Head of EPA visits Fayetteville to announce new limits for PFAS in drinking water

Well good morning everyone

2024-04-10

What a wonderful day to be in Fayetteville North Carolina

So give yourselves a hand for that

I am my I am deeply honored so grateful and

privileged to be here today to welcome uh Secretary Reagan

uh Governor Cooper Attorney General Josh Stein and so many

others

But before I make my very brief remarks I'd like

to acknowledge all of my colleagues on the City Council

that are here today

Uh If you could stand just to make sure I

don't miss anyone

So thank you members of the City Council also

Uh I'll be remiss to uh uh to catch our

county commissioners the chair and the vice chair here

Uh Chairman Adams and Vice chair Stewart

Thank you

And of course uh we certainly could do none of

this without our our very great advocates in the state

level the state delegation

So I see Senator Applewhite and other state elected officials

that are here past and present

Thank you

You know today is such an important day in our

community

Uh The city of Fayetteville is a great resilient community

that has been unfortunately in the crosshairs of both natural

and unnatural uh created and unintentional disasters here in our

community

But we know one thing for sure that clean safe

drinking water is not only a privilege but it's a

right for the citizens of Fayetteville and Cumberland County and

the surrounding communities

So today because of the hard work of a very

tenacious attorney general because of our governor and his leadership

and because now they have engaged the federal government and

Secretary Reagan and others who have contributed to today's success

Uh We're grateful to hear about the great things that

are in store to continue to restore safe clean drinking

water to the city of Fayetteville and the surrounding communities

So I thank you for coming today

I welcome all of our dignitaries and others that have

worked so hard to make this day possible

And with that I will give way to our Attorney

General Josh Stein

Good morning everybody

Mayor Colvin

Thank you for the introduction

Thank you for having us

Thank everybody for being here this morning

I want to thank my friend Administrator Regan who has

been at the forefront of this issue of clean drinking

water and this issue of pfos from our first understanding

of how serious this has been

Thank you so much Administrator Regan

How cool is it to have a North Carolinian head

An EPA He took what he saw and learned firsthand

here in North Carolina up to Washington and is now

benefiting the whole country with that understanding and he's going

to have a big announcement today that proves that point

directly

Thank you so much

Administrator

I want to thank Governor Cooper

He has been focused on this major issue of clean

drinking water from his time in the State Senate to

his time as Attorney General to serving now as governor

And of course he had the foresight to hire then

Michael Regan to become Secretary of Reagan before he became

administrator Reagan

Governor

Thank you for getting this state to focus seriously on

this issue of dealing with PFS

Today's news illustrates exactly how serious we are about addressing

the threat that these forever chemicals pose to the people's

health

And well being in North Carolina the first ever national

drinking water standard for pfos will make our water cleaner

and safer and keep our people healthier

The North Carolina Department of Justice my team and I

we've been working hard to protect the air that we

breathe and water we drink here in this state

When you turn on that faucet at home you shouldn't

have to worry that drinking that water or taking a

bath in that water will make you or your loved

one sick

We've already made encouraging progress as it relates to pfos

in North Carolina

For years companies have dumped pfos and other chemicals that

last forever into our lakes and rivers

Even when they knew that these chemicals damaged people's health

and our natural resources

Well being as lawyers for the Department of Environmental Quality

My team helped Secretary Reagan and Governor Cooper win a

milestone settlement with the chemical company Camors just down the

river

In addition in addition to levying a $12 million fine

the largest environmental fine in state history the settlement prevents

the company from continuing to discharge Gen X and other

PFOs chemicals into the Cape Fair River requires the company

to install a state of the art technology at the

facility to prevent PFOs emissions into the air

The settlement requires the company to contain and clean up

the contaminated groundwater at the facility

It requires Camors to put in filtration systems with people

whose private well water has been contaminated but my office

did not stop with that settlement in October 2020

I announced an additional lawsuit against Camors in Dupont over

the Fayetville works manufacturing facility

This lawsuit demands that the companies pay for the damage

that they have inflicted on the state's natural resources

Since then I have filed six additional site specific lawsuits

against Dupont three M and 12 other manufacturers of a

triple fa firefighting foam that contains PFOs

These companies need to pay for the damage that they've

caused

Clean it up and monitor it to make sure that

it doesn't cause more damage in the future

I will continue to do everything in my power to

protect North Carolina's natural resources

Our Children and grandchildren deserve clean air clean water and

a healthy climate and I commit to doing my part

It's my pleasure now to bring forward Kevin Ken Cook

excuse me Ken president and co founder of the environmental

working group a nonprofit nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting human

