Policy and Legal

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will reconsider certain aspects of the Biden administration’s rule setting limits on PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in drinking water—while leaving in place unworkable standards for two PFAS (The Washington Post, subscription).

Encouraging progress: The agency plans to reconsider regulatory determination for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS following calls by the NAM to rescind the “blatantly unlawful” standards. The EPA also will extend its compliance deadline for PFOA and PFOS from 2029 to 2031, another top NAM ask.

More to be done: NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons made clear that the EPA’s decision to maintain the previous administration’s standards for PFOA and PFAS “go against the Trump administration’s goal to make the U.S. the best place to build, grow and create jobs.”

The NAM’s involvement: The NAM opposed these standards when they were instituted, arguing that the timeline for implementation was too swift, as many of these chemicals are key manufacturing additives that do not yet have replacements.

• The NAM also challenged the rule in court, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn the rule due to the EPA’s failure to follow the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, including its reliance on a deeply flawed cost-benefit analysis and deficient feasibility analysis.

The NAM says: “We’re encouraged that the EPA has listened to the voices of manufacturers and extended the compliance deadline for unworkable national primary drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS and committed to reconsidering the blatantly unlawful regulatory determinations for several other PFAS compounds,” Timmons said.

• “However, the Biden-era standards for PFOA and PFOS are deeply flawed, the costs they impose exceed any demonstrable benefit and the industries they harm include those vital to our national interests, including semiconductors, telecommunications and defense systems.”
• “We don’t have to choose between supporting manufacturing and clean water in our communities.”