&EPA

United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

EPA's PFAS Strategic Roadmap:
Second Annual Progress Report

December 2023

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Guided by its October 2021 PFAS Strategic Roadmap, EPA is
taking science-based action to comprehensively address PFAS.
Two years into implementation of the Roadmap, this is our
update to the American people.

Introduction

PFAS, the common term used for per- and poly-
fluoroalkyl substances, are an urgent threat to public
health and the environment. Communities across
the nation are discovering them in their air, land, and
water. The science is clear: exposure to certain PFAS
poses significant risks to human health, including
cancer, even at very low levels. That's why, in 2021,
EPA Administrator Michael Regan established the
Executive Council on PFAS and multiple offices within
the EPA developed the agency's PFAS Strategic
Roadmap. The Roadmap is our commitment to the
American people to confront PFAS contamination
head on —by following the science, leveraging all
available tools and authorities, holding polluters
accountable, and investing historic resources to
protect communities.

The EPA has made significant progress on PFAS
over the past two years—delivering on our mission
of ensuring that every person in this country has
clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and land
to live, play, and farm on that is safe from pollution.
The United States does not need to choose between
public health, prosperity, and security. These are
inextricably connected. Federal and state regulations,
state legislative action, and increased public
awareness—coupled with unprecedented federal
investments enabled by the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law (BIL)—are protecting public health, catalyzing
new economic opportunities, driving innovation,
creating jobs, and advancing environmental justice
across the nation.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan announces the EPA's proposed PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation in
March 2023 in Wilmington, North Carolina, alongside state, local, and community leaders.

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In its second year of implementation, the EPA has
remained focused on the three overarching goals
established in the Roadmap:

RESTRICT

Pursuing 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

Broadening and accelerating the cleanup of
PFAS contamination to protect human health
and ecological systems.

RESEARCH

Investing in research, development, and
innovation to increase understanding of PFAS
methods, human health and environmental
risks, and technologies.

Signature achievements and milestones in 2023
include:

Making PFAS use safer. PFAS can be used
responsibly in many critical industries and products.
Understanding where and how they are used is key to
ensuring protections for people and the environment,
and to advancing the science on PFAS used in
commerce. The EPA is using the Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA) and Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
as foundational tools to enhance oversight of new and
existing PFAS and to improve data on how PFAS are
released and used. Over the last year, the EPA took
action to address PFAS chemical safety—including
finalizing rules for PFAS reporting, announcing a
framework for reviewing new PFAS, proposing to
eliminate exemptions for new PFAS and to restrict
certain legacy PFAS, and issuing test orders to better
understand categories of PFAS.

Holding polluters accountable. The EPA is working
to ensure transparency around PFAS releases through
characterization and information gathering, to hold
polluters financially responsible for treatment and
cleanup, and to provide protections for communities
facing circumstances that may pose an imminent and
substantial endangerment. In the last year, the EPA
took important steps to stop PFAS polluters, including
specific enforcement actions and adding PFAS as an

EPA National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative
from 2024-2027. The EPA is also in the final stages of
developing a regulation to list perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as
hazardous substances under CERCLA, the nation's
Superfund law, which will give the agency powerful
tools to hold polluters accountable. The EPA expects to
take final action on this rule in early 2024.

Protecting America's drinking water. Every American
deserves safe drinking water. Fulfilling a signature
commitment in the Roadmap, the EPA proposed
national drinking water standards for six PFAS in
March 2023. The standards would set a national
floor of protection for every person served by public
water systems, regardless of their income or zip
code. This rule, when finalized, will save thousands
of lives and prevent tens of thousands of avoidable
illnesses, including in small, rural, and disadvantaged
communities. The EPA expects to finalize the rule in
early 2024.