health and the environment

Ken

Hm

Thank you Mr Attorney General

Thank all of you for this opportunity and thank all

of you for this for this day

For decades the American people have been exposed to incredibly

toxic

Forever chemicals known as PFAS with no protection from their

government

None those chemicals now contaminate virtually all Americans from birth

In fact before birth as our study in 2004 documented

That's because for generations PFAS chemicals slid off every major

federal environmental law like a fried egg off a Teflon

pan until Joe Biden came along until Joe Biden came

along

Now we're making progress and we can't go back

We can't go back in just the last few years

For the first time most of those environmental laws are

starting to stick to forever chemicals

How about that Right

And today EPA announces the biggest step yet a tough

landmark legal limit on PFAS in the drinking water of

tens of millions of Americans unprecedented progress

We can't go back

We can't

Do you remember the 72 page pfas action plan that

was released by the previous administration Of course you don't

it was a plan for inaction a plan to delay

or weaken the very policies the Biden administration has already

implemented

We can't go back we can't go back to the

kind of leadership that would take us back like the

EPA administrator we had seven years ago

Do you remember him Let me remind you a little

bit about him

He was the guy who asked EPA civil servants to

help him procure a lightly used mattress from the Trump

Hotel

Mhm

It's in the record the E EPA administrator who directed

his security detail to track down his favorite moisturizer available

only at select Ritz Carlton hotels his security detail

Ok

The guy who spent $43,000 of taxpayer money improperly on

a soundproof booth in his office

So EPA staff couldn't hear what he was saying or

who he was saying it to kind of a little

safe room to escape career scientists and lawyers who thought

EPA was here to protect human health and the environment

as Congress intended

That's what they thought

The very people Michael Regan gathered around to make pfas

a priority of his entire agency to make sure today's

announcement happened and happened by the book and was as

bulletproof as possible to keep toxic pfas out of our

people and out of our babies

Now here we are three plus years into his tenure

He's taking on PFAS pollution from every angle and yet

and yet the American people have no idea which moisturizer

he prefers

We don't know it

It doesn't even come up

That's progress

We can't go back we can't go back to week

after week of infrastructure week can we No we don't

get Infrastructure Week with Joe Biden

We get infrastructure money concrete trucks equipment jobs not announcements

like the $10 billion in the bi bipartisan Biden infrastructure

law earmarked to deal with PFAS in our water supplies

And the $1 billion announced today to help water utilities

meet this tough new standard real money real infrastructure

This is infrastructure this is what it looks like

You gotta build it and you gotta pay for it

So is it enough funding to do the job No

of course not

Where will we get the rest Well me I would

start with the guy who got us the 1st 10

billion

next month marks the beginning of the environmental working group's

focus on forever chemicals

25 years ago we just turned 31 as you can

probably tell the reason we started

And in a real sense the reason we're all here

today is because one man stood up to a multibillion

dollar company slob through decades of government neglect and pulled

back the curtains on the global crisis of PFAS contamination

That man is robot

He's right back there

Administer Administrator Regan uh CE Q Chair Mallory

Thank you for inviting me to this historic occasion

If an organization can be considered to have a life's

work

PF is surely it for my organization

Environmental working group

Sorry

And this is the best pfas day I've had in

a quarter century

Thank you for your courage and your persistence and your

fealty to duty

You set us on the right course

At long last I know you'll stay the course because

we can't go back

She me how are you go before you Good afternoon

everyone

Oh actually morning we're still in the morning

Uh thank you

I I said yesterday um to Ken that he always

gets the room fired up and uh he didn't disappoint

today as well

So uh thank you Ken Cook for the introduction

Uh And for all that the environmental working group has

done and for your support of the efforts of today's

announcement it could not happen without people like you and

without the um courage that it took to continue to

push this issue and for the EPA administrator and staff

to actually move forward on what was clearly a needed

action

Um It's really a pleasure to be here in Fayetteville

with the administrator uh and to mark um a critical

step toward delivering clean and safe water to communities in

North Carolina and all across the country

Uh Administrator Regan and the team have actually done an

incredible job in getting us to this moment and don't

think that that was an easy task

Um But I'm really excited to be part of this

significant public health announcement and wanna um begin by thanking

Governor Cooper um Mayor Calvin and other partners here in

North Carolina

I also wanna give special thanks to Emily uh Donovan

from uh Clean Cape Fear who has secured um reverse

osmosis filling station for dozens of local public schools and

helped to elevate North Carolina's PFAS contamination issues to a

national stage

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe everyone deserves access

to clean and safe water

Everyone should be able to turn on the tap and

know that the glass of water they fill is safe

to drink and free of pollutants that harm people's health

and well being

That's why President Biden has launched a government wide action

plan and provided billions of dollars in funding to protect

communities from PFAS pollution

Today the Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the first national

drinking water standard for PFAS which will protect 100 million

people from PFAS exposure prevent tens of thousands of serious

illnesses and save lives

We are also announcing $1 billion through the President's investing

in America agenda to help every state and territory fund

pfas detection and treatment systems to meet the standard

This funding is part of $9 billion through the president's

bipartisan infrastructure law to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants

