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 Paired with the Build Back Better Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, the Biden administration will invest in clean-water infrastructure, including providing bottled water to Wisconsin’s most impacted communities.
MADISON, Wis. -- Today, the Biden-Harris administration outlined an accelerated nationwide plan to combat per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have been a persistent issue facing Wisconsin communities. While Wisconsin’s Republican-led legislature rejected statewide funding proposals designed to target the toxic chemicals, ridding Wisconsin’s waters of PFAS has been a priority of President Biden, Gov. Evers, and Wisconsin Democrats.
President Biden and EPA Administrator Michael Regan’s partnership with Gov. Evers will address the systemic water-waste challenges that plague Wisconsin. The EPA’s newest program, titled PFAS Roadmap, outlines three concrete steps that the federal government will take to eradicate PFAS including -- holding polluters accountable, ensuring science-based decision-making, and addressing the impacts on disadvantaged communities.
“Every single Wisconsinite should have access to clean drinking water. Today’s announcement is just another example of President Biden and Democrats delivering for Wisconsin’s families where Wisconsin Republicans have refused to take action,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Interim Executive Director Devin Remiker. “Despite PFAS posing significant risks to the health of our state, Republicans in our state legislature put politics over people and tried to flush away clean-water funding from Gov. Evers’ state budget. Thankfully, we elected President Biden, who understands that the safety of Wisconsin’s residents must be our number one priority. By addressing these legacy chemicals, President Biden is cementing his legacy as a pro-Wisconsin president.”
The PFAS Roadmap will work to:
- Create a new national testing strategy, while continuing to update and expand previous assessments, focusing on toxicity and environmental detection;
- Develop and deploy analytical methods to prevent and address contamination of PFAS in meat and poultry;
- Conduct the first-ever inventory of PFAS use and releases from federal facilities;
- Identify and quantify the risks of PFAS to first responders;
- Review the rapidly evolving science on human health and PFAS; and
- Form the new Interagency Policy Committee on PFAS to help coordinate new policy strategies, remediation, and removal of PFAS in communities across the country.
Paired with the Build Back Better Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, the Biden administration will invest in clean-water infrastructure, including providing bottled water to Wisconsin’s most impacted communities -- like Peshtigo, Marinette, Madison, Rhinelander, and the Town of Campbell -- as well as providing local municipalities the resources needed to remove the chemicals from their utility service systems.
Read the full White House fact sheet here. |
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