Identifying the scale of exposure through drinking
water. Drinking water can be a significant source of
a person's exposure to PFAS. To better understand
the location and prevalence of PFAS in drinking water,
the EPA initiated nationwide monitoring for 29 PFAS
at more than 10,000 public water systems under
the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule and
announced two quarters of initial results. These results
are posted publicly through the EPA's website and
made more accessible through their inclusion in the
EPA's PFAS Analytic Tools.

Deploying funding to invest in infrastructure
projects to address PFAS in water. Many
communities will need to install new infrastructure
and treatment facilities to address PFAS in drinking
water and wastewater. Thanks to President Biden's
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the EPA is providing
$10 billion to remove PFAS and other emerging
contaminants—with more than half of the funds going
to small or disadvantaged communities. In 2023, the
EPA distributed nearly $1 billion through the BIL State
Revolving Fund Emerging Contaminants programs
and announced the first $2 billion in grant funding to
states, Tribes, and territories through the new Small or
Disadvantaged Communities Emerging Contaminants
grant program. These programs also advance the
Biden Administration's Justice40 Initiative, which set
the goal that 40 percent of the benefits of many federal
investment programs should flow to communities who

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have historically been marginalized by underinvestment
and overburdened by pollution.

Turning off the tap for industrial polluters.

Addressing the PFAS lifecycle—and how PFAS enter
the environment—is central to the EPA's strategy.
Restricting point-source discharges from industrial
facilities that use PFAS is a significant opportunity
to safely remove PFAS pollution before it enters the
environment or wastewater streams. The EPA has
taken several steps to use Clean Water Act permitting
and regulatory authorities to restrict PFAS—including
developing rules under the Effluent Limitations
Guidelines program to limit PFAS discharges to
waterways from PFAS manufacturers, metal finishers,
and landfills.

Advancing the science. The EPA has continued
to build the scientific foundation on PFAS through
research and development. The agency is investing
in research to fill gaps in our understanding of PFAS,
including research to characterize the toxicity of
additional PFAS and mixtures of PFAS; to study the
contributions of different sources to people's overall
exposure to PFAS; and to develop methods to test,
measure, remove, and destroy them.

Incorporating equity and environmental justice into
our actions. Over the last year the EPA has worked
to deliver on its Roadmap commitment to ensure that
all communities have equitable access to solutions,
and to integrate recommendations from the National
Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC). The
EPA has incorporated a focus on PFAS responses
and resources into its PFAS work, while weaving
environmental justice analyses into the agency's
PFAS regulatory actions, targeting unprecedented
infrastructure investments and technical assistance to
small and disadvantaged communities, and collecting
and releasing data to deepen our understanding of how
PFAS may impact communities with environmental
justice concerns, including by linking the agency's
PFAS Analytic Tools and EJSCREEN, the EPA's
environmental justice screening and mapping tool.

Listening to and learn from communities. To inform
the EPA's work across a range of PFAS issues, the
agency held a series of community engagement
sessions in early 2023 in each of its 10 Regions, as
well as a session specifically designed to hear from
the EPA's Tribal partners. Feedback shared during
these sessions, in coordination with recommendations

from EPA's NEJAC and Local Government Advisory
Committee, continue to inform the agency's policy,
infrastructure, and communications work.

The PFAS challenge is broader than can be addressed
by the EPA's authorities and resources alone. The
agency continues to deepen partnerships with other
federal agencies and state and Tribal coregulators
to tackle the magnitude and the complexity of PFAS
pollution. Through the White House Interagency
Policy Committee on PFAS. the EPA is helping to
lead interagency efforts to accelerate PFAS cleanup,
prevent PFAS contamination in the food system, and
address PFAS in federal procurement and supply
chains. And the EPA continues to support and learn
from states in tackling PFAS contamination, including
convening a September 2023 workshop on PFAS risk
communications and partnering to address the unique
challenge of PFAS in biosolids. Cumulatively, the EPA's
work with its federal and state partners is helping to
turn the tide on PFAS and to build more enduring,
comprehensive, and protective solutions.

