Biden races to fulfill campaign promises on chemical rules

By Ellie Borst | 06/24/2024 01:24 PM EDT

Here are eight EPA chemical rules to watch in the final months of President Joe Biden’s term.

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks on the cancer moonshot initiative at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Sept. 12, 2022, in Boston. Biden is requesting more than $2.8 billion in the federal budget proposal he's sending to Congress to help advance his cancer-fighting goals. That's according to White House officials, who shared details with The Associated Press before Biden unveils the proposal Thursday, March 9, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/, File)

President Joe Biden speaking on the "Cancer Moonshot" initiative at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Sept. 12, 2022, in Boston. Biden, who has long believed his son Beau died from brain cancer caused by breathing in burn-pit fumes while serving in Iraq, has made reducing toxic exposures a goal of his administration. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

President Joe Biden is hustling to wrap up a series of major chemical rules that could be at risk if former President Donald Trump retakes the White House next year.

Yet to cross the finish line are drinking water standards so strict they would force the removal of all lead pipes within the next 10 years as well as more stringent regulations on two toxic flame retardants — Trump-era rules that Biden on his first day in office vowed to revisit.

The Biden administration so far has spent billions of dollars cracking down on lead pipes, a main contamination source of the neurotoxic metal linked to permanent brain damage in children and other serious health effects.

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Some states and environmentalists have criticized his lead-removal efforts as being lopsided by allocating more money to certain states over others. EPA’s watchdog recently released a report that found the agency relied on outdated data when determining allotments.

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