for PFAS,
state and Tribal programs can provide high-risk
populations, including communities and individuals
who depend on subsistence fishing, with more
information about how to protect their health.
Finalize risk assessment for PFOA and
PFOS in biosolids
Expected Winter2024
Biosolids, or sewage sludge, from wastewater
treatment facilities can sometimes contain PFAS.
When spread on agricultural fields, the PFAS can
contaminate crops and livestock. The CWA autho-
rizes EPA to set pollutant limits and monitoring and
reporting requirements for contaminants in biosolids
if sufficient scientific evidence shows that there
is potential harm to human health or the environ-
ment. A risk assessment is key to determining the
potential harm associated with human exposure to
chemicals. EPA will complete the risk assessment
for PFOA and PFOS in biosolids by Winter 2024.
The risk assessment will serve as the basis for
determining whether regulation of PFOA and PFOS
in biosolids is appropriate. If EPA determines that a
regulation is appropriate, biosolids standards would
improve the protection of public health and wildlife
health from health effects resulting from exposure to
biosolids containing PFOA and PFOS.
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Office of Land and Emergency
Management
Propose to designate certain PFAS as
CERCLA hazardous substances
Proposed rule expected Spring 2022; Final
rule expected Summer2023
EPA is developing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
to designate PFOA and PFOS as Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA) hazardous substances. Such
designations would require facilities across the
country to report on PFOA and PFOS releases that
meet or exceed the reportable quantity assigned to
these substances. The hazardous substance des-
ignations would also enhance the ability of federal,
Tribal, state, and local authorities to obtain informa-
tion regarding the location and extent of releases.
EPA or other agencies could also seek cost recovery
or contributions for costs incurred for the cleanup.
The proposed rulemaking will be available for public
comment in Spring 2022. The Agency commits to
conducting robust stakeholder engagement with
communities near PFAS-contaminated sites.
Issue advance notice of proposed
rulemaking on various PFAS under
CERCLA
Expected Spring 2022
In addition to developing a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking designating PFOA and PFOS as
hazardous substances under CERCLA, EPA
is developing an Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking to seek public input on whether to
similarly designate other PFAS. The Agency may
request input regarding the potential hazardous
substance designation for precursors to PFAS,
additional PFAS, and groups or subgroups of PFAS.
The Agency will engage robustly with communities
near PFAS-contaminated sites to seek their input
and learn about their lived experiences. Going for-
ward, EPA will consider designating additional PFAS
as hazardous substances under CERCLA as more
specific information related to the health effects
of those PFAS and methods to measure them in
groundwater are developed.
Issue updated guidance on destroying
and disposing of certain PFAS and
PFAS-containing materials
Expected by Fall2023
The 2020 NDAA requires that EPA publish interim
guidance on destroying and disposing of PFAS and
certain identified non-consumer PFAS-containing
materials. It also requires that EPA revise that guid-
ance at least every three years, as appropriate. EPA
published the first interim guidance in December
2020 for public comment. It identifies three tech-
nologies that are commercially available to either
destroy or dispose of PFAS and PFAS-containing
materials and outlines the significant uncertainties
and information gaps that exist concerning the
technologies' ability to destroy or dispose of PFAS
while minimizing the migration of PFAS to the
environment. The guidance also highlights research
that is underway and planned to address some of
these information gaps. Furthermore, the interim
guidance identifies existing EPA tools, methods,
and approaches to characterize and assess the
risks to disproportionately impacted people of color
and low-income communities living near likely PFAS
destruction or disposal sites. EPA's updated guid-
ance will address the public comments and reflect
newly published research results. Since the publica-
tion of the interim guidance, EPA and other agencies
have been conducting relevant research on destruc-
tion and disposal technologies. EPA anticipates
that additional research data will become available
starting in 2022. EPA will update the guidance when
sufficient useful information is available and no later
than the statutory deadline of December 2023.
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Office of Air and Radiation
Build the technical foundation to
address PFAS air emissions
Expected Fall2022 and Ongoing
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to regulate emis-
sions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), which are
pollutants that are known or suspected to cause
cancer or other serious health effects. At present,
EPA actively works with Tribal, state, and local gov-
ernments to reduce air emissions of 187 HAPs to
the environment. While PFAS are not currently listed
as HAPs under the Clean Air Act, EPA is building
the technical foundation on PFAS air emissions to
inform future decisions. EPA is conducting ongoing
work to:
•	Identify sources of PFAS air emissions;
•	Develop and finalize monitoring approaches
for measuring stack emissions and ambient
concentrations of PFAS;
•	Develop information on cost-effective mitigation
technologies; and
•	Increase understanding of the fate and transport
of PFAS air emissions to assess their potential
for impacting human health via contaminated
groundwater and other media pathways.
