EPA announces rollback for some Biden-era limits on so-called forever chemicals in drinking water

Rollback on protections

Photo: AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File

FILE - Logan Feeney pours a water sample with forever chemicals, known as PFAS, into a container for research, April 10, 2024, at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Cincinnati.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some so-called forever chemicals in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common ones.

The Biden administration set the first federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, finding they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and babies being born with low birth weight. Those limits were expected to reduce PFAS levels in drinking water for millions of people.

PFAS are man-made chemicals that don’t easily break down in nature. They’re found in a wide range of products, including cookware, firefighting foam and stain-resistant clothing.

Under the new rollback, limits on three types of PFAS, including GenX substances found in North Carolina, will be scrapped and reconsidered by the agency, as will a limit on a mixture of several types of PFAS.

The Biden administration’s rule also set standards for the two common types of PFAS, referred to as PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion, effectively the lowest level at which they can be reliably detected. The EPA will keep those standards in place, but give utilities two extra years — until 2031 — to comply and treat for the chemicals.

"We are on a path to uphold the agency’s nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water. At the same time, we will work to provide common-sense flexibility in the form of additional time for compliance,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

The development was first reported by The Washington Post.

Environmental groups slammed the move.

“With a stroke of the pen, EPA is making a mockery of the Trump administration’s promise to deliver clean water for Americans,” said Erik Olson, a senior strategic director of health at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.