In Response to Shaheen’s Bipartisan Request, EPA Commits to Establishing Federal Drinking Water Standards for PFOA & PFOS

**Earlier this Month, Shaheen & Capito Called on the EPA to Establish Federal Drinking Water Standards for PFOA & PFOS**

**The EPA’s National PFAS Management Plan Previously Stopped Short of Establishing Enforceable Drinking Water Standards for the Chemicals**

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) issued the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s commitment to establish federal, enforceable drinking water standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). The EPA stated that it intended to establish these drinking water standards in a response to Shaheen’s bipartisan request, which she led earlier this month with Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). The EPA’s response comes only days after the release of the agency’s National PFAS Management Plan, which details short- and long-term strategies for addressing contamination from PFAS, a family of synthetic chemicals that includes the contaminants PFOA and PFOS. The EPA’s plan previously stopped short of establishing enforceable drinking water standards for the chemicals. 

"This response is welcome news for Granite State families who have fought tirelessly for accountability and transparency at the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure the safety of their families' drinking water, and I urge the EPA to follow through on this commitment," said Shaheen. "In light of the recent release of the EPA's National PFAS Management Plan, I hope the administration will clarify to the American people that they can count on the EPA to establish these enforceable drinking standards, which will provide impacted communities the relief and certainty they've been waiting for." 

Shaheen introduced bipartisan legislation in the last Congress with Senator Rob Portman (R-OH)—the Safe Drinking Water Assistance Act— that would improve federal efforts to identify and address the public health effects of emerging contaminants such as PFAS. Senator Shaheen has led efforts in Congress to uncover the potential health effects related to PFAS contamination. Shaheen successfully established the first-ever nationwide health study on the impacts of PFAS substances in drinking water. Because of Shaheen’s efforts, Pease (the site of the former Pease Air Force Base) will serve as the model site for the nationwide PFAS health study.