REGIONAL

_PFAS

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

Regional PFAS Community Engagement Sessions
Background

In October 2021, EPA released its PFAS Strategic Road map, which highlights concrete actions the Agency
will take across a range of environmental media and EPA program offices to protect people and the
environment from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. In early 2023, EPA held a
series of virtual community engagement sessions for each of its 10 Regions, and an additional session for
Tribes, to share actions taken under the PFAS Strategic Roadmap and to provide an opportunity for
community members to share feedback with EPA.

EPA Region 8 Session Summary

Region 8's community engagement session was held on March 8,2023, and 182 people attended the
session. During the session, Regional Administrator KC Becker spoke about how PFAS have affected the
Region and highlighted research efforts underway, includingwastewater samplingat selected sites on
Tribal reservations and PFAS removal research at the University of North Dakota.

During the session, EPA heard from community members, city officials, state agencies, attorneys, doctors,
local organizers, and others about how PFAS have impacted their communities and their lives. Their
statements touched on topics including the need for grants and funding for public water utilities and
privatewells, bioaccumulation in animals, PFAS in biosolids, equity concerns, identifying techniques for
disposal, accelerating the pace and transparency of federal actions, costs that may be imposed on water
utilities and communities, effluent limitations guidelines, holding polluters accountable, regulating PFAS
as a class, using existing EPA authorities to take federal action, working with other government agencies to
take action, reducing PFAS at the source, and contamination surrounding military installations.

A common theme throughout the feedback was the high cost of PFAS cleanup and monitoring. Specific
comments made by participants touched on the costs PFAS cleanup imposes on water systems, farmers,
ranchers, and consumers, and the importance of holding polluters accountable for these costs. Several
people mentioned the need for funding to address these costs and to test for PFAS in public water utilities
and private wells. Many individuals emphasized the need for funding opportunities to be equitable, with a
focus on disadvantaged communities. A community organizer in Colorado spoke about how PFAS
contamination has affected her small town, stating, "We cannot afford a million dollar anything for
filtering chemicals that we did not put here... It's incredibly important to provide resources for smaller
communities to fill out grants."

Another concern among individuals was the difficulty of the PFAS cleanup process, and the need to work
toward identifying disposal techniques. Two representatives from the Lowry Landfill Superfund Site
Advisory Group shared the challenges they had testing for PFAS and exploring cleanup technologies at the
Superfund Site. Another speaker, an environmental scientist, pointed out that cleaning up PFAS is difficult
due to the lack of approved disposal techniques.

Many individuals were also focused on how to address PFAS in food due to its presence in biosolids and
bioaccumulation in animals. "We see evidence that PFAS is growing in farm soils, food that we're

-------
producing. It's widespread in rivers, fish, and wild game meat that could pose a health problem for people
and the planet," said one individual, a Colorado resident. "And there's painfully little conversation about
the safety of eating wild-caught fish for tribal communities or other people who are fishing in our region."
Another speaker, from the Colorado Farm Bureau, highlighted the difficulty of PFAS in biosolids for farmers
and ranchers.

EPA also heard feed back on specific regulatory actions EPA should take, including regulating industry,
taking federal action under existing authorities, and regulating PFAS as a class. Some individuals requested
EPA set strong effluent limitations guidelines to reduce industry PFAS discharges, while others were
focused on reducing the use of PFAS. Additionally, multiple individuals said EPA should use existing
authorities to take federal action, including the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permits. Afew individuals called for EPA to regulate PFAS as a class, as opposed to
chemical-by-chemical. Lastly, EPA heard community members' request for EPA to accelerate the pace of
their actions and increase transparency around these actions.

EPA Region 8 is thankful for the feedback provided during this session. Individuals shared valuable stories,
questions, recommendations, concerns, and affirmations about the work that is being done. EPA is
committed to continuing to use this feedback to inform future work under the PFAS Strategic Roadmap.

Region 8 Community Feedback and Ongoing EPA Actions

Under the PFAS Strategic Roadmap, EPA is making progress to address priority areas highlighted in the
feedback shared by Region 8 participants, including:

Fundingand Financing: President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Lawincludes $10 billion in fundingto
address PFAS and other emerging contaminants in water. As EPA highlighted in its November 2022 one-
year PFAS Roadmap progress report, these efforts are making transformational investments in cleaning up
PFAS and other emerging contaminants in water, especially in small or disadvantaged communities. In
February 2023, EPA announced the availability of $2 billion in grant funding to address emerging
contaminants in drinking water in small or disadvantaged communities. These funds are being allocated to
states and territories and will promote access to safe and clean water in small, rural, and disadvantaged
communities while supporting local economies.

PFAS in Biosolids: EPA continues its work to address PFAS in biosolids by developing a risk assessment for
PFOAand PFOS. EPA is currently working to complete these final risk assessments for release in 2024,
building on Science Advisory Board advice in October 2023 on EPA's framework for biosolids risk
assessment. EPA is also working to further engage with stakeholders to develop principles and to discuss
perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in dealingwith the issue of PFAS in municipal biosolids.
The rise in concern over PFAS in municipal biosolids has created challenges and uncertainties for publicly
owned treatment works, solid waste management professionals, and regulators that rely on the three main
biosolids management options: land application, disposal in landfills, and incineration.

Addressing PFAS Destruction and Disposal: EPA is poised to soon update its 2020 interim guidance on
destroyingordisposingof PFAS-containing materials. In September, EPAsentthe updated interim
guidance to OMB for interagency review, after which EPA plans to release the updated interim guidance
this winter. Critically, this updated guidance reflects significant scientific work across EPAand the
scientific community to fill gaps in our understanding of PFAS destruction and disposal technologies and to
highlight remaining uncertainties requiring further research.

To learn more about EPA's efforts to address PFAS and to watch a full recordingof the community
engagement session, click here.

2

-------