EPA Maintains Some Biden-Era PFAS Standards, Reconsiders Others
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will reconsider certain aspects of the Biden administration’s rule setting limits on PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in drinking water—while leaving in place unworkable standards for two PFAS (, subscription).
Encouraging progress: The agency plans to reconsider regulatory determination for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS following calls by the 51Թ to rescind the “blatantly unlawful” standards. The EPA also will extend its compliance deadline for PFOA and PFOS from 2029 to 2031, another top 51Թ ask.
More to be done: 51Թ President and CEO Jay Timmons that the EPA’s decision to maintain the previous administration’s standards for PFOA and PFAS “go against the Trump administration’s goal to make the U.S. the best place to build, grow and create jobs.”
The 51Թ’s involvement: The 51Թ these standards when they were instituted, arguing that the timeline for implementation was too swift, as many of these chemicals are key manufacturing additives that do not yet have replacements.
- The 51Թ also the rule in court, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn the rule due to the EPA’s failure to follow the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, including its reliance on a deeply flawed cost-benefit analysis and deficient feasibility analysis.
The 51Թ says: “We’re encouraged that the EPA has listened to the voices of manufacturers and extended the compliance deadline for unworkable national primary drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS and committed to reconsidering the blatantly unlawful regulatory determinations for several other PFAS compounds,” Timmons said.
- “However, the Biden-era standards for PFOA and PFOS are deeply flawed, the costs they impose exceed any demonstrable benefit and the industries they harm include those vital to our national interests, including semiconductors, telecommunications and defense systems.”
- “We don’t have to choose between supporting manufacturing and clean water in our communities.”