{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://ross.house.gov/2021/10/congresswoman-ross-statement-epas-roadmap-confront-toxic-forever-chemicals", "Congresswoman Ross Statement on EPA\u2019s Roadmap to Confront Toxic \u201cForever Chemicals\u201d", "2021-10-18", "2021", "2021-10", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "Deborah K. Ross", "R000305", "ross.house.gov", "ross", "https://ross.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Raleigh, NC \u2013 Today, Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) joined Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan as he unveiled the comprehensive Strategic Roadmap to confront PFAS contamination nationwide at North Carolina State University.\n\n\u201cNorth Carolinians are all too familiar with the costly impact PFAS contamination can have on local communities ,\u201d said Congresswoman Ross. \u201cChemical companies have polluted the Cape Fear River with PFAS for years and tests of drinking water systems in my district, including in Raleigh and Cary, have detected PFAS. Fortunately, Congress and the Biden Administration have been working to tackle this issue on a bipartisan basis. Today\u2019s announcement of the EPA\u2019s PFAS Roadmap is one of the most significant steps to date that the federal government has taken to prevent and mitigate PFAS contamination. I would like to thank Administrator Regan for his service to North Carolina and our nation and I look forward to working with him to protect vulnerable members of our communities from these so-called \u2018forever chemicals.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cFor far too long, families across America \u2013 especially those in underserved communities \u2013 have suffered from PFAS in their water, their air, or in the land their children play on,\u201d said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. \u201cThis comprehensive, national PFAS strategy will deliver protections to people who are hurting, by advancing bold and concrete actions that address the full lifecycle of these chemicals. Let there be no doubt that EPA is listening, we have your back, and we are laser focused on protecting people from pollution and holding polluters accountable.\u201d\n\n\"This roadmap commits the EPA to quickly setting enforceable drinking water limits for these chemicals as well as giving stronger tools to communities to protect people\u2019s health and the environment,\" said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. \"As we continue partnering with the EPA on this and other important efforts, it is critical that Congress pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and the larger budget resolution that includes billions of dollars to address PFAS contamination.\"\n\nPFAS, known as \u201cforever chemicals,\u201d are dangerous, man-made chemicals that do not break down easily and have contaminated the nation\u2019s water, soil, and air for decades, resulting in serious health consequences.\n\nThe EPA\u2019s PFAS Roadmap will guide the agency\u2019s current and planned activities in 2021-2024 to research, restrict, and remediate harmful PFAS. The Roadmap includes regulatory and administrative actions and enforcement approaches that EPA intends to take, using existing authorities, to comprehensively address PFAS throughout the environment. Actions include a new national testing strategy to accelerate research and regulatory development, a proposal to designate certain PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and actions to broaden and accelerate the cleanup of PFAS.\n\nCongresswoman Ross serves on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee where she has consistently advocated for supporting research institutions and leveraging federal resources to eradicate PFAS contamination. In June, Congresswoman Ross led a letter with six other members of the North Carolina delegation to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Michael Regan urging the EPA to reconsider a Trump administration decision to deny a citizens\u2019 petition filed by a group of NC-based environmental health and justice groups in 2020. The petition, filed under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), requested that EPA exercise its authority under TSCA to require Chemours to fund robust health and environmental testing for 54 PFAS manufactured by Chemours at its Fayetteville facility.\n\nCongresswoman Ross also voted to pass the PFAS Action Act, legislation that would require comprehensive regulation of PFAS by establishing standards to protect drinking water from contamination and authorizing grants to drinking water utilities treating PFAS contamination.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:24:51Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://ross.house.gov/2021/10/congresswoman-ross-statement-epas-roadmap-confront-toxic-forever-chemicals"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6629418823868036, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}