Overview

• In a new federal court filing, the EPA sought to rescind drinking-water standards for GenX, PFHxS, PFNA and PFBS and to delay compliance for PFOA and PFOS until 2031.
• EPA attorneys argued the Biden-era rulemaking skipped a required Safe Drinking Water Act procedural step for four chemicals, adopting a claim advanced by utilities and chemical companies.
• NRDC and Earthjustice have intervened to defend the 2024 standards and plan a formal response later this month, citing the law’s anti-backsliding protections.
• Reporting cites more than 73 million people served by systems with PFAS above limits targeted for rollback, while NRDC estimates up to roughly 105 million have water violating the new standards.
• A peer-reviewed study published Sept. 12 detected PFAS in 95% of U.S. beers tested, with levels tracking local municipal water contamination and highest near North Carolina’s Cape Fear River Basin.