in drinking water

The largest investment in tackling PFAS pollution

The investments build on President Biden's action plan to address

people's pollution safeguard public health and advance environmental justice all

while ensuring the Biden cancer Moonshot goal of cutting the

cancer death rates by at least half by 2047

Administrator Regan will um go on more uh in more

detail about the announcement

But first I'd like to just take a step back

and share what this announcement really means

In Oakdale Minnesota a chemical plant dumped PFOs containing waste

for decades

Contaminating the community's drinking water

Cancer was found to be a far more likely cause

of death in Children in Oakdale than in neighboring communities

The importance of this issue for Children families and communities

goes far beyond what any numbers convey

I want to highlight the personal story of Amara Strandy

who spent her final months calling for action after years

of battling tumors and more than 20 surgeries Amara passed

away one year uh uh away one year ago this

month just before her 21st birthday

Today's action is a critical step in striving to ensure

that no child or community no family no parent experiences

The devastation of the Oakdale that Oakdale has seen the

first national water standard for PF marks a significant step

towards delivering on the Biden Harris administration's commitment to securing

clean water for people all across this nation

And with that I will turn it over to Governor

Cooper

Well good morning everybody

It is fantastic to be in Fayetteville in Cumberland County

Uh Ken and Brenda and Attorney General Stein thank you

for all that you are doing for clean water for

families

I know that this these local governments led by Mayor

Colvin and Chair Adams and all of the members of

the city council and county commissioners know firsthand how important

this issue is because they've had people affected in this

community uh by this

And so a lot of them are here today and

we're grateful for for their leadership

We're always glad to be with Senator Apple White representative

Jackson Representative Pricey Harrison uh grateful for their leadership in

the North Carolina General Assembly also in our Department of

Environmental Quality that uh our E EPA administrator left in

great shape

Uh Secretary Biser couldn't be with us today because she's

in Washington doing good work

But we have our chief Deputy Secretary of the EQ

Tim Watkins and our assistant secretary for uh environment sushi

Maze more who have done tremendous work in this area

Look let's let's get to the bottom line first here

Uh families and communities deserve clean safe drinking water period

in the store

And we know we know that these forever chemicals P

five often called Gen X

They threaten it

Now when I became governor we'd already been reading these

reports of the the the pioneers on this issue who

who began to realize what a problem it was

And our scientists and health officials were becoming concerned about

these forever chemicals and they didn't know for sure how

they affected people's health and they didn't know for sure

what levels were safe in the drinking water in North

Carolina

We did not wait

We went to work and one of the reasons why

Dre Regan is here this is his home state and

he loves it very much

But he knows he knows that with his leadership with

our team that we were on the cutting edge on

this issue in in North Carolina

In fact when I was interviewing Secretary Reagan for this

job some people had told me he's he's too young

he's too young to to to to lead the Department

of Environmental Quality

Ask him that question Michael

They say you're too young

He said well Governor I'm working on it every day

That's the guy you need right And when President Biden

was talking with me about a leader that he needed

to be administrator of the EPA

One of the toughest jobs in Washington I looked at

what the EPA had gone through under the previous administrator

that Ken had just talked about in the previous president

And I thought about our Department of Environmental Quality that

had gone through a gutting from the majority Republican legislature

And my uh predecessor as governor

And I said Michael Regan helped to turn Deq around

and and raise the confidence level and gave everybody purpose

and he can do the same thing for the EPA

in Washington and he has done that and I'm grateful

that you are here

But but in 2017 we we went to work

We set up our secretary's advisory board to begin digging

into what we could do to protect North Carolina communities

And it started out with our Department of Environmental Quality

We realized that it was a real health aspect here

too

So we brought in the Secretary of the Department of

Health and Human Services and we brought all these people

together working on what we could do

Our DEQ worked to find the source of the Gen

X in the Cape Fear River River and we took

that polluter camors to court and to this day we're

working to keep them accountable for what they've done

We rolled out an action strategy to help to protect

communities and their drinking water and to clean up existing

contamination

And we proposed legislation to the General Assembly to hold

