Water Systems to Benefit From PFAS Rule Extension, Officials Say

The EPA’s proposal to give water systems more time to comply with part of a PFAS contamination rule will help utilities, but some requirements the agency proposed could be difficult to implement, water officials said.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Wednesday to give qualifying water systems two more years—until April 2031—to obtain financing, permits, and technologies to comply with limits the agency set in 2024 for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water.

Smaller water systems especially need that time, said Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy. Those ...