The Environmental Protection Agency delays limits on PFAS in drinking water

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it is delaying the timeline for water utilities to comply with reducing some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS chemicals, in drinking water — and reconsidering the allowable levels for others.

“The work to protect Americans from PFAS in drinking water started under the first Trump Administration and will continue under my leadership,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said in the announcement.

PFAS are a class of thousands of chemicals that have been used for decades to waterproof and stainproof a variety of products including clothing, cosmetics, upholstery and firefighting foams. They’re sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they contain strong molecular bonds that persist for decades. Long-term exposure to PFAS has been linked with harms to human health, such as certain cancers or damage to the liver and immune systems.

In April 2024, the EPA under the Biden Administration set limits on certain PFAS chemicals in drinking water, requiring community water systems to find alternative water sources or install filtration systems to remove them. It was the first time the agency had set enforceable caps on PFAS in drinking water, and water utilities were required to comply by 2029.

Now, the EPA is proposing to extend the compliance deadline to 2031 for two of the most common PFAS chemicals – PFOA and PFOS. And it’s rescinding and reconsidering the limits for the other four listed in the initial regulation – PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS.

“That doesn’t mean that [the limits] gets weaker…when I go through a process and we follow the law, at the end of it, the final [levels] might be a lower number, not a higher number,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said at a Congressional hearing on May 14.

Some environmental advocates expressed skepticism.

“The way the issue is being framed [in the announcement] is not about providing additional protections or making it stricter,” says Anna Reade, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It’s about providing relief in terms of cost to water systems.”

Groups representing water utilities praised the move.

“We strongly support the agency’s decision to rescind the regulations…and ensure future rulemakings respect the Safe Drinking Water Act process,” read a joint email statement from the heads of the American Water Works Association and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, two groups that have sued the EPA over its PFAS regulation.

They said the process requires EPA to construct rules that “maximize public health benefits in a cost-effective manner. This is critical for water systems and their communities, because the process helps ensure every ratepayer dollar is directed toward the most pressing public health risks.”

The Safe Drinking Water Act also contains a measure commonly known as the “anti-backsliding provision,” which deems it illegal to weaken a drinking water rule once it’s set, says Reade. While she’s concerned that the agency may attempt to weaken the rule regardless, “The real damage right now is that it’s delaying movement towards drinking water protections for PFAS,” she says.

The EPA estimates that 6-10% of water systems serve water with excess PFAS levels, according to the 2024 regulations, affecting some 100 million people in the U.S.

According to EPA analysis, it would cost $1.5 billion a year for water companies to comply with the regulation. The benefits of reducing PFAS in drinking water would equal or exceed the costs, the agency said, in terms of less cancer and fewer heart attacks, strokes and birth complications in the affected population.

Health advocates worry that the move will delay the removal of these chemicals from drinking water and that more people will be exposed to chemicals that may contribute to chronic health problems.