THE EPA ON Wednesday said it would change a rule intended to protect Americans from forever chemicals in their drinking water. The agency plans to extend a compliance deadline to limit two key chemicals, and rescind and reconsider regulations on four others.
Last year, the Biden administration released a long-awaited rule setting limits on forever chemicals in municipal drinking water systems. This rule not only mandated low levels for two of the most-studied forever chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, but for four other chemicals that have been linked to a variety of adverse health effects.
In addition to removing those four other chemicals from the rule, the Trump EPA now says it will give drinking water systems until 2031 to get rid of PFOA and PFOS in the supply—two years after the original deadline of 2029.
“EPA has one mission: to protect human health and the environment,” says Kyla Bennett, a director of science policy at the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “This flies in the face of their mission and everything they're supposed to stand for.”
“We are on a path to uphold the agency’s nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said in a press release. “At the same time, we will work to provide common-sense flexibility in the form of additional time for compliance. This will support water systems across the country, including small systems in rural communities, as they work to address these contaminants.”
