In an announcement released yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that it will keep the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for drinking water that were established in April 2024 for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), two of the most commonly studied and regulated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
EPA also stated that it will extend the compliance deadline for public drinking water systems to develop and install treatment to address detections of PFOA and PFOS. That deadline is currently set for 2029. EPA intends to issue a proposed rule this fall which would extend that deadline to 2031. In addition, EPA is encouraging “states seeking primacy for implementing the PFAS drinking water regulation to request additional time from EPA to develop their applications.”
The announcement also stated that EPA intends to “rescind the regulations and reconsider the regulatory determinations for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (commonly known as GenX), and the Hazard Index mixture of these three plus PFBS to ensure that the determinations and any resulting drinking water regulation follow the legal process laid out in the Safe Drinking Water Act.”
Our Duane Morris PFAS team will continue to monitor these issues.