EPA Backtracks on First-Ever Limits on Forever Chemicals

What Happened:  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) it is reversing public health protections against toxic PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” in drinking water. It is seeking to undo the legal protections it put into place last year.

Why It Matters: The agency is delaying implementation of crucial nationwide limits that it set on PFAS, a class of highly toxic and widely used chemicals. These chemicals are linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental harms, and immune system suppression – and they are present in the tap water of as many as 200 million Americans.

Earthjustice, our clients and partners have been fighting for years to get PFAS out of our lives. Our supporters submitted more than 40,000 comments to agencies asking for new drinking water standards. We will continue to advocate for additional PFAS protections that communities urgently need and get the government to protect public health.

PFAS Are a Threat to Human Health

• What are PFAS? “PFAS” is short for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. Companies use this class of more than 15,000 chemicals to produce non-stick, waterproof, and flame suppressant products, including cosmetics, textiles, food packaging, and firefighting foam.
• A widespread hazard: Corporations’ reckless use of PFAS has poisoned the drinking water of up to 200 million people across the U.S.
• It’s in all of us: These extremely toxic chemicals build up in the human body over time. More than 97% of the U.S. population has PFAS in their bodies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Abandoning Promised Protections

• First limits of their kind: In April 2024, the EPA set nationwide limits on PFAS – a critical step toward addressing the PFAS contamination crisis.
• Its final rule covered six PFAS chemicals that have contaminated water across the S. and required water utilities to take steps to ensure that they remain below the legal limit by April 2029.
• Reneging on protections: Yet now, the agency announced that it is delaying that compliance deadline to 2031 and asked a federal court to invalidate its own standards for PFAS. Since federal law strongly prohibits the EPA from weakening any drinking water standards once they are set, the EPA is essentially asking the court to do what the agency itself is not allowed to do.

How Earthjustice Will Keep Fighting to Protect Communities From PFAS

PFAS contamination is a multi-faceted problem — so we’re pursuing multifaceted solutions. Here are just a few:

• Empowering communities: Earthjustice is representing community organizations that intervened to defend the nation’s first-ever drinking water standards for PFAS in ongoing litigation brought by chemical companies and water utility associations. We will continue to defend those standards in our litigation.
• Working in partnership: We are working with a coalition of organizations to push for strong state-level regulations of PFAS.
• Pushing for public information: We have fought for greater transparency of PFAS contamination sites, including medical monitoring for communities exposed to PFAS.