NEWPORT, Rhode Island — The Biden administration’s efforts to clamp down on companies that release “forever chemicals” into the environment could also help solve the problem of disposing of those chemicals, an EPA official said.

Clifford Villa, deputy assistant administrator in the EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management, helped develop the agency’s guidelines this year for destroying and removing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Speaking at the Environmental Council of the States’ fall meeting Wednesday, Villa said the technologies are available “right now” to remove PFOA and PFOS, two versions of PFAS that the EPA this year classified as hazardous substances under the Superfund Act. But scaling them up remains a challenge, he said.

“We have some technologies, but it’s unclear whether they are available at the level and scale we need today,” Villa said.

His hope is that EPA efforts to hold polluters accountable for PFAS emissions, including through the Superfund Act, could encourage companies and the Defense Department to invest in disposal solutions. The department is a significant contributor to PFAS contamination in some communities.