EPA will use a range of tools, such as EJSCREEN,
to determine if PFAS air pollution disproportionately
affects communities with environmental justice
concerns. Data from other ongoing EPA activities,
such as field tests, TRI submissions, and new TSCA
reporting and recordkeeping requirements, will help
EPA collect additional information on sources and
releases. By Fall 2022, EPA will evaluate mitigation
options, including listing certain PFAS as hazard-
ous air pollutants and/or pursuing other regulatory
and non-regulatory approaches. The Agency will
continue to collect necessary supporting technical
information on an ongoing basis.
Office of Research and
Development
Develop and validate methods to detect
and measure PFAS in the environment
Ongoing Actions
Robust, accurate methods for detecting and mea-
suring PFAS in air, land, and water are essential for
understanding which PFAS are in the environment
and how much are present. These methods are also
essential for evaluating the effectiveness of differ-
ent technologies for removing PFAS from air, land,
and water and for implementing future regulations.
To date, EPA has developed validated methods to
measure 29 PFAS in drinking water and 24 PFAS
in groundwater, surface water, and wastewater.
EPA has also developed a method for measuring
selected PFAS in air emissions. EPA will build on
this work by developing additional targeted meth-
ods for detecting and measuring specific PFAS
and non-targeted methods for identifying unknown
PFAS in the environment. EPA also recognizes the
need for "total PFAS" methods that can measure the
amount of PFAS in environmental samples without
identifying specific PFAS. EPA will increase its efforts
to develop and, if appropriate, validate "total PFAS"
methods, focusing on air emissions, wastewater, and
drinking water. Near-term deliverables include:
•	Draft total adsorbable fluorine method for
wastewater for potential laboratory validation
(Fall 2021);
•	Draft method for measuring additional PFAS in
air emissions (Fall 2022); and
•	Draft methods and approaches for evaluating
PFAS leaching from solid materials (Fall 2022).
Advance the science to assess
human health and environmental
risks from PFAS
Ongoing Actions
EPA will expand understanding of the toxicity of
PFAS through several ongoing research activities.
First, EPA will continue to develop human health
toxicity assessments for individual PFAS under EPA's
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program,
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and if needed, other fit-for-purpose toxicity values.
When combined with exposure information and other
important considerations, EPA can use these toxicity
assessments to assess potential human health
risks to determine if, and when, it is appropriate to
address these chemicals. Most PFAS, however, have
limited or no toxicity data to inform human health
or ecological toxicity assessments. To better under-
stand human health and ecological toxicity across a
wider variety of PFAS, EPA will continue to compile
and summarize available and relevant scientific
information on PFAS and conduct toxicity testing on
individual PFAS and PFAS mixtures. This will inform
the development and refinement of PFAS catego-
ries for hazard assessment. EPA will also conduct
research to identify PFAS sources in the outdoor and
indoor environment, to characterize PFAS movement
through the environment, and to identify the relative
importance of different human exposure pathways to
PFAS (e.g., ingestion of contaminated food or water,
interaction with household articles or consumer
products, and inhalation of indoor or outdoor air
containing PFAS). EPA also will work to characterize
how exposure to PFAS may contribute to cumulative
impacts on communities, particularly communities
with environmental justice concerns. Near-term
deliverables include:
•	Identify initial PFAS categories to inform TSCA
test orders as part of the PFAS National Testing
Strategy (Fall 2021)
•	Consolidate and update data on chemical/
physical properties, human health toxicity and
toxicokinetics, and ecotoxicity (Spring 2022 -
Fall 2024)
•	Complete draft PFHxS, PFHxA, PFNA, and
PFDA IRIS assessments for public comment
and peer review (Spring - Fall 2022)
•	Complete and publish the final PFBA IRIS
assessment (Fall 2022)
Evaluate and develop technologies for
reducing PFAS in the environment
Ongoing Actions
EPA needs new data and information on the effec-
tiveness of different technologies and approaches
for removing PFAS from the environment and
managing PFAS and PFAS-containing materials to
inform decisions on drinking water and wastewater
treatment, contaminated site cleanup and remedia-
tion, air emission controls, and end-of-life materials
management. This information is also needed to
better ensure that particular treatment and waste
management technologies and approaches do not
themselves lead to additional PFAS exposures,
particularly in overburdened communities where
treatment and waste management facilities are often
located. Toward that end, EPA will continue efforts
to develop approaches for characterizing PFAS in
source waters, at contaminated sites, and near PFAS
production and treatment/disposal facilities. EPA
will also continue to evaluate and develop technol-
ogies for drinking water and wastewater treatment,
contaminated site remediation, air emission controls,
and destruction and disposal of PFAS-containing
materials and waste streams. These efforts include
conducting laboratory- and pilot-scale studies,
which will inform the design of full-scale field
studies done in partnership with facilities and states
to evaluate real-world applications of different PFAS
removal technologies and management approaches.