Looking ahead, the EPA anticipates continuing the
progress on PFAS with several critical actions in 2024,
such as finalizing national drinking water standards
for several PFAS and taking final action to list certain
PFAS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, the
nation's Superfund law. The agency also soon expects
to issue guidance on destroying and disposing of
PFAS, to finalize methods to monitor for PFAS in a
wide range of media, and to propose rules designating
certain PFAS as hazardous constituents under the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The agency
also will continue engaging closely with its states, who
are actively working to address PFAS issues in their
communities. Together, these and other commitments
will more effectively protect the American people from
the risks posed by PFAS exposure.

One thing is clear: Americans don't have to
choose between clear air, land, and water or a
prosperous, vibrant, and secure nation. With work
on PFAS alternatives advancing; with new markets
for technology innovation, services, and jobs in
addressing the PFAS challenge; and with strategic,
long-term research, planning, and coordination
across all levels of government, this second year
of progress points to the safe future that every
person in this country deserves—and that we will
achieve together.

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Key Accomplishments

Enhancing Chemical Safety

The EPA committed to leveraging all of its authorities
to restrict PFAS, and that begins with responsible
use and management of these chemicals within
the marketplace. The Toxic Substances Control
Act (TSCA) and Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) are
foundational tools that the EPA uses to collect
information on PFAS used in commerce and to
increase transparency so people know how and
where these chemicals are being used and released.
The EPA is using these authorities to limit use when
the agency knows the use presents unreasonable
risk, or when the EPA does not have sufficient
information to ensure that unreasonable risks will not
occur, including to potentially exposed or sensitive
populations like young children and older adults.

Over the last year, the EPA has taken several
important steps under TSCA and TRI to achieve these
goals. The EPA has expanded work under the National
PFAS Testing Strategy, which the agency announced
alongside the Roadmap in October 2021. The Testing
Strategy is a major step toward obtaining information
about categories of PFAS, which will help accelerate
research and innovation and amplify the effectiveness
of regulatory and policy solutions to restrict and
remediate PFAS. In the past year, the EPA released its
second and third orders under the Testing Strategy to
require manufacturers to test chemicals used to make
plastics and GenX chemicals, and anticipates more
orders in the year ahead.

In May 2023, the EPA proposed a rule to ensure that
new PFAS go through a full safety review process
before entering commerce, which would eliminate
eligibility for exemptions that had allowed some
substances to go through an abbreviated analysis.
In June 2023, the EPA also announced a framework
for evaluating PFAS to ensure that new PFAS, or
new uses of existing PFAS, do not pose risks to
people's health and the environment before they are
approved for use. This framework will distinguish
uses that could result in environmental releases—and
those with expected human exposures—from those
that won't, and will require upfront testing for many
PFAS. In December 2023, and consistent with the
PFAS evaluation framework, the EPA announced

ERA'S PFAS

orders prohibiting a company from producing
specific, harmful PFAS, which are created as part of
its fluorination of high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
plastic containers—an action that will protect the
public from exposure to dangerous chemicals in
the approximately 200 million containers that the
company fluorinates annually.

In the Roadmap, the EPA also committed to restricting
PFAS by reviewing previous decisions that allowed
PFAS uses. As part of this effort, the EPA identified
approximately 150 PFAS that had been reviewed
through the TSCA new chemicals program, but
where the protective requirements imposed on the
submitters of those chemicals had not yet been
extended to all future manufacturers and processors
—creating risks for release and exposure. The EPA
proposed a first batch of Significant New Use Rules
in December 2022 to require these protections,
and expects to propose additional rules for the
remainder of this group in the coming months. The
EPA is also working to close the door on abandoned
PFAS and uses. In January 2023, the EPA proposed
an additional rule that would prevent anyone from
starting or resuming the manufacture or processing
of an estimated 300 "inactive" PFAS that have not
been made or used for many years without going
through a full notice, review, and, if appropriate, risk
management process.

