Dems challenge EPA on PFAS

Twenty-six Senate Democrats have opened a new front against the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to roll back part of the federal government’s first nationwide PFAS drinking-water rule. In a letter reported August 5, the senators asked EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to withdraw a proposal that would rescind limits for four PFAS chemicals and delay compliance for two others. The request landed as EPA is separately taking comment on draft guidance for PFAS in biosolids, a nonbinding document aimed at wastewater plants, landowners and farmers. Together, the two actions leave water systems and wastewater operators tracking two different PFAS policy tracks at once. ### Which PFAS limits are Democrats trying to preserve? EPA said on May 18 that it proposed rescinding regulations for perfluorohexane sulfonic acid, or PFHxS, perfluorononanoic acid, or PFNA, HFPO-DA, commonly called GenX chemicals, and hazard index mixtures involving those chemicals plus PFBS. The agency said the proposal was meant to correct what it called the Biden administration’s failure to follow the Safe Drinking Water Act’s requirements when it issued the 2024 rule. (eenews.net) The Schiff-led Senate letter says the rollback would reverse protections adopted in 2024 for six PFAS and would also push the compliance deadline for PFOA and PFOS to 2031. The senators said removing the limits would expose Americans to unsafe levels of chemicals linked to cancer, immune effects and other health harms. ### Who is leading the pushback in the Senate? (epa.gov) Sen. Adam Schiff of California led the letter with 25 Democratic colleagues, according to his office and E&E News. The lawmakers told Zeldin that “safe drinking water is not a partisan issue” and asked the agency to abandon the rollback effort. (schiff.senate.gov) E&E News reported the letter as the latest sign of political opposition to EPA’s PFAS move. Other critics have included Democratic state attorneys general and environmental groups, which have argued the agency is weakening established drinking-water protections. ### What is EPA doing on biosolids at the same time? EPA released draft guidance in July for reducing risk from PFOA and PFOS in sewage sludge and biosolids. (schiff.senate.gov) The agency said the document offers voluntary recommendations for wastewater treatment plants and related facilities, landowners, farmers, and state and Tribal water agencies. (eenews.net) The Federal Register notice says the draft guidance is nonbinding and cannot be relied on in litigation against the United States. EPA said it may use comments on the draft to inform future agency actions. ### Why do utilities care that these are separate EPA actions? (epa.gov) The drinking-water proposal and the biosolids guidance cover different parts of the water sector. The proposed rescission concerns enforceable national primary drinking-water regulations for certain PFAS in tap water, while the biosolids document addresses risk reduction steps for handling sewage sludge and recycled biosolids containing PFOA and PFOS. (federalregister.gov) Because one action is a proposed rule and the other is draft guidance, utilities are facing different kinds of obligations. EPA’s drinking-water proposal would change binding standards if finalized, while the biosolids document now offers recommendations rather than mandatory requirements. That distinction is explicit in EPA’s own summaries of the two actions. ### What happens next, and where can people weigh in? (epa.gov) EPA said the biosolids draft guidance is open for a 60-day public comment period ending September 4, 2026, through docket EPA-HQ-OW-2026-2509. The agency has also been taking comment on its proposed PFAS drinking-water rescission rule, which it announced in May. (epa.gov) September 4 is the clearest next date on the calendar. By then, wastewater utilities, farmers, landowners, state and Tribal agencies, and other commenters can submit feedback on EPA’s draft biosolids guidance, while lawmakers continue pressing Zeldin to reverse the separate drinking-water proposal. (epa.gov)