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White House Moves to Weaken EPA Rule on Toxic Compounds

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - The Trump White House has intervened to weaken one of the
   few public health protections pursued by its own administration, a rule
   to limit the use of a toxic industrial compound in consumer products,
   according to communications between the White House and Environmental
   Protection Agency.

   The documents show that the White House Office of Management and Budget
   formally notified the EPA by email last July that it was stepping into
   the crafting of the rule on the compound, perfluoroalkyl and
   polyfluoroalkyl substances, used in nonstick and stain-resistant frying
   pans, rugs, and countless other consumer products.

   The White House repeatedly pressed the agency to agree to a major
   loophole that could allow substantial imports of the PFAS-tainted
   products to continue, greatly weakening the proposed rule. EPA pushed
   back on the White House demand for the loophole, known as a "safe
   harbor" provision for industry.

   Pushed again in January, the agency responded, "EPA opposes proposing a
   safe harbor provision, but is open to a neutrally-worded request for
   comment from the public" on the White House request.

   A 'national priority'

   The rule is one of the few concrete steps that the Trump administration
   has taken to deal with growing contamination by PFAS industrial
   compounds. The EPA has declared dating back to 2018 that consumer
   exposure to the substances was a "national priority" that the agency
   was confronting "aggressively."

   Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, the ranking Democrat on the Environment and
   Public Works Committee, who obtained the documents revealing the White
   House intervention, and public-health advocates say the White House
   action was led by Nancy Beck, a former chemical industry executive now
   detailed to President Donald Trump's Council of Economic Advisers.

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