Changeout in progress for a granular activated carbon
(GAC) treatment system for PFAS. GAC is a proven
technology for removing PFAS from drinking water and
is already in use in many communities.

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The EPA has also taken final action to collect
the largest-ever dataset of PFAS manufactured
in the United States. In October 2023, the EPA
published a final rule under TSCA that will require
ail manufacturers and importers of PFAS and PFAS-
containing articles in any year since 2011 to report
information to the EPA on PFAS uses, production
volumes, disposal, exposures, and hazards, and
the EPA expects to begin making non-confidential
data it receives publicly available in 2025. Also in the
past year, the EPA finalized a rule that eliminated an
exemption that allowed facilities to avoid reporting
PFAS information to TRI when those chemicals are
used in small (or a'e minimis) concentrations. TRI data
allow communities to learn how facilities in their area
are managing listed chemicals. The improved data the
EPA will collect will help support informed decision-
making by companies, government agencies, non-
governmental organizations, and the public.

Safeguarding Drinking
Water

Every person deserves to have safe drinking water.
That's why, in the past year, the EPA has advanced
critical work to protect communities' drinking water
from PFAS contamination. In March 2023, the EPA
proposed national drinking water standards for six
PFAS, fulfilling a foundational commitment in the
PFAS Roadmap. This proposed rule leverages the
latest science, and builds on state efforts to limit
PFAS, by proposing to establish legally enforceable
levels for several PFAS known to occur in drinking
water. Over time, this rule is anticipated to prevent
thousands of avoidable deaths and tens of thousands
of illnesses. The EPA anticipates finalizing this rule in
early 2024.

In addition, the EPA is currently conducting
nationwide drinking water sampling for 29 PFAS in
our nation's drinking water systems under the fifth
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR
5). Under UCMR 5, the EPA is testing for more PFAS
at lower levels in more water systems than ever
before. In August 2023, the EPA released the initial
UCMR 5 monitoring data on 29 PFAS and announced
a subsequent quarter of data in November. Data
collected under UCMR 5 will ensure science-based
decision-making and help the EPA better understand
national-level exposure to these PFAS, and to
what extent these PFAS disproportionately impact

communities with environmental justice concerns. The
EPA will continue to publicly update UCMR results
quarterly over the next three years.

As it advances regulatory and policy frameworks to
address PFAS, the EPA is investing unprecedented
levels of funding in treatment infrastructure to
remove PFAS from communities' drinking water
and wastewater. The EPA is deploying $10 billion
in funding made available by President Biden's
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address PFAS
and other emerging contaminants in water. These
investments are transformational for cleaning up PFAS
and other emerging contaminants in water, especially
in small or disadvantaged communities, as part of
the Justice40 Initiative. Thanks to these resources,
investments by communities from Tucson, Arizona,
to Wilmington, Ohio, are developing infrastructure,
expanding the market for skilled workers to build
and maintain these systems, and catalyzing new
innovation and economic opportunities.

Investments in PFAS treatment technologies are
catalyzing innovation that will bolster American
businesses, workers, and economic growth.

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In addition to $4 billion available through the Drinking
Water State Revolving Funds, the EPA announced
the availability of $2 billion in new grant funding in
February 2023 to address emerging contaminants in
drinking water specifically in small or disadvantaged
communities. These funds will be allocated to states
and territories and will promote access to safe
and clean water in small, rural, and disadvantaged
communities while supporting local economies.

Protecting Clean Water

The EPA continues to prioritize efforts to reduce PFAS
discharges to waterways, in December 2022, the EPA
released a memo on how state co-regulators can help
restrict PFAS at their source through the Clean Water
Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permitting program. The NPDES permitting
program is a powerful tool for reducing PFAS
discharges into waterways and protecting sources of
drinking water.

