EPA revokes limits on four PFAS

The Environmental Protection Agency on May 18 proposed scrapping federal drinking-water limits for four PFAS chemicals while preserving nationwide standards for two others and giving water systems a possible two-year extension to meet those remaining rules. The move would unwind part of the Biden administration’s 2024 PFAS drinking-water rule, which had set the first national limits for six “forever chemicals.” At the same time, EPA and the Department of Health and Human Services said they would make nearly $1 billion available to states for PFAS and other emerging contaminants in drinking water. EPA said the package would make the rules more legally durable and easier for utilities to implement. ### Which PFAS limits is EPA trying to remove? EPA’s proposal targets limits for perfluorohexane sulfonic acid, or PFHxS; perfluorononanoic acid, or PFNA; hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid and its ammonium salt, known as HFPO-DA or GenX chemicals; and a hazard-index mixture covering those three substances plus perfluorobutane sulfonic acid, or PFBS. The agency said it is proposing to rescind both the regulatory determinations and the associated provisions in the 2024 National Primary Drinking Water Regulation that apply to those chemicals. (epa.gov) The Biden administration’s April 10, 2024 rule had set enforceable maximum contaminant levels for PFOA and PFOS and separate limits for PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA, along with a hazard-index approach for mixtures including PFBS. EPA now says the four-PFAS portion should be withdrawn to correct what it called failures to follow the Safe Drinking Water Act process. (epa.gov) ### What stays in place for PFOA and PFOS? EPA said it will keep the national drinking-water standards for perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, or PFOS. Those limits were set at 4 parts per trillion under the 2024 rule. A separate proposed rule issued May 18 would let drinking-water systems request two additional years, to 2031, to comply with the PFOA and PFOS limits. (epa.gov) EPA said that proposal is meant to preserve the standards while giving utilities more time to install treatment and complete implementation. ### Why is EPA pairing a rollback with new money? (epa.gov) EPA and HHS said on May 18 that nearly $1 billion in grant funding would go to states through the Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant. EPA said the latest allotment brings total funding made available through that program to $5 billion over five years. (epa.gov) Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, said the agency was pursuing “rules grounded in gold-standard science and the Safe Drinking Water Act” while also supporting water systems “on the front lines.” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said PFAS contamination is “a serious public health challenge that demands rigorous science, clear standards, and practical solutions.” (epa.gov) ### What does this change for states, utilities and testing markets? The federal proposal does not erase state authority to regulate PFAS in drinking water or to fund cleanup work. Instead, it creates a split framework in which federal standards would remain for PFOA and PFOS, while states and water systems continue to navigate contamination involving PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS under their own rules, permits, litigation pressures or grant programs. (epa.gov) That is an inference based on the federal proposal and funding structure. For environmental laboratories, equipment suppliers and water-treatment vendors, the immediate effect is likely to be uneven demand rather than a single national compliance track. Testing tied to PFOA and PFOS remains on a federal timetable, while work involving the other PFAS may depend more heavily on state requirements, utility decisions and site-specific remediation programs. That is also an inference from the EPA actions announced May 18. (epa.gov) ### What happens next in the rulemaking? EPA said it will accept written comments for 60 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register under Docket ID EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0654. The agency said it will hold a virtual public hearing on July 7, 2026, and that registration to provide verbal comment closes on July 1. The PFOA and PFOS compliance-extension proposal will move on a parallel track, with the same July 7 hearing date and a separate docket, EPA-HQ-OW-2025-1742. (epa.gov) EPA said it will post the hearing agenda and list of preregistered speakers by July 6, 2026. (epa.gov 1) (epa.gov 2)