polluters accountable and to make them clean up their own

mess

And we asked the General Assembly for additional resources to

fight this battle

North Carolina has led the way across the country in

fighting this challenge but we knew we needed help

How can you adequately prevent the threat if you don't

have a measurable standard that can be enforced How will

our communities be able to afford the changes that are

going to be required in their water system The filtration

how are they going to be able to afford it

Secretary Re Administrator Reagan and the Biden administration is here

to provide the answers to both of those questions for

years

We've been calling on the federal government to help in

tackling this complex issue

I had a phone call very early in my first

term with the previous administrator of the EPA and didn't

ask him any of the questions that you talked about

but I did talk to him about PFS and when

I hung up the phone and looked at the people

who were around me listening to the call we aren't

going to get any help here

The previous administration and President Trump they really weren't interested

in helping on this issue

But thankfully when they got into office the Biden administration

was and you remember Michael three years ago we joined

together with the Biden administration at North Carolina State as

we rolled out the EPA S road map to tackle

this contamination

That road map was built on the road map that

North Carolina had already started and it made a big

promise that for the first time ever we would set

a national limit on P OS and drinking water and

that the Biden administration would do that today

Administrator Reagan and the Biden administration are delivering on that

promise that they made not only to North Carolinians but

to all Americans across this country

today our calls have been answered

These new standards will help give people the confidence they

deserve when they turn on the tap that the water

is safe and clean

And here in North Carolina

We've already been preparing for this day

Our Department of Environmental Quality is partnering with our local

water systems getting ready taking hundreds of samples of water

providing technical assistance

We're proposing PFAS limits for surface and groundwater

But that we know that with with all this our

water systems will need a lot more help and funding

to reduce PFAS and drinking water and get everybody to

that safe level

And the Biden administration is answering that call with the

bipartisan infrastructure law

And we're going to work to get as much of

it as we can

Administrator Reagan here in North Carolina

But and I know these legislators are with me who

are here today

We need to get the legislature to step up with

more funding

In addition to passing that bill that requires polluters to

pay because it shouldn't be the taxpayers and the consumers

who pay they should be paid for the damage that

they cause

And we know that the Biden administration agrees with us

on this is they are working to include P A

as a hazardous substance under federal law that can trigger

requirements for polluters to pay for treatment and clean up

folks

We still have a long way to go but we

have to work every day and today is a significant

step toward cleaner and safer water for all Americans

And now thank you very much for that

And thank you to Emily Dimon Donovan and her work

as co-founder of the Clean Cape Fear

And I'm gonna introduce you right now Emily

So my family lives 80 miles downstream from Camors and

I didn't know about the extreme levels of Gen X

and other pfas in our tap water until six years

ago

At that time there was one statement we kept hearing

over and over again from local leaders

Our tap water meets or exceeds state and federal guidelines

But we knew those words were worthless because there were

no state and federal drinking water standards for KF in

June of 2017

After we publicly learned about camors the company sent their

executives to Wilmington North Carolina for a closed door meeting

with local leaders

Only one reporter Adam was allowed in the room

Sorry he's here today right there

Um was allowed in the room with no care cameras

no microphones

That was the moment that we knew our contamination crisis

was bigger than we ever imagined

And we quickly quickly formed clean Cape Fear and we

co-hosted the first ever town hall on Gen X with

our friends Cape Fear River Watch Dana Sergeant

Our public trust was severely broken when we realized what

Dupont did in Parkersburg West Virginia was exactly the same

thing that they were doing in North Carolina for nearly

40 years

I raised my Children on this water 130,000 parts per

trillion of total PF is the current estimate that we

likely drank every day during the peak of our contamination

crisis

My daughter is here today with her friends

They were raised on that water and thank you Detlef

Kae and your lab for analyzing that

And a special shout out to Harper Peterson for forming

clean cake here around his dinner

And

in the last few years clean K fear has lost

four friends that lent their voices to our fight

All of them were my age

They died of either rare or recurrent cancers or chronic

health problems that are too great to overcome

