WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will soon propose softening Biden-era limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water, delaying but keeping tough standards for two common types and rescinding limits on some rarer forms of the substance, according to an EPA official.
The proposal will start the formal process of rolling back parts of the first-ever limits on PFAS in drinking water finalized during former President Joe Biden's administration.
Officials at the time found they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and babies being born with low birth weight.
Jessica Kramer, head of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water, said at a conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday the agency intended to rescind and revisit certain limits she said were improperly issued by the Biden administration. The move would align with actions the EPA had said a year ago they intended to take.
The proposal comes at a time when the agency is facing scrutiny from the Make America Healthy Again movement on issues like PFAS and pesticides. The group in part advocates against corporate environmental harms and has been championed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The details of the plan haven't yet been released, but officials previously said they would propose rescinding limits on three types of PFAS, including what are known as GenX substances found in North Carolina. They will then reconsider them. They will do the same with a limit on a mixture of several types of PFAS.
“We need drinking water rules that are legally defensible. We need drinking water regulations that are not susceptible to legal challenge because the explicit process in the Safe Drinking Water Act wasn’t followed. And so that is a huge concern,” said Kramer at a conference focused on ensuring everyone has access to safe drinking water and wastewater.
She said the intent is to start the process over and follow the law. The Biden administration faced allegations they did not follow the correct legal process, moving too quickly on limits on the less common types of PFAS the agency is proposing to rescind limits for.
The agency said they are committed to helping utilities reduce PFAS in drinking water. The agency provides technical assistance and there have been billions of dollars in extra funding available to assist in installing and navigating the expensive and sometimes complex treatment that's needed to remove the chemicals.
The Biden administration’s rule also set tight standards for the two common types of PFAS, referred to as PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion. The EPA has said they intend to keep those standards, but give utilities two extra years — until 2031 — to comply.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said last year when they first announced they would take this action that delaying the deadline was “common-sense flexibility.”
“This will support water systems across the country, including small systems in rural communities, as they work to address these contaminants," he said at the time.
On drinking water broadly, the Trump administration said they would defend tough standards to reduce lead in tap water. That's in contrast to their efforts to slash health protections for coal and other polluting energy sources.
“Where they may have taken a wrecking ball to those rules, this is a little more surgical and measured in part because of the resonance of these issues among voters,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs with the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.
Forcing utilities to treat for several types of PFAS can help ensure that other potentially harmful substances are filtered out of water, too, according to the nonprofit.
Benesh also said the move is likely illegal — the Safe Drinking Water Act, which authorizes EPA to regulate contaminants in drinking water, prevents officials from issuing regulations that are weaker than those previously in place.
The public will have a chance to comment before the change is finalized.
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