EPA OLEM nominee commits to annual PFAS destruction guidance and speedier Superfund cleanups

John Basterud, President Trump's nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Land and Emergency Management, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that OLEM would play a central role in the Administration's approach to PFAS and the agency's cleanup programs.

Basterud said EPA plans to update technical guidance on PFAS destruction more frequently than in the past. "We're gonna commit to providing, those updates on an annual basis," he told the committee, adding OLEM would examine how Resource Conservation and Recovery Act authorities can be used to prevent PFAS releases from manufacturing and other facilities.

Why it matters: PFAS contamination has been raised repeatedly by senators as a public-health and environmental priority. Committee members said they expect the agency to accelerate cleanup of contaminated sites, improve Superfund program efficiency and protect water customers from bearing the cost of contamination they did not create.

Basterud described OLEM's responsibilities as including the Superfund program, the brownfields program, RCRA and underground storage tanks, abandoned hard-rock mines efforts, and emergency response. He told senators that OLEM would "work with career staff, states, communities and stakeholders to ensure OLEM fulfills its core statutory mission to clean up historic sites, prevent releases and respond with urgency and compassion when emergencies arise."

On Superfund efficiency, Basterud proposed a combination of process improvements and stronger project management tools for regional offices. He said EPA regions could pursue parallel paths for phases of remedial investigations and that the agency would explore using artificial intelligence to speed certain document work without reducing scientific rigor.

Senators asked about priorities and local impacts. Senator Tina Smith (noting regional examples during questioning) and Senator Blunt Rochester pressed how Basterud would prioritize the more than 1,300 sites on the Superfund National Priorities List and dozens of brownfields projects. Basterud responded that he would seek to "enhance and improve the pace and efficiency of our Superfund cleanups" while keeping public health central to decisions.

Committee members also raised the issue of so-called passive receivers — communities that receive contaminated drinking water but are not the original source of contamination — and asked how EPA would avoid imposing remediation costs on downstream customers. Basterud said he would work with career staff to examine options to avoid forcing water customers to pay for contamination they did not cause and to enforce the polluter-pays principle.

Next steps: Senators will submit written questions for the record. Basterud committed to follow up on specific regional concerns and to consult with the committee and career staff on implementation details if confirmed.