President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have made substantial strides in creating a cleaner and more sustainable environment for our country. They have enacted the most ambitious climate agenda in history, setting stringent emissions targets and leading the charge toward a transition to renewable energy sources.
High on the administration’s list of environmental achievements are new regulations of a set of chemicals known as PFAS. The White House worked with Congress to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that set aside billions of dollars towards treating PFAS in drinking water systems. The administration also pushed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish the first ever national drinking water standard to reduce PFAS exposure to the American public. These actions by the Biden-Harris administration efforts will safeguard our public health.
When it comes to PFAS regulation, the job is not done. The EPA will soon consider new effluent limit guidelines for the chemicals. As the EPA moves forward with these new rules, balance and science must rule the day. New regulations must protect public health while also recognizing how critical PFAS are to the American economy. By preserving responsible access to certain PFAS in key industries, the EPA can ensure the Biden-Harris administration meets both its public health and clean energy goals.
PFAS hold various physicochemical properties, such as durability to extreme temperatures and resistance to grease. These properties make PFAS crucial to certain segments of our economy. In South Carolina alone, PFAS support approximately 108,000 jobs and $48 billion in economic output.
One specific industry reliant on PFAS for manufacturing is the semiconductor industry. Semiconductors are vital components in electric vehicles, powering essential features such as navigation systems, safety mechanisms, and more. Clean energy industries also rely on PFAS to construct wind turbines, solar panels, and heat pumps.
In the semiconductor and clean energy sectors, there are no alternatives to PFAS currently available. As a result, if our domestic manufacturers are unable to access or utilize PFAS due to overly broad new EPA rules, South Carolina manufacturers will face significant challenges.
As it produces new regulations, the EPA must avoid implementing a sweeping PFAS ban. A de facto ban would severely hamper the production of goods across countless industries, including manufacturing clean energy technologies like electric vehicles. BMW alone has committed $1.7 billion to our local plant, including $700 million specifically for the development of a new battery assembly facility for electric vehicles in Woodruff. A broad ban would jeopardize these investments and others across the country, hindering the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 2050.
Instead of enforcing a near-total ban of PFAS, the EPA must consider other, more balanced ways in which it can protect our communities and critical industries. Better approaches include focusing on stringent emissions control and improved end-of-life management that reduce PFAS exposure. In addition, it should also prioritize utilizing alternatives as much as possible where available to replace the use of PFAS. This is already being done in sectors such as cosmetics, food packaging, water-repellent materials, among others.
The EPA must continue addressing major environmental challenges like PFAS exposure. However, it’s crucial that the agency avoid overbearing effluent limit guidelines that lead to unintended consequences. Rather, the agency should adopt science-based, targeted regulations that protect communities from exposure to PFAS while also ensuring key industries here in South Carolina continue to have access to PFAS for essential uses.