In January 2023, the EPA released its 15th Effluent
Limitations Guidelines Plan (ELG), the latest plan for
setting technology-based standards for industries
that discharge PFAS. Building on existing rulemaking

efforts for PFAS manufacturers and metal finishers,
the latest plan announced rulemakings to address
discharges from landfills, and a new Publicly Owned
Treatment Works Influent Study. This study will collect
more robust data on discharges into wastewater
streams from a broad range of industries and enable
strategic decisions about which industrial categories
warrant PFAS ELGs in the future. The EPA will also
conduct a detailed study of the textile industry and
continue to monitor several key sectors, such as pulp
and paper mills and airports, to determine whether
additional steps are necessary.

The EPA is also making significant progress to
advance the methods needed to detect PFAS in
water, and to build knowledge on the levels at which
PFAS in surface waters may harm aquatic life and
people. The EPA and the Department of Defense are
in the final stages of validating a method to test for 40
PFAS in wastewater, surface water, groundwater, soil,
biosolids, sediment, landfill leachate, and fish tissue.
The EPA expects to finalize EPA Method 1633 in the
coming months and intends to start the rulemaking
process to formally codify Method 1633 under the
Clean Water Act in 2024. In the interim, the EPA
recommends its use now in NPDES permits.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $10 billion to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants in water. Here,
Assistant Administrator for Water and PFAS Executive Council co-chair Radhika Fox highlights a $30 million investment in
PFAS drinking water treatment in Tucson, Arizona.

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The EPA continues Its work to protect aquatic life
and human health from PFAS by developing Clean
Water Act water quality criteria. The EPA expects to
fulfill a Roadmap commitment to issue recommended
aquatic life criteria for PFOA and PFOS in the near
future. States and Tribes may use these criteria in
assessing the impact of PFAS water pollution on local
communities and the environment, and in developing
water quality standards that serve as a basis to issue
permits to limit PFAS discharges. Future EPA efforts
will focus on developing similar recommended criteria
to protect human health.

The EPA is also working to address PFAS in biosolids
and is currently completing risk assessments for
PFOA and PFOS for public comment and release in
2024. The EPA is also working to further engage with
a wide range of partners in managing biosolids to
develop principles and to discuss perspectives on the
challenges and opportunities in managing biosolids as
awareness of PFAS occurrence in biosolids continues
to grow.

EPA scientist Jessica Schlafstein conducts sampling
of water sources adjacent to a military installation with
known PFAS contamination.

Cleaning Up PFAS
Contamination

In 2023, the EPA made significant progress in
its efforts to remediate PFAS and hold polluters
accountable. In September 2022, the EPA took a
critical step forward by proposing to designate PFOA
and PFOS as CERCLA hazardous substances, which
would improve transparency around releases of
these chemicals and help hold responsible parties
accountable for cleaning up their contamination.
The EPA expects to take final action on this rule in
early 2024. At the same time, the EPA is developing
a CERCLA enforcement discretion policy on PFAS
and has held listening sessions with the public and
key stakeholders from a variety of sectors to inform
development of this policy.

Soon after announcing the PFAS Strategic Roadmap,
the EPA initiated two rulemakings to tackle PFAS
contamination under the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA), which if finalized will
provide federal and state agencies with important
tools to clean up PFAS. One proposed rule would
designate certain PFAS as "hazardous constituents"
under RCRA, which would make these PFAS subject
to investigation and cleanup activities at permitted
hazardous waste facilities. The second proposed rule
would clarify that emerging contaminants such as
PFAS can be cleaned up through the RCRA corrective
action process. The EPA expects to propose
these rules as soon as the interagency reviews are
complete.

As our scientific understanding of PFAS evolves, the
EPA is also working to update and strengthen the
agency's cleanup efforts. In August 2023, the EPA
rescinded its 2019 groundwater cleanup guidance
for PFOA and PFOS because that guidance's
recommendations no longer reflect the best, currently-
available science. Instead, the EPA recommended that
site managers resume using well-established CERCLA
and RCRA processes for making site-specific
decisions that can better protect people from PFAS
contamination. To that end, the EPA has updated
its Regional Screening Level and Regional Removal
Management Level tables, which provide risk-based
values that help the EPA determine if further attention
is warranted or a removal is needed, to include a total
of 14 PFAS.