So John C is here today cause her husband can't

be my own husband developed a brain tumor

Three years after we moved to this region my family

and I have c more specific pfas in our blood

and no one can tell us or our doctors what

health risks are associated with those exposures or how to

provide us with preventative care

This has been our reality not just mine Mike Waters

is here today

His friends are here today

I know we can't change the past but we can

fight for a more just future

And that is exactly what we are doing today for

every Dupont and Camors in the world

There is an EWG an NR DC and Earth Justice

a Center for Environmental Health and a North Carolina Conservation

Network and countless other state and national organizations that are

fighting alongside us

We are here today because of people like Rob Ballot

Radica Fox Mark Strainer and a whole committed scientific community

that's willing to spend their nights and weekends doing what

is right instead of what is easy

We are also here today because of grassroots community leaders

like Katie Bryant from Pittsburgh and Cheryl acting chief of

the Wat Indian people

Hope Joanne Lane Tony Arnie

Jud Linda Brenda Stelle Sandy Dana Ayesha Jamie and my

friend Andrea who likes to call who likes to say

that we are as persistent as PF we are the

national PFAS contamination community and we stand united

We go to DC regularly fighting for these rules fighting

for these changes

And I am so grateful that you listened to us

Mr Administrator Regan

We've been fighting for years some for a decade to

make sure no one else has to live through the

traumas that we have endured

But most importantly we are here today witnessing history because

of the leadership of our next speaker

I first met Administrator Regan six years ago when he

was Secretary of North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality

He had only been in that role for three months

when we publicly learned about Gen X and Camors

And it's been a roller coaster of a journey ever

since today

I am overwhelmed with gratitude and I am so deeply

honored to be in this moment knowing that the next

time I hear the words meets or exceeds federal and

state drinking water standards that those words will actually mean

something

So it is with great honor that I welcome North

Carolina's favorite son NC State A and T graduate buildings

need to be named after you

Friend

Our next speaker U SEPA administrator Michael Regan

Good morning

I have to thank Emily for that introduction

Emily we have come a long way as I remember

those early years and I wanna say thank you for

your leadership and for your your bold advocacy not just

for your community but for communities all across this country

So thank you

to my good friend Roy Cooper

Yes

Uh I think Governor Cooper walked you through the history

And what I wanna say about Governor Cooper is I'm

not just proud of Governor Cooper's leadership for the State

of North Carolina at the time Governor Cooper was setting

the example for the nation

Uh I think you all heard that during the previous

administration it wasn't because the career officials did not have

the will

Uh It was the political leadership that didn't have the

will

So governors like Roy Cooper took the wheel and started

driving this topic for the nation

So governor thank you for that leadership

and it takes a team to do this and and

the governor had a a very strong partner and a

very aggressive attorney general Josh Stein

Um Thank you uh Josh's bold leadership and the career

staff at NC Doj uh really took the helm and

helped our agency at the time navigate some very tru

tough terrain

And I think Josh laid out the accountability that we

laid out for the State of North Carolina

So Josh again thank you for your leadership

to my good friend Brenda Mallory chair of the White

House Council on Environmental Quality

Uh Brenda's expertise has come in very handy

Uh Brenda has expertise in water quality beyond uh some

of these persistent forever chemicals

Uh She has been an excellent partner in representing the

White House as we have designed this regulation

So Brenda thank you so much for being here Mayor

Colvin

We've been here before

Yes it's good to make this progress

And you know mayor while we've been at this for

a while I can say that your leadership has never

wavered

Uh We greatly appreciate you for hosting us today and

greatly appreciate uh Commissioner Adams as well

Uh I think uh this county and this city has

been well served

So thank you sir

And then for those of you who didn't know Ken

Cook you know him now uh Ken has been an

excellent partner to this administration uh holding us accountable but

also helping us navigate and find practical solutions for a

problem that has been persistent for too long

So Ken thank you and thank you for leading EWG

and thank you for the commitment and the passion that

you all have on this topic

And then I wanna thank uh EPA staff uh again

I wanna reiterate that while we all recognize that the

previous administration did not have the political will

Uh The expertise was there The expertise is there and

we are here today because those career staff never told

me no on day one we gave them the de

the assignment and they have delivered

