The Trump administration is weighing plans to roll back the first-ever nationwide limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water, with details expected in the next three weeks, attorneys for EPA said in a filing Monday.
The administration asked a federal appeals court for an additional 21 days to finalize a policy addressing “the most significant compliance challenges” with the Biden-era drinking water regulation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Chemical manufacturers and water utilities have sued to overturn the rule, raising questions about whether the Trump administration will defend it.
“A short additional abeyance period is appropriate to provide time for EPA to decide on its planned course of action and for the parties to evaluate the potential impact of EPA’s announcement on the issues presented here and confer regarding how to proceed in this litigation,” EPA attorneys said in the new filing.
The rule sets legal limits for concentrations of six types of PFAS, a group of human-made chemicals that may increase people’s risk of cancer and other serious illnesses. The chemicals have been found in roughly half the nation’s tap water, and EPA has determined that some of the substances are unsafe even at very low levels.
