On May 18, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced two proposed rules rollbacking the April 2024 health-based drinking water limits for four PFAS “forever” chemicals and delaying protections for two more.
“PFAS have been detected in drinking water nationwide. This proposal completely disregards modern science, the urgency of public health experts recommendations as well as the mounting cost of cleanup. This proposal will put our drinking water and countless lives at risk,” says Cindy Luppi, Clean Water Action's Senior Director for State Policy and Program. “There is no reason for EPA to spend time and resources rescinding these protections when it should be focused on controlling PFAS at the source and eliminating their use wherever possible.”
PFAS (per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) are a class of human-made chemicals that are toxic even in very low concentrations. Because they are stain and oil resistant and repel water, PFAS have been widely used since the 1950s in many common consumer products, including carpets, clothing, cookware, cosmetics, and food packaging. These “forever chemicals” are highly persistent and mobile in the environment, which means they bioaccumulate and travel unchanged through streams, rivers, and other water bodies, including drinking water sources. PFAS are linked to serious health problems including damage to liver, thyroid, and pancreatic function, immune system harm, hormone disruption, high cholesterol, and cancer.
Even with these well-known risks, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced plans to repeal the Hazardous Index-based regulatory approach currently in place for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (GenX), and PFBS. The agency will also delay the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) compliance deadlines for PFOA and PFOS from 2029 to 2031.
Clean Water Action’s state offices across the country have taken action to tackle the PFAS crisis, including passing the nation’s most comprehensive ban on PFAS known as Amara’s Law. Named after Amara Strande who lost her life to a rare cancer she believed was linked to toxic PFAS exposure from a PFAS plume in Minnesota, this law has set a precedent across the country to how states can take action in protecting water and the residents who rely on it.
In response to this rollback, the Strande family said, “This is a direct contradiction of the EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. When the agency responsible for safeguarding our water chooses to rollback PFAS drinking water limits, it raises serious questions about whose interests are being prioritized.”
Clean Water Action is proud to be a leader on this issue, and we urge the EPA to follow our lead.