So thank you to my EPA staff

Now folks I'm proud to work for a president uh

that understands the threat of PFAS and he understands that

because on day one he launched a whole of government

approach to begin to address this issue

We could not be here but for the will and

the vision of President Biden

I'm thankful to work for a leader who understands and

sees people and will not leave any communities behind

Cheers

in North Carolina

We've proven time and time again that the best way

to create strong durable policy is to bring all stakeholders

to the table regardless of the political party or background

together examine all of the issues from all sides and

form a common solution

This has been my perspective as EP administrator in Washington

DC

But it was also my perspective when Governor Cooper appointed

me as Secretary of North Carolina Deq back in 2017

As secretary back then we faced a lot of obstacles

challenges like the impacts of floods and hurricanes resulting from

climate change tackling environmental justice and cleaning up coal ash

just to name a few

But by far one of the most difficult challenges was

discovering the presence of forever chemicals in our soil in

our air and our water

For me personally this battle started right here in Fayetteville

North Carolina

We learned that for decades Camors have been dumping forever

chemicals into our precious Cape Fair River saturating our souls

and spewing emissions into the air for miles and miles

and miles

And while there is no doubt that these chemicals have

a place and are important for certain industries and certain

certain practices there is also no doubt that these chemicals

entering our environment in an uncontrolled manner are harmful to

our families harmful to our communities and harmful to our

economy

We've all heard from parents like Emily Donovan who had

no idea that the water she was giving her Children

since birth was contaminated with PFAS

I've also heard from parents like Andrea Amico whose family

moved to Portsmouth New Hampshire in 2007

And like any parent Andrea enrolled her small kids into

a daycare

After the move seven years later she would find out

that her kids were drinking contaminated water

Folks I want to be clear as a parent and

clear as EPA administrator there is no greater priority for

me than protecting our Children

So from day one under the leadership of President Biden

uh we set up uh a group of senior EPA

career officials across multiple offices to develop a multiyear PFAS

strategy

Uh to begin tackling this persistent problem this persistent threat

to the American people in October of 2021 we announced

the PFAS strategic road map guided by President Biden's whole

of government call to tackle PFS pollution and deliver clean

water for all

And in the years since we have accelerated our progress

to protect communities

We're holding polluters accountable

We're advancing the science around P FIVE S and we're

listening to and learning from the very communities that have

had to face the fears of contamination

Now just a year ago I stood in Wilmington North

Carolina just downstream of this community that we're in today

to announce EP A's proposed national drinking water standard for

P five

And today I am back to finish the assignment

You know today I'm proud to return to North Carolina

to announce the first ever nationwide legally enforceable drinking water

standard for P FA S

The most significant action EPA has ever taken on this

on this chemical on the on PFS

This new standard will reduce PFAS exposure for approximately 100

million people

And I wanna say it again because we throw numbers

around 100 million people

It'll prevent thousands of deaths reduce tens of thousands of

serious illnesses not just in North Carolina but all across

the country

And folks I want to be clear on something else

P fos doesn't care what your politics are doesn't care

where you live doesn't care how much money you have

in your pocket when it comes to the basic needs

of clean drinking water no matter what your political party

is or whether you live in the south on the

west coast or in the Midwest everyone should be able

to turn on their tap and trust that the water

that they're drinking and giving their Children is safe

So I'm proud to say that this rule is the

result of a collective bipartisan effort with all sides

United fighting to find a common solution to the threat

of PFAS contamination

It's the result of governors across the country like Roy

Cooper Phil Scott Michelle Lujan Grisham and Gretchen Whitman attorneys

generals like Josh Stein Michelle Henry of Pennsylvania Tim Griffin

of Arkansas and Chris Mayes of Arizona is the result

of my partners in Congress like Senator Tom Tillis Congressman

Hudson Senator Carper who came together to protect the health

of all communities across the country

And it's the result of community advocates like Em Emily

Donovan Pope Gross of Pennsylvania and Sandy Wind of Michigan

who pushed for stricter P five standards and drinking water

for years while also while also facing difficult health challenges

of their own from exposure or caring from loved ones

who've been exposed

And folks you're gonna hear people talk about cost and