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The EPA is also poised to update its 2020 interim
guidance on destroying or disposing of PFAS-
containing materials and expects to release the
guidance in winter 2023. This updated guidance
reflects significant advances in research and
knowledge by the EPA and the scientific community,
filling gaps in our understanding of PFAS destruction
and disposal technologies and highlighting remaining
uncertainties that require further investigation.

Strengthening the Scientific
and Data Foundation

The EPA continues to invest in research, innovation,
and data analysis to increase our understanding of
PFAS and to provide science to inform decisions at all
levels, from local communities to national regulations.
Over the past year, EPA researchers published more

than 40 papers on PFAS in peer-reviewed scientific
journals. These publications present new information
on methods for measuring PFAS, human exposure
to PFAS, human health and ecological effects of
PFAS, treatment of PFAS-contaminated water,
and destruction and disposal of PFAS-containing
materials. The EPA also updated key data resources-
including the EPA's Drinking Water Treatability
Database, the ECOTOX Knowledgebase, and the
CompTox Chemicals Dashboard—to transparently
share new information.

The EPA's researchers are also working with
communities to address PFAS science questions
important to their lives and livelihoods. This includes
several projects with Tribal partners focused on
identifying and characterizing the extent of PFAS
contamination in water, sediment, fish, and plants
near Tribal communities. The EPA researchers are
also working to provide small or disadvantaged
communities with technical support for drinking
water treatment options for emerging contaminants,
including PFAS. In July 2023, the EPA proposed
additional data collection from facilities that emit PFAS
to the air through the Air Emissions Reporting Rule,
which would collect detailed PFAS data, enabling
more refined air quality and exposure modeling. The
EPA expects to finalize the rule in mid-2024.

In 2023, the EPA made significant progress in
developing human health toxicity assessments for
several PFAS under the Integrated Risk Information
System (IRIS) program. This includes releasing
the final IRIS assessment for PFHxA. and draft
IRIS assessments for PFDA and PFHxS for public
comment and peer review. The EPA is also developing
and applying new human health assessment
approaches to PFAS in order to provide actionable
science to decision-makers sooner. As part of these
efforts, the EPA released human health toxicity values
for PFPrA and lithium bisf(trifluoromethvl)sulfonvl1
azanide (also known as HQ-115), two substances that
have been detected in surface waters and wastewater
at or around PFAS manufacturing facilities.

Finally, the EPA continues to support PFAS research,
development, and innovation through its extramural
research grants program and the agency's Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. In
2023, the EPA partnered with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture to reouest grant applications for $8
million in funding for research to better understand

EPA'S PFAS ANALYTIC TOOLS

The EPA publicly released its PFAS Analytic Tools
in January 2023, providing a transparent and
accessible resources that can be used to compile
and integrate data on PFAS manufacture, release,
and occurrence in communities. The EPA further
updated these data tools in September 2023 to
add:

•	More than 10 years of PFAS emissions data
from the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

•	Over 100,000 recent drinking water monitoring
samples from UCMR 5

•	Tens of thousands of ambient surface water
and fish tissue samples, including studies from
the EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey

•	Hundreds of new waste manifests that have
been identified to likely contain PFAS

•	Dozens of incident reports sent to the agency's
National Response Center for releases likely
containing PFAS

•	Discharge monitoring reports for nearly 100
facilities with PFAS effluent monitoring

•	Data on federal sites with known or suspected
PFAS detections and Superfund sites with
PFAS detections

•	Data from the Toxics Release Inventory

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PFAS uptake in piants and animals, and management
of PFAS impacts in agricultural, rural, and Tribal
communities. Also in 2023, the EPA requested grant
applications for $1.5 million in funding to develop
and demonstrate nanosensor technology to detect,
monitor, and degrade PFAS in drinking water sources.
The EPA looks forward to announcing the grant
recipients for both research grant opportunities
in 2024. Through its SB1R program, the EPA has
provided more than $5.7 million to small businesses
developing technologies to detect, treat, and destroy
PFAS since 2017, with $200,000 awarded in 2023.

