{"id":195,"date":"2026-05-22T21:14:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T21:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=195"},"modified":"2026-05-22T21:14:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T21:14:50","slug":"epa-strategy-proposes-to-strike-enforceable-pfas-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=195","title":{"rendered":"EPA \u2018strategy\u2019 proposes to strike enforceable PFAS standards"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reprinted with permission from CoastalReview.org<\/em><\/p>\n

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving ahead with plans to strike down the nation\u2019s first-ever health standards for chemical contaminants found in the drinking water sources of millions of North Carolinians.<\/p>\n

Read more US Senate GOP punts spending bill amid big split with Trump over settlement fund<\/a><\/p>\n

The proposal, announced Monday, comes just shy of the one-year mark from when EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said he would eliminate and reevaluate enforceable standards for four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, including the compound branded GenX. The agency also wants to push the deadline in which water utilities must comply with enforceable standards for PFOA and PFOS, chemicals that are no longer manufactured, by two years from 2029 to 2031.<\/p>\n

In what it describes as a \u201ccomprehensive PFAS strategy,\u201d the agency explains in a five-page release that drinking water systems would be given the option to opt in for the two-year extension, giving them more time to sample source water for contaminants, test new controls, and train their workforce to manage those controls.<\/p>\n

The agency states that the proposed rule to rescind current federal standards for HFPO-DA, commonly referred to as GenX, PFNA, PFHxS and PFBS, would follow the letter of the law in establishing regulations for drinking water standards. The Trump administration argues that the Biden administration failed to follow the proper statutory requirements under the Safe Water Drinking Act when it established the drinking water standards for those four chemical compounds.<\/p>\n

Under the proposal, the EPA would provide nearly $1 billion in new funding to states to address PFAS in drinking water and another $1 billion through the Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Biden administration cut corners and failed to follow the law,\u201d Zeldin said in the release. \u201cWe are fixing that error with standards water systems can actually implement and that will hold up to scrutiny, while addressing PFOA and PFOS, two the best-studied PFAS with well-documented health impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated in the release that PFAS contamination is \u201ca serious public health challenge that demands rigorous science, clear standards, and practical solutions. Across HHS, we are advancing gold-standard research to better understand PFAS exposure, toxicity, and long-term health impacts on Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics of the proposed rules immediately hit back, calling the announcement a \u201cPR stunt\u201d to try and shade the more than 100 million people across the country whose drinking water sources have been contaminated by PFAS.<\/p>\n

\u201cZeldin and Kennedy are trying to sell potions out of the back of a covered wagon,\u201d Dr. Anna Reade, Natural Resources Defense Council Director of PFAS Advocacy said in a Monday release. \u201cThe millions of Americans demanding safe drinking water are not going to fall for their hocus pocus. By repealing and delaying PFAS standards, EPA is abandoning communities in desperate need of drinking water protections, especially those who live near polluting industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

News of the proposed rules particularly smacked the Cape Fear region where residents, environmental organizations and public water providers have banded together to fight for regulations that would put the onus on dischargers to keep PFAS out of drinking water sources.<\/p>\n

Almost nine years have passed since the Wilmington StarNews broke the news that Chemours, a DuPont spinoff, had for decades been directly discharging PFAS, including GenX, from its Fayetteville Works facility into the Cape Fear River. GenX is specific to Chemours\u2019 Bladen County plant more than 70 miles upstream from Wilmington.<\/p>\n

Today, more than 1,000 residents living near the Cape Fear River Basin are participating in a study where researchers measure the levels of GenX and other PFAS in people\u2019s blood.<\/p>\n

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NC DEQ directs Chemours to increase well testing for PFAS<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n