EPA Moves to Weaken Biden-era PFAS Limits for Drinking Water (2)

The EPA will rescind limits on several groups of PFAS in drinking water and extend the time for water systems to comply with limits for two other groups of “forever chemicals,” the agency said.

Water systems will have two additional years, until 2031, to comply with Biden-era limits on PFOA and PFOS in drinking water under a new rule the Environmental Protection Agency plans to finalize in 2026, the EPA said in a Wednesday news release.

The EPA in 2024 finalized an enforceable 4 parts per trillion (ppt) limit on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water. The Biden administration set a non-enforceable maximum contaminant level goal for PFOA and PFOS at zero, reflecting research showing that no level of exposure to the chemicals is risk-free from cancer and other diseases.

The agency will rescind the limit of 10 ppt on three other categories of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, including perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), commonly known as “GenX” chemicals. GenX chemicals are made by the Chemours Co., which owns the trade name, to produce fluoropolymers used in semiconductor chips.

The EPA is also rescinding a limit on mixtures of each of those substances, in addition to perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS).

The agency will reconsider the regulatory determinations for those chemicals.

“We are on a path to uphold the agency’s nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “At the same time, we will work to provide common-sense flexibility in the form of additional time for compliance.”

The plan will support water systems across the country, including small systems in rural communities, as they try to reduce PFAS in their water supply, Zeldin said.

“EPA will also continue to use its regulatory and enforcement tools to hold polluters accountable,” he said.

The EPA declined to respond to requests for additional comment Wednesday.

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Wednesday, Zeldin pushed back against a claim by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) that the agency is seeking to weaken its PFAS rules.

“That is not what the agency announced,” Zeldin said. After a review, the maximum contaminant levels “might be a lower number, not a higher number,” he said.

Mixed Reactions

National Rural Water Association CEO Matthew Holmes said in the EPA’s announcement Wednesday that the agency granting additional time for water systems to comply with PFOA and PFOS limitations grants small water systems needed flexibility.

Drinking water systems have been struggling to meet the Biden administration’s 2029 deadline as they complete pilot testing, construction plans and other compliance measures, said Alan Roberson, executive director of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, quoted in the EPA’s announcement.

Roberson said in an email that he is undecided about the effects of EPA actions on PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA.

It “will take some time to review and sort out,” he said.

EPA’s action is a clear a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act’s anti-backsliding provision, said Erik D. Olson, senior strategic director for health at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The section of the SDWA that discusses revised standards says they “shall maintain, or provide for greater, protection of the health of persons,” said Olson quoting the law he helped oversee while serving as a general counsel at the EPA in the 1980’s,

Water utilities may need more time to construct treatment systems capable of removing the chemicals from tap water, said Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, a North Carolina community group that’s fought for clean water since learning about GenX and other PFAS contamination in their drinking water in 2017.

But the fact EPA wants to resend the standards “sends a clear message to taxpayers that they don’t want to protect our health. They want to protect this trillion dollar industry,” she said.

Local residents who live downstream from Chemours have varied political views, but “we are united around this topic,” Donovan said. “Everyone agrees PFAS are bad and we don’t want them in our tap water.”