EPA Region 4 environmental engineer Landon Pruitt
samples groundwater for PFAS at the Seminole Tribe of
Florida's Brighton Reservation.

Holding Polluters
Accountable

The EPA continues its proactive approach to
use its enforcement tools to better identify and
address PFAS releases at facilities where PFAS
pose imminent and substantial danger to people
and the environment. Earlier this year, the agency
announced that "addressing exposure to PFAS" will
be one of the EPA's six National Enforcement and
Compliance Initiatives for Fiscal Years 2024-2027.
The EPA continues to collect information from PFAS
manufacturers and users, including federal facilities.
In April 2023, the EPA took the first-ever Clean
Water Act enforcement action for PFAS discharges
at Chemours' Washington Works facility near
Parkersburg, West Virginia. Near military installations
with known, significant, PFAS contamination, the EPA
is sampling private drinking water wells to assess
whether alternative drinking water is needed. The EPA
continues to ensure federal facilities on the CERCLA
National Priorities List are meeting their enforceable
Federal Facility Agreement requirements.

The PFAS National Enforcement and Compliance
Initiative will work to achieve site characterization,
control ongoing releases that pose a threat to human
health and the environment, ensure compliance
with permits and other agreements to prevent
and address PFAS contamination, and address
endangerment issues as they arise. As part of the
National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative, the
EPA expects to expand these enforcement efforts,
especially to protect drinking water supplies. Finally,
the EPA will focus its enforcement efforts on holding
responsible those parties who significantly contribute
to the release of PFAS into the environment, such as
major manufacturers and PFAS users, federal facilities
that are significant sources of PFAS, and other
industrial actors.

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Partnerships for Progress

Partnering with States

Offices across the EPA's headquarters and
10 Regional offices are focused on increased
coordination and collaboration with states and Tribal
partners and coregulators. One particular area of
emphasis for the EPA and state partners is working
to improve communications with the public and local
communities, including about the risks of PFAS. In
September 2023, the EPA held a workshop with its
partners in the Environmental Council of the States
(EGOS) and the Association of State and Territorial
Health Officials, where participants worked to learn
from each other on the challenges and best practices
for communicating about PFAS.

Another important area for state-federal partnership is
enhanced coordination on PFAS in biosolids. In July
2023, the EPA, ECOS, and the National Association
of State Departments of Agriculture developed
and released "Joint Principles for Preventing and
Managing PFAS in Biosolids." These Principles
recognize the unique challenges and uncertainties
presented by the presence of PFAS in biosolids, and
they highlight the importance of partnership across
all levels of government and between environmental
and agricultural agencies as the science and policy
landscape continues to evolve.

A Whole of Government
Approach

As the EPA acts to address PFAS, it does so as a
partner in the Biden-Harris Administration's effort
to harness the collective tools and capacity of the
federal government. The EPA participates in and leads
a range of interagency efforts to advance science and
knowledge around PFAS health effects, accelerate
cleanups and disposal, assess the impacts of PFAS
on the nation's food system, and work toward PFAS-
free alternatives in federal procurement and supply
chains. In March 2023, the White House Council on
Environmental Quality released a report highlighting
two years of coordinated progress by the Biden-
Harris Administration under the Interagency Policy
Committee on PFAS. Also in March 2023, the White
House Office of Science and Technology Policy's
PFAS Strategy Team published a report providing the
state of the science on PFAS that summarizes current
PFAS research in key strategic areas, including safe
removal and destruction of PFAS and alternatives to
PFAS that are safer, as well as gaps in PFAS data and
knowledge.

eVOQUA

EPA Region 1 Administrator and PFAS Executive Council co-chair David Cash tours a drinking water treatment facility in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with Senator Jeanne Shaheen and community leaders.