EPA will prioritize efforts to evaluate conventional
thermal treatment of PFAS-containing wastes
and air emissions and assess the effectiveness
of conventional drinking water and wastewater
treatment processes. EPA will also continue to
evaluate and advance the application of innovative,
non-thermal technologies to treat PFAS waste and
PFAS-contaminated materials. Building upon these
evaluations, EPA will document the performance
of PFAS removal technologies and establish tech-
nology-based PFAS categories that identify the list
of PFAS that are effectively removed through the
application of the associated technology. Near-term
deliverables include:
•	Collect data to inform the 2023 guidance on
destroying and disposing of certain PFAS and
PFAS-containing materials (Spring 2022 - Fall
2023);
•	Identify initial PFAS categories for removal
technologies (Summer 2022); and
•	Develop effective PFAS treatment technologies
for drinking water systems (Fall 2022).
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Cross-Program
Engage directly with affected
communities in every EPA Region
Expected Fall2021 and Ongoing
EPA must fully understand the challenges facing
individuals and communities grappling with PFAS
contamination to understand their lived experiences
and determine the most effective interventions.
As recommended by the National Environmental
Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), EPA will meet
with affected communities in each EPA Region to
hear how PFAS contamination impacts their lives
and livelihoods. EPA will use the knowledge from
these engagements to inform the implementation
of the actions described in this roadmap. EPA will
also use the input to develop and share information
to reduce potential health risks in the near term and
help communities on the path to remediation and
recovery from PFAS contamination.
Use enforcement tools to
better identify and address
PFAS releases at facilities
Ongoing Actions
EPA is initiating actions under multiple environmen-
tal authorities—RCRA, TSCA, CWA, SDWAand
CERCLA—to identify past and ongoing releases
of PFAS into the environment at facilities where
PFAS has been used, manufactured, discharged,
disposed of, released, and/or spilled. EPA is con-
ducting inspections, issuing information requests,
and collecting data to understand the level of
contamination and current risks posed by PFAS to
surrounding communities and will seek to address
threats to human health with all its available tools.
For example, EPA's enforcement authorities allow
the Agency, under certain circumstances, to require
parties responsible for PFAS contamination to
characterize the nature and extent of PFAS con-
tamination, to put controls in place to expeditiously
limit future releases, and to address contaminated
drinking water, soils, and other contaminated media.
When EPA becomes aware of a potential imminent
and substantial endangerment situation where PFAS
poses a threat to human health, the Agency will
swiftly employ its expertise to assess the situation
and take appropriate action, including using statuto-
rily authorized powers.
Accelerate public health protections
by identifying PFAS categories
Expected Winter2021 and Ongoing
To accelerate EPA's ability to address PFAS and
deliver public health protections sooner, EPA is
working to break the large, diverse class of PFAS
into smaller categories based on similarities across
defined parameters (such as chemical structure,
physical and chemical properties, and toxicolog-
ical properties). EPA plans to initially categorize
PFAS using two approaches. In the first approach,
EPA plans to use toxicity and toxicokinetic data to
develop PFAS categories for further hazard assess-
ment and to inform hazard- or risk-based decisions.
In the second approach, EPA plans to develop
PFAS categories based on removal technologies
using existing understanding of treatment, remedi-
ation, destruction, disposal, control, and mitigation
principles.
EPA plans to use the PFAS categories developed
from these two approaches to identify gaps in cov-
erage from either a hazard assessment or removal
technology perspective, which will help EPA prioritize
future actions to research, restrict, and remediate
PFAS. For example, EPA may choose to prioritize
research to characterize the toxicity of PFAS that are
not being addressed by regulations that require the
implementation of removal technologies. Conversely,
EPA may prioritize research to evaluate the efficacy
of technologies designed to remove PFAS that are
included in a hazard-based category with relatively
higher toxicities. To support coordination and inte-
gration of information across PFAS categories, EPA
plans to develop a PFAS categorization database
that will capture key characteristics of individual
PFAS, including category assignments.