it can't be done and we shouldn't do this

Let me just tell you it can be done

It can be achieved using a range of technologies and

approaches that many water systems are using today

And this water treatment facility right here has been on

the front lines of finding ways to reduce P FIVE

S exposure

And cities like Fayetteville are showing that together we can

get the job done

But President Biden also recognizes as you've heard that some

water systems need help

That's why alongside today's announcement we are announcing $1 billion

in funding for states and territories to conduct initial testing

and treatment at public water systems and homes served by

privately owned wealth

Now I'm gonna throw a few numbers around because that's

1 billion that's a part of a larger $9 billion

package

That's a part of a larger $20 billion package to

begin to tackle these pervasive chemicals with today's actions

We we're one huge step closer to finally shutting off

the tap on forever chemicals and I promise that everything

that this agency does to implement the standard will be

done putting people first

You will never have to wonder who the Biden administration

is working for

We're working for you

We're working for your Children

We're working for your neighbors and we're working for you

President Biden and Vice President Harris

And this EPA will continue fighting until all people

Every single person in this country has clean air to

breathe clean water to drink and the opportunity to live

a healthy and prosperous life

Thank you all

And with that I'll invite the speakers up and uh

we'll take a few questions from the press

Let me ask a question

Just go ahead and jump right in

Will the $1 billion in funding be distributed among states

and water facilities Yes we have uh a prioritized list

and you'll be able to visit us on epa.gov to

take a look at how the money will exactly be

distributed

Uh But it's gonna be based on need and all

of the money uh that is coming from the bipartisan

Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act uh prioritizes communities

that have been disproportionately impacted first

So those who have never had a seat at the

table finally have a seat at the table with this

administration Mr Regan what do I have to say to

people who say we should be stopping the pollution of

the source instead of burdening taxpayers with this Uh I

agree with those who say we should be stopping at

the source and that's exactly what we're doing at the

federal level and it's what we're doing at the state

level

Uh I think you heard the governor Attorney General Stein

and myself say that we're holding polluters accountable

Uh The taxpayers should not have to pick up the

tab solely

And so as you see national news around big settlements

from these companies that have been caught with their hand

in the cookie jar you're starting to see that we're

producing the science we're producing the roadmap for these health

standards

And it's time for companies to pay these standards apply

to six types of P A but there are thousands

of types of fa um why these six And what

about the other thousands Uh you know we're starting with

this six

because with this six we have the best best science

and data uh to design uh these health standards

I think you might know that everyone is not in

agreement with us regulating this

Um And I think we all can gauge the temperature

of the courts these days

So what EPA is doing is we're measuring twice and

we're cutting once

Uh This is the first of six and we're gonna

continue until we get to all of them

What about the timeline Uh It's five years

So what will happen What can utilities and regular folks

do in the meantime while while this is playing out

well you know what we're gonna do is we're gonna

be providing technical assistance um to all of our utilities

across the country

Uh What we have to really take into account is

most utilities or a lot of utilities like uh this

one here today are already taking action

Uh This rule that we are announcing today we expect

that maybe 6% of utilities across the country may not

be in compliance

So we're gonna target them first

We're gonna provide technical assistance

We're gonna try to make sure that this $1 billion

that's a part of this $9 billion it's focused and

trained on those facilities

Listen we don't want to leave anyone behind

We do recognize that some facilities would need help and

President Biden has created a situation where not only can

we provide resources and investment but epa also has the

technical assistance to go along with that

Go

Um So we have a federal drink water stand

Now we don't have a state in surface waters

Is there more or something else you can you I

think it's our intention to provide surface water standards for

North Carolina

It was important for us for the federal government to

come forward with this standard

But we we're we're working now we're providing technical assistance

We're gonna continue to ask the General Assembly for more

funding and I think it's important that we are comprehensive

about this

So we we look forward to establishing those standards as

well

Anybody else What kind of moisturizer do you Thank you

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