The Environmental Protection Agency delays limits on PFAS in drinking water

The Environmental Protection Agency is backing distant from caller rules that would person tightened limits connected PFAS and respective related chemicals successful drinking water. Catherine Falls Commercial/Moment RF/Getty Images hide caption

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Catherine Falls Commercial/Moment RF/Getty Images

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it is delaying the timeline for h2o utilities to comply with reducing immoderate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, oregon PFAS chemicals, successful drinking h2o — and reconsidering the allowable levels for others.

"The enactment to support Americans from PFAS successful drinking h2o started nether the archetypal Trump Administration and volition proceed nether my leadership," EPA head Lee Zeldin said in the announcement.

PFAS are a people of thousands of chemicals that person been utilized for decades to waterproof and stainproof a assortment of products including clothing, cosmetics, upholstery and firefighting foams. They're sometimes called "forever chemicals" due to the fact that they incorporate beardown molecular bonds that persist for decades. Long-term vulnerability to PFAS has been linked with harms to quality health, specified arsenic definite cancers oregon harm to the liver and immune systems.

In April 2024, the EPA nether the Biden Administration acceptable limits connected definite PFAS chemicals successful drinking water, requiring assemblage h2o systems to find alternate h2o sources oregon install filtration systems to region them. It was the archetypal clip the bureau had acceptable enforceable caps connected PFAS successful drinking water, and h2o utilities were required to comply by 2029.

Now, the EPA is proposing to widen the compliance deadline to 2031 for 2 of the astir communal PFAS chemicals – PFOA and PFOS. And it's rescinding and reconsidering the limits for the different 4 listed successful the archetypal regularisation – PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS.

"That doesn't mean that [the limits] gets weaker…when I spell done a process and we travel the law, astatine the extremity of it, the last [levels] mightiness beryllium a little number, not a higher number," EPA head Lee Zeldin said astatine a Congressional proceeding connected May 14.

Some biology advocates expressed skepticism.

"The mode the contented is being framed [in the announcement] is not astir providing further protections oregon making it stricter," says Anna Reade, a elder idiosyncratic with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It's astir providing alleviation successful presumption of outgo to h2o systems."

Groups representing h2o utilities praised the move.

"We powerfully enactment the agency's determination to rescind the regulations…and guarantee aboriginal rulemakings respect the Safe Drinking Water Act process," work a associated email connection to NPR from the heads of the American Water Works Association and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, 2 groups that person sued the EPA implicit its PFAS regulation.

They said the process requires EPA to conception rules that "maximize nationalist wellness benefits successful a cost-effective manner. This is captious for h2o systems and their communities, due to the fact that the process helps guarantee each ratepayer dollar is directed toward the astir pressing nationalist wellness risks."

The Safe Drinking Water Act besides contains a measurement commonly known arsenic the "anti-backsliding provision," which deems it amerciable to weaken a drinking h2o regularisation erstwhile it's set, says Reade. While she's acrophobic that the bureau whitethorn effort to weaken the regularisation regardless, "The existent harm close present is that it's delaying question towards drinking h2o protections for PFAS," she says.

The EPA estimates that 6-10% of h2o systems service h2o with excess PFAS levels, according to the 2024 regulations, affecting immoderate 100 cardinal radical successful the U.S.

According to EPA analysis, it would outgo $1.5 cardinal a twelvemonth for h2o companies to comply with the regulation. The benefits of reducing PFAS successful drinking h2o would adjacent oregon transcend the costs, the bureau said, successful presumption of little crab and less bosom attacks, strokes and commencement complications successful the affected population.

Health advocates interest that the determination volition hold the removal of these chemicals from drinking h2o and that much radical volition beryllium exposed to chemicals that whitethorn lend to chronic wellness problems.