EPA to – The Environmental Protection Agency said it plans to “rescind and restart” portions of PFAS (“forever chemicals”) drinking-water regulation, pairing the move with $1 billion and a proposal to extend compliance deadlines to 2031. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin ci
For drinking-water systems already struggling to meet some of the strictest PFAS limits in the country, the next rule may come with a pause—and a chance to fall further behind.
On May 18. the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to tackle per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. commonly called PFAS or “forever chemicals. ” in the nation’s drinking water. The push also includes $1 billion in funding. and it arrives as the EPA and the Department of Health and Human Services move to address microplastics and other contaminants in water.
But the agency’s proposal is not just a strengthening of oversight. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the EPA is planning to “rescind and restart” the regulation of certain chemicals. blaming alleged procedural errors from the Biden administration. The EPA will accept public comments on the proposal.
Zeldin laid out the sequence for what comes next. “Only after the public has had the opportunity to comment on that proposal, and when the EPA has then finalized the determination to regulate, may the EPA then publish a proposed rule regarding a new regulation of that contaminant,” he said.
In the proposed plans, drinking water companies would also be able to request an additional two years to comply with PFAS limits, pushing the deadline to 2031.
To critics, the timing is the problem. The Environmental Working Group said the move would dismantle what it called “the most significant public health advance in drinking water regulation in a generation.” In a news release. Ken Cook. the EWG’s president and co-founder. said: “The Trump EPA is caving to chemical industry lobbyists and water utility pressure – and in doing so it is condemning millions of Americans to drink contaminated water for years to come.”.
During the announcement event, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denied claims that the EPA is trying to roll back PFAS regulations. He said Zeldin and his staff are “completely committed” to reducing PFAS exposures in a way that is “legal and practical.”
The EPA, for its part, framed the approach as improving “practical implementation.”
The new announcement also lands just a month after the EPA and HHS said the Trump administration is cracking down on contaminants in the nation’s drinking water, including PFAS, microplastics and pharmaceuticals.
The sequence the EPA laid out—rescinding and restarting a rule. inviting comments. then finalizing decisions before proposing a new regulation—creates a clear tension: the agency is promising a stronger approach while simultaneously asking regulated water systems for time. For communities that rely on municipal treatment. that tradeoff is likely to be felt long before the next rulemaking process closes.
EPA PFAS forever chemicals drinking water Lee Zeldin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Environmental Working Group Ken Cook microplastics contaminant regulation public comment period compliance deadline 2031 $1 billion funding