The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new rule for regulating PFAS in drinking water. In very welcome news, EPA has broadened its initial plans to regulate only the two most controversial “forever chemicals”, and now proposes to expand those protections and limit levels of six PFAS compounds in drinking water.
This regulation will help protect drinking water for people and communities across the country. In addition to establishing legally enforceable individual Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for two PFAS in drinking water, it would also establish an MCL using a hazard risk index for any combination of the other four PFAS.
EPA is requesting public comment on the proposed regulation and will hold a public hearing on May 4, 2023.
The proposed rule would also require public water systems to:
Monitor for these PFAS
Notify the public of the levels of these PFAS
Reduce the levels of these PFAS in drinking water if they exceed the proposed standards.
And it's imperative that we act today!
Experts estimate that more than 200 million Americans are exposed to PFAS through drinking water. According to our own nationwide PFAS contamination report from last October, a staggering 83% of the surface water samples showed detection of at least one PFAS compound. Multiple PFAS compounds were often detected together and at very high levels.
That is why we need to support EPA’s proposal to set protective limits on PFAS in our public drinking water supplies today.