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Establish a PFAS Voluntary
Stewardship Program
Expected Spring 2022
Reduction of PFAS exposure through regulatory
means can take time to develop, finalize, and imple-
ment. Moreover, current PFAS regulatory efforts do
not extend to all of the approximately 600 PFAS
currently in commerce. As a companion to other
efforts described in this roadmap, EPA will estab-
lish a voluntary stewardship program challenging
industry to reduce overall releases of PFAS into the
environment. The program, which will not supplant
industry's regulatory or compliance requirements,
will call on industry to go beyond those require-
ments by reporting all PFAS releases in order to
establish a baseline and then continuing to report
to measure progress in reducing releases over time.
EPA will validate industry efforts to meet reduction
targets and timelines.
Issue an annual public report on
progress towards PFAS commitments
Winter2022 and Ongoing
EPA is committed to acting on PFAS with transpar-
ency and accountability. On an annual basis, EPA
will report to the public on the status of the actions
outlined in this roadmap, as well as future actions
the Agency may take. EPA will also engage regularly
with communities experiencing PFAS contamina-
tion, co-regulators, industry, environmental groups,
community leaders, and other stakeholders to
clearly communicate its actions and to stay abreast
of evolving needs.
Educate the public about
the risks of PFAS
Expected Fall2021 and Ongoing
Addressing PFAS contamination is a critical part
of EPA's mission to protect human health and the
environment. This important mission cannot be
achieved without effectively communicating with
communities, individuals, businesses, the media,
and Tribal, state, and local partners about the
known and potential health risks associated with
these chemicals. When EPA communicates risk, it
is the Agency's goal to provide meaningful, under-
standable, and actionable information to many
audiences. To accomplish this goal, EPA will make
available key explainers that help the public under-
stand what PFAS are, how they are used, and how
PFAS can impact their health and their lives. These
explainers and other educational materials will be
published in multiple languages, and the Agency
will work to ensure information reaches targeted
communities (including those with limited access to
technology and resources).
PFAS Strategic Roadmap: EPA's Commitments to Action 2021-2024	21

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Conclusion
Every level of government—federal, Tribal, state,
and local—needs to exercise increased and sus-
tained leadership to accelerate progress to clean up
PFAS contamination, prevent new contamination,
and make game-changing breakthroughs in the
scientific understanding of PFAS. This strategic
roadmap represents the Agency's commitment to
the American people on what EPA seeks to deliver
from 2021 to 2024.
The risks posed by PFAS demand that the Agency
take a whole-of-agency approach to attack the
problem from multiple directions. Focusing only
on remediating legacy contamination, for exam-
ple, does nothing to prevent new contamination
from occurring. Focusing only on preventing future
contamination fails to minimize risks to human
health that exist today. To build more enduring,
comprehensive, and protective solutions, EPA seeks
to leverage its full range of statutory authorities
and work with its partners—including other federal
agencies, state and Tribal regulators, scientists,
industry, public health officials, and communities
living with PFAS contamination—to implement this
multi-media approach and achieve tangible benefits
for human health and the environment/'
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Endnotes
! Approximately 650 PFAS are currently in commerce under TSCA, roughly half of which were
grandfathered into the TSCA inventory.
" EPA has identified 6-8 facilities that produce PFAS feedstock.
8 Key industries with significant documented discharges include PFAS production and processing,
metal finishing, airports, pulp and paper, landfills, and textile and carpet manufacturing.
"Examples include de minimis exemption, supplier notification requirements, and applicability of
those requirements to wastes.
v Federally-issued permits are those that EPA issues in MA, NH, NM, DC, territories, federal waters,
and Indian Country (and federal facilities in DE, CO, VT, WA).
viThis document provides information to the public on how EPA intends to exercise its discretion
in implementing statutory and regulatory provisions that apply to PFAS. Those provisions contain
legally binding requirements, and this document does not substitute for those statutory and
regulatory provisions or regulations, nor is it a regulation itself.
Photo Credits
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PFAS Strategic Roadmap:
EPA's Commitments to Action
2021-2024
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On the cover:
1.	© istock.corn
2.	https://photostockeditor.eom/free-imaaes/airl-alass/Daae/2
3.	Fly fishing, https://vvww.fiickr.com/photos/umriak/.
Joseph CC BY-SA 2.0
4.	© istock.corn
5.	© istock.corn
6.	©Adobestock.com
7.	High school students help with water monitoring and river cleanup,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/usepaaov/6237611883
page 4: Chesapeake Bay, Maryland,
https://www.maxpixel.net/Skv-Marvland-Reflection-Chesapeake-Bav-Water-1310538
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*>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA-100-K-21-002
October 2021

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