On Jan. 24, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas. This directs EPA to complete its hazardous materials mission responding to the Los Angeles wildfires as soon as practical. EPA’s work removing hazardous materials is Phase 1 of the federal cleanup response.
The Phase 2 debris removal in the burn footprints, and to prevent these materials from being released into the environment. Phase 2 will be conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as coordinated by FEMA. Once Phase 1 has been completed at a property, Phase 2 will begin automatically.
And on February 3, the EPA announced that it has completed reconnaissance at 6,022 properties due to the wildfires. This includes 3,636 properties impacted by the Eaton Fire and 2,386 properties impacted by the Palisades Fire.
EPA has been assigned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the first stage of the overall recovery and cleanup: the project to remove lithium-ion batteries and to survey, remove, and dispose of hazardous materials from properties burned by wildfires. The agency also has removed 80 electric vehicles and bulk energy storage systems, which are extremely dangerous to the public and the environment.
Currently there are 1,050 response personnel in the field, up from 478 at the end of last week and with an additional 280 mobilizing today. EPA is assembling 60 teams to clear hazardous materials from the more than 13,000 residential and 250 commercial fire-impacted properties.
EPA has convened a working group to coordinate with utilities, state, local and federal stakeholders to expedite cleanup operations and meet unmet needs in the sector. At the request of water utilities, EPA is also providing technical assistance to help bring systems back online.
What Will Be Removed
EPA will remove potentially dangerous everyday products including household products like paints, cleaning supplies, and automotive oils, garden products such as herbicides and pesticides, batteries, including both standard and rechargeable types, and propane tanks and other pressurized gas containers. They will remove visible asbestos and inspect pressurized fuel cylinders (like propane tanks). After a fire, these products require special handling, especially if their containers are damaged. EPA field teams will also remove items thought to have asbestos if they are easy to identify, but the property will not be fully cleared until Phase 2 (debris removal).
EPA will also remove lithium-ion batteries from vehicles, homes and other products. Many homes have damaged or destroyed lithium-ion batteries, lithium-ion battery energy storage systems, and electric and hybrid vehicles. The batteries should be considered extremely dangerous, even if they look intact. Lithium-ion batteries can spontaneously re-ignite, explode, and emit toxic gases and particulates even after the fire is out.
At the direction of President Trump, EPA is partnering with the U.S. military and Department of Homeland Security to develop and execute a plan to expedite the removal of contaminated and general debris.
EPA has secured temporary storage, or staging, locations for materials from each fire site. Removed hazardous waste materials are brought into these staging areas daily, processed into appropriate waste streams, and packaged and sealed for shipment and proper disposal.