EPA's PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Second Annual Progress Report I December 2023

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Engaging with Communities

The EPA committed in the PFAS Strategic Roadmap
to listening to and learning from people and
communities impacted by PFAS contamination.
In early 2023, the EPA held a series of community
listening sessions in every EPA Region, and another
focused on hearing from Tribal communities around
the nation. These forums provided a platform for
thousands of individuals to share feedback directly
with EPA Regional and PFAS Executive Council
leaders to inform the implementation of the agency's
Roadmap. Participants shared how PFAS have
impacted their communities and their lives. Their
statements touched on a range of topics, including
the need for increased funding, equitable cost
considerations for water utilities and consumers, the
imperative to hold polluters accountable, increasing
education and communication to the public,
regulating PFAS in larger groups and categories,
evaluating environmental justice concerns, addressing
PFAS in biosolids, contamination surrounding military
installations, and identifying technologies for cleanup
and disposal. The feedback the EPA received during
these listening sessions has helped to reinforce and
focus the agency's PFAS efforts, in coordination

with federal, state, Tribal, and local partners. The
EPA is actively responding to these priorities,
such as by providing unprecedented funding to
addressing PFAS under the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law, holding polluters accountable by designating
PFAS as an enforcement and compliance priority,
prioritizing collaborative efforts to improve PFAS
risk communications, and releasing public tools that
improve understanding of PFAS in communities.

In December 2022, the EPA's National Environmental
Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) encouraged the
agency to more broadly institutionalize actions to
evaluate and address the disproportionate and
cumulative effects of PFAS and other pollution on
communities with environmental justice concerns.
The NEJAC recommended that the agency not only
pursue efforts within the three goal areas of the
Roadmap (research, restrict, and remediate) but
to also focus on both responding to PFAS and the
resources required to do so. The EPA is taking these
recommendations to heart in its work by building
stronger internal PFAS coordination; collaborating
with federal, state and Tribal partners on response
toolkits and risk communications; and building and
sustaining public tools that provide information and
resources to communities.

Map depicts EPA Regions and the communities from which the agency received feedback during virtual listening
sessions for each Region and for Tribes in early 2023.

EPA's PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Second Annual Progress Report I December 2023

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Communicating about PFAS risk to communities
has been a particular priority of the EPA's Local
Government Advisory Committee, which held a
PFAS tabletop exercise in May 2023 and made
recommendations to the EPA in September 2023
on developing a toolkit for local governments.
Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units
(PEHSUs) supported by the EPA and the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have
been pursuing PFAS-focused projects in each EPA
Region to promote children's health by sharing clinical
challenges, providing guidance for clinicians on how
discuss PFAS concerns with patients, providing
actionable advice for the general public to reduce
PFAS exposure, and learning from experts and peers.
Feedback from the EPA's listening sessions, the
NEJAC, the Local Government Advisory Committee,
and others, has been—and will continue to be—
integrated into all of the agency's efforts to address
PFAS.

Conclusion

The EPA's actions in 2023 demonstrate the Biden-
Harris Administration's commitment to protect
Americans' health from PFAS. The accomplishments
made over the last year are providing transparency,
accountability, and tools and resources to support
federal, state, Tribal, local, and individual efforts
to restrict PFAS and clean up contamination.
Collectively, the agency's progress in 2023 sets
the stage for final regulatory actions to restrict and
remediate PFAS, and to hold polluters accountable.

In 2024, the EPA's work on PFAS will remain laser
focused on driving positive change, protecting people
and the environment, and catalyzing new economic
opportunity.

Photo Credits





On the cover:

1. iStock





2.	EPA Photo

3.	EPA Photo

EPA's PFAS Strategic Roadmap:
Second Annual Progress Report

December 2023

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EPA's PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Second Annual Progress Report I December 2023

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oEPA

United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

EPA-800-K-23-001
December 2023

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