EANY and Riverkeeper Respond to EPA’s Dangerous Plan to Weaken Drinking Water Protections
May 14, 2025
Riverkeeper Team
Albany, NY – Today, the US Environmental Protection (EPA) announced a plan to weaken drinking water safeguards against toxic PFAS chemicals. EPA intends to abandon drinking water limits on four PFAS chemicals (PFNA, PFHxS, GenX, and PFBS) and delay limits on two other PFAS chemicals (PFOA and PFOS) by two years, pushing the compliance deadline from 2029 to 2031.
Current rules require water utilities nationwide to test drinking water for PFAS and to install filtration or find a new water source if high levels of PFAS are detected. If EPA succeeds in rolling back these critical drinking water protections, at least 1.3 million New Yorkers will be exposed to dangerous PFAS contamination every time they turn on the tap, putting their health at risk.
Rob Hayes, Senior Director of Clean Water at Environmental Advocates NY, said, “This isn’t deregulation—it’s abandonment. EPA, an institution dedicated to protecting our drinking water, is telling over a million New Yorkers that their health isn’t important. The Trump EPA is playing politics with clean water, and New Yorkers are losing. It’s up to New York now to protect what the federal government is willing to abandon.
Our leaders in New York must fight back against this disastrous plan. Governor Hochul and the NYS Department of Health have the power to continue implementing the Biden administration’s health-protective PFAS standards here in New York. DOH Commissioner McDonald has already committed publicly to doing so. Now Governor Hochul must state unequivocally that New York will not backtrack on protections for our drinking water.”
“It is unacceptable to delay the implementation of standards that maintain protective limits on PFOA and PFOS in drinking water. Delay puts people at risk of exposure to contaminants in drinking water and increases their risk for a variety of health problems – plain and simple,” said Riverkeeper Science Director Shannon Roback. “New York State should update state-level drinking water standards that mirror EPA’s more protective original proposal, which included six PFAS chemicals. In doing so, New York can build on its progress in protecting communities from the risk of reproductive and developmental health effects, and cancer associated with exposure to PFAS.”
Background
PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are a class of over 15,000 toxic chemicals. Used in products like cookware, firefighting foam, and clothing, PFAS have been linked to harmful health effects like thyroid disease, kidney cancer, and preeclampsia. PFAS have polluted drinking water across New York, especially in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island. EPA has concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to at least two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS.
The Biden EPA finalized landmark regulations on six PFAS chemicals in drinking water in April 2024. As part of those regulations, EPA set Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) of 4 parts per trillion (ppt) each for PFOA and PFOS. In addition, EPA established MCLs of 10 ppt each for PFNA, PFHxS, and GenX. Finally, EPA created a Hazard Index to protect against cumulative exposure to PFNA, PFHxS, GenX, and PFBS. Under EPA’s regulations, water utilities must complete initial PFAS testing by 2027 and comply with the MCLs and Hazard Index by 2029.
EPA is currently facing a lawsuit from the chemical industry and water utilities challenging its PFAS drinking water standards. The Biden administration initially defended the standards, but the Trump administration now plans to only partially defend them. Though the Trump EPA intends to weaken the PFAS standards, these regulations remain in effect until either the court overturns them or EPA completes a rulemaking process to remove them.
EPA’s 4 ppt MCLs for PFOA and PFOS are lower and more health-protective than New York’s current MCLs of 10 ppt each for PFOA and PFOS, which the state established in 2020. A recent study found that at least 189 communities across New York (more than 1.3 million New Yorkers) are exposed to between 4 and 10 ppt of PFOA or PFOS in their drinking water. These communities were counting on EPA’s PFAS MCLs to swiftly clean up their drinking water.
Fortunately, New York has the authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act to continue implementing EPA’s standards, even if EPA won’t. At the health budget hearing in February, NYS Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner McDonald committed to moving forward with EPA’s PFAS standards here in New York if they are abandoned at the federal level.
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