Contact: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON (August 24, 2022) – This week, EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) with representatives from the Government of Flanders, Belgium pledging to share publicly available information on enforcement and compliance assurance issues related to PFAS and other fluorocarbon chemicals. 

“This Statement of Intent recognizes that our respective governments have a shared interest in addressing environmental challenges posed by releases of PFAS and other fluorocarbon chemicals to the environment,” said Larry Starfield, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The mutual sharing of information pledged in the Statement of Intent will benefit both the U.S. and Flanders as we look for efficient and creative options to protect human health and the environment.”

“Today, the Flemish government embarks on a new and necessary international cooperation with the United States and the Environmental Protection Agency in particular. We both have the shared interest to protect our environment, our society and the health of our citizens. And we both have the ambition to lift our environmental protection to a higher level.  I’m honored that the US Environmental Protection Agency will be with us, shoulder to shoulder, as we work even harder to achieve the ambition for a healthier and safer environment for all our citizens,” said Flemish Minister of Justice and Enforcement, Environment, Energy and Tourism Zuhal Demir.

The objective of the SOI is to promote bilateral cooperation, as appropriate, on critical environmental enforcement and compliance assurance issues of mutual interest.  The Participants intend to cooperate bilaterally in the exchange of publicly available, non-privileged information and enforcement and compliance assurance experiences regarding PFAS and other fluorocarbon chemicals.

Specific areas of cooperation on information sharing related to environmental enforcement and compliance assurance in the SOI include addressing PFAS and other fluorocarbon chemicals as they relate to enforcement and compliance of water issues, waste management and soil remediation, innovative approaches to clean up and contaminated site revitalization, and air quality management.  The SOI also details areas of cooperation to promote innovation through enforcement and compliance assurance with respect to environmental treatment and technologies for PFAS and other fluorocarbon chemicals.

To read the U.S.-Flanders SOI, please visit the EPA Collaboration with Europe page.