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Environmental Law Monitor

Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.

EPA Offices, Washington DC
• Environmental Law Monitor, EPA, PFAS

EPA’s Focus on PFAS to Persist with Ongoing Efforts to Increase Knowledge of the Large Family of Compounds

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The Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a press release on its efforts over the last year regarding PFAS contamination, noting it “represents just the beginning of the Trump Administration’s fight against the risks of PFAS contamination.”

Some of the work the agency highlighted included “better testing and detection, direct community support, enforcement, clear public education, commonsense regulation, and cutting-edge research…”

The release also mentioned other 2025 efforts, including:

  • Launching the PFAS OUTreach Initiative (PFAS OUT) to connect with every public water system that needs system upgrades to address PFAS, including those finding PFOA and PFOS in their water.
  • Releasing $945 million to reduce exposure to PFAS in drinking water.
  • Developing a method to detect 40 PFAS compounds in wastewater, surface water, groundwater, soil, sludge, sediment, landfill liquid, and fish tissue.
  • Proposing commonsense changes to PFAS reporting regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to “improve implementation and reduce duplicative reporting requirements while maintaining the ability to obtain important use and safety information.”
  • Advancing the science-based levels for PFOA and PFOS in National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR), while revising compliance dates to “ensure successful implementation.”
  • Affirming the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) hazardous substance listing for PFOA and PFOS.
  • Initiating more frequent updates to the PFAS Destruction and Disposal Guidance—changing from every three years to annually—as EPA continues to assess the effectiveness of available treatment technologies.

“The EPA plans to continue expanding testing programs, advancing new treatment technologies, increasing community outreach, and strengthening enforcement actions to work with local municipalities and the private sector to pursue practical solutions,” the release said.

EPA also announced that it is establishing a ‘coordinating group’ “to ensure the continued sharing of research, innovation, and actions to accelerate the cleanup of PFAS contamination and protect human health and the environment.” EPA says that this coordination will be supported by leadership from the Office of the Administrator and the Office of Water and represent senior technical and policy leaders from across EPA program offices and Regions. Through this coordination, EPA states that it will further actions to:

  • Regulate new and existing chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), requiring companies to provide safety data and limiting harmful uses.
  • Set protective drinking water standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act and monitor water supplies nationwide.
  • Clean up contaminated sites under Superfund and other environmental laws when contamination exceeds safe levels.
  • Control air and water pollution from industrial sources under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
  • Advance cutting-edge research to understand the thousands of PFAS compounds and develop new treatment technologies.

It’s evident that PFAS will continue to garner the interest of regulatory bodies and the focus of future scientific and legislative developments.