The US Environmental Protection Agency is seeking comments on two proposals that would maintain legally enforceable limits on the most studied “forever” types of chemicals known as PFASs, but roll back standards set for four other types, including GenX, as well as combinations of the four.
The EPA also announced the availability of $1 billion in funding to states to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants in drinking water.
The two EPA proposals, published in the May 20 Federal Register, would roll back the 2024 water quality standards adopted by the Biden administration, which were the first to set maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for several types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
PFAS chemicals are commonly used in household products containing Teflon or in flame-retardant clothing, as well as in firefighting foam used on US Department of Defense bases. The chemicals have been linked to cancer and other negative health outcomes, including liver and thyroid conditions.
A change of policy in two proposals
Under the first proposal, drinking water utilities that need more time to implement the 4 parts per billion drinking water limits for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) could opt for a two-year extension of the compliance deadline, from 2029 to 2031. Systems that are on track and not yet subject to the original extension.
The second proposal would roll back limits set by the Biden administration in 2024 on four other types of chemicals, including the 10 parts per trillion limit for GenX. In 2019, Chemours, a DuPont subsidiary, reached a consent order with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and Cape Fear Watch to address high levels of GenX in the Cape Fear River near the manufacturer’s facility in Fayetteville, NC, which Cape Fear Watch has said adversely affected the health of residents living near the chemical plant.
The EPA says the proposals are a course correction from the Biden administration’s approach to regulating four additional types of PFAS beyond PFOA and PFOS. According to the agency, “When a maximum contaminant level is rushed, the opportunity for meaningful public comment is minimized, or the statutory process established by Congress in the Safe Drinking Water Act is not followed, companies face years of uncertainty, taxpayers face avoidable costs, and public health protections can be delayed or undone in court.”
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Water companies, which had advocated for the recall and are part of a lawsuit challenging drinking water standards, praised the EPA’s action. In a joint statement, the American Water Works Association and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies said water utilities are actively addressing PFAS in their communities, but “allowing adequate time to research options, select the best approach based on the legal circumstances, and implement the necessary infrastructure and equipment upgrades is the right path to success.”
Critics, who include environmental groups and leaders of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, have cried foul. In a May 13 letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, task force co-chairs Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said, “America should move faster to remove PFAS from our drinking water, without giving families more years of uncertainty and harm.”
Fitzpatrick and Dingell introduced legislation in June 2025 to codify into law regulations for the six PFAS chemicals for which limits had been set by 2024. “We will not stand by while protections are weakened,” the lawmakers said.
The Natural Resources Defense Council characterized the EPA’s “PFAS Out” program rolling out the new proposals as a “public relations stunt” and a capitulation to the water and petrochemical industries. The group’s director of PFAS advocacy, Anna Reade, said in a statement that the EPA is “abandoning communities that desperately need drinking water protection, especially those who live near polluting industries.”
The Safe Drinking Water Act allows a maximum of five years to comply with the new drinking water standards. The Biden rule, which ended in 2024, had met that requirement by setting the compliance deadline at 2029, according to the NRDC.
Industry groups have challenged the 2024 drinking water limits in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. In a preliminary ruling, the court rejected the Trump administration’s request to drop four standards that the EPA is proposing should be repealed. Oral arguments are expected later this year.
The EPA says it will accept comments on both proposals until July 20.
