Overview

• In a Sept. 12 filing, the EPA sought to stop defending and to rescind determinations for four PFAS—GenX, PFHxS, PFNA and PFBS—and to extend compliance for PFOA and PFOS standards from 2029 to 2031.
• NRDC and Earthjustice have intervened to defend the 2024 standards and argue the Safe Drinking Water Act bars weakening established drinking-water protections, with further court responses expected this month.
• A peer‑reviewed study reported PFAS in 95% of beers tested and found levels closely tracked contamination in local municipal water, with the highest concentrations in beers brewed near North Carolina’s Cape Fear River Basin.
• More than 73 million people are served by water systems that exceed limits the EPA now seeks to roll back, and NRDC estimates as many as 105 million could have water violating the 2024 standards.
• Researchers and public‑health advocates cite links between PFAS exposure and cancers and developmental harms and say utilities and breweries may need treatment upgrades as regulations and local water treatment evolve.