Emerging Areas of Focus FY 2022 Annual Results
For both Climate Change and PFAS, plans or roadmaps have been established to inform EPA’s and OECA’S future work in these areas. Below are the FY 2022 accomplishments, setting the foundation and leading the way to tackle these evolving environmental and public health issues.
On this page:
- Climate Change
- PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)
Climate Change
EPA’s commitment to address the climate crisis is reflected in its FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan Goal 1, which established a new strategic goal on addressing climate change. OECA plays an important role in tackling the climate crisis while fulfilling its mission to protect human health and the environment even as the climate changes. OECA accomplished two new activities in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 focused on addressing climate change:
- developed a Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan; and
- establishing a new hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) enforcement program.
In addition, the EPA enforcement program took multiple enforcement actions to address the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other compounds that contribute to or exacerbate the effects of climate change.
2022 Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan (pdf) outlines concrete steps, or Priority Actions, for building capacity and foundational work to advance the Agency toward its climate adaptation goals. The completion of its five Priority Actions in FY 2022 allows OECA to further integrate climate change considerations in subsequent years into EPA’s enforcement program nationally. As part of the climate adaptation implementation plan, OECA launched a pilot program in FY 2022 for EPA enforcement staff to quantify significant emission reductions of GHG pollutants achieved through enforcement actions. While the pilot only quantified emissions from 10 cases, OECA estimates that as a result of these FY 2022 cases, more than 145 million pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents (65,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) in greenhouse gases were reduced, treated, or eliminated. Expansion of the pilot will demonstrate effectiveness of enforcement in battling climate change in following years.
OECA also made great strides in FY 2022 in launching its HFC enforcement program pursuant to the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM Act). HFCs are potent greenhouse gases, with a climate impact that can be hundreds to thousands of times greater than that of carbon dioxide. Through a successful partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP), EPA and CBP stopped illegal imports of regulated bulk HFCs before they enter the U.S. For example, EPA issued 25 letters to CBP recommending denial of 28 unique shipments. In addition, EPA conducted over 80 off-site compliance monitoring activities and over 20 on-site inspections and trained over 200 CBP Officers. EPA issued 14 Notices of Violation to HFC importers who violated the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), a first in GHGRP history. Accurate data on GHG emissions is critical to the integrity of AIM Act as well as other Agency efforts. Altogether, EPA stopped over 889,000 Metric Tons of Exchange Value Equivalent in illegal HFCs from entering the U.S. (or the equivalent of 173,000 homes’ electricity usage for one year). EPA is building capacity to enforce these AIM Act requirements including acquiring specialized field instruments and a custom, state-of-the-art laboratory instrument for the analysis and quantification of complex HFC mixtures. This equipment will allow OECA’s field investigators to sample and screen for HFCs and provide case teams with qualitative data for case development and investigations.
In addition, EPA incorporated climate-focused provisions into enforcement case resolutions to both mitigate the effects of climate change and make infrastructure more resilient. For example, EPA’s settlement with the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA) incorporates climate change adaptation and resilience best practices into JCMUA’s sewer upgrades to ensure its system is better prepared to withstand severe storms and hurricanes caused by climate change. As another example, EPA entered into a settlement requiring Louisville Gas & Electric to replace 10 heavy-duty diesel trucks used for maintenance and construction with model year 2021 or newer battery electric power trucks and install at least one charging station for these trucks. EPA also took cases that resulted in the reduction of harmful air emissions and GHGs. For example, EPA and DOJ amended a judicial settlement with LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (Lyondell), where the pollution controls are estimated to reduce emissions of climate-change-causing GHGs, including carbon dioxide, methane, and ethane, by almost 92,000 tons per year. EPA’s settlement with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron) is estimated to reduce emissions of climate-change-causing greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, and ethane, by over 75,000 tons per year. Both the Lyondell and Chevron cases also achieved significant VOC and air toxics reductions benefiting EJ communities in support of Goal 2 of EPA’s Strategic Plan: Taking Decisive Action to Advance Environmental Justice. The Lyondell settlement is expected to reduce emissions of ozone-forming VOCs by almost 2,700 tons per year and of toxic air pollutants, including benzene, by nearly 400 tons per year. The Chevron settlement is also expected to reduce emissions of ozone-forming VOCs by 1,528 tons per year and of toxic air pollutants, including benzene, by 158 tons per year. EPA’s settlement with Navistar Inc. requires mitigation of at least 10,000 tons of oxides of nitrogen through projects that will consider geographic diversity and benefit communities that are overburdened by air pollution. The company also paid a $52M civil penalty.
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)
In fiscal year (FY) 2022, EPA’s enforcement and compliance programs worked to implement the commitments made in EPA’s 2021-2024 Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Strategic Roadmap (“Roadmap”). The Roadmap calls for EPA to proactively use enforcement tools to better identify and address PFAS releases at facilities.
Exposure to PFAS has been identified as an urgent public health and environmental issue facing communities across the nation. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that exposure at low levels to specific PFAS can adversely impact the health of humans and other living things. EPA intends to use its many environmental authorities to address these threats caused by past and ongoing releases of PFAS.
As part of its enforcement and compliance efforts, EPA has sought information from PFAS manufacturers and other parties to better understand PFAS contamination that may be present in soil, groundwater, surface water, and sediment around facilities where PFAS were manufactured, used, released, or handled.
Using inspection, information collection, and enforcement tools, OECA has initiated efforts to characterize and control existing contamination, ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and pursue control and cleanup of PFAS under multiple environmental authorities: Resource Conservation and Recovery (RCRA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Action (SDWA), Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
EPA’s National Enforcement Investigation Center’s (NEIC) has conducted sampling and process-based multimedia inspections (CWA and RCRA) to characterize wastewater discharges from PFAS manufacturing facilities. NEIC also provides on-going technical support for national PFAS case development, including toxicology expertise, and support on PFAS analytical techniques and methods. Currently, NEIC’s laboratory support offers analysis of more than 70 PFAS compounds in wastewater. NEIC can also develop methods to analyze additional PFAS of concern to OECA in the future.
In FY 2022, NEIC provided support on designing sampling strategies to investigate the nature and extent of on- and off-site PFAS soil and ground water contamination from active manufacturing facilities. The NEIC laboratory is finishing development of analytical methods to analyze PFAS in soils, which will be available later in FY 2023.
The consolidation and accessibility of PFAS data is essential to EPA’s future enforcement and compliance work and can assist the public in learning about detections. In March 2022, EPA launched the National PFAS Datasets to consolidate federal, state, and local data about PFAS reporting, testing, and occurrences in communities. The datasets are intended to make it easier for the public to find information from many different public databases in one place. Publishing the datasets is one element of EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap.
In FY 2022, OECA further addressed the lack of data from major PFAS manufacturers by issuing information request letters and conducting inspections under various authorities.
Information request letters were sent to three major current and historic PFAS manufacturers: The Chemours Company; Corteva, Inc. (the parent company of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company); and DuPont de Nemours, Inc. The letters require these companies to provide information on their current and past PFAS production and management and disposal practices at 24 facilities.
Further, OECA’s federal facility enforcement program closely reviewed drinking water and groundwater data and reports provided by federal agencies, including those provided by the Department of Defense pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act or CERCLA requirements. The federal facility program has also held meetings with other federal agencies (e.g., the Department of Energy) to better understand existing PFAS contamination and the potential need for corrective or investigatory actions.