The Biden administration is finalizing a national drinking water standard aimed at protecting communities from exposure to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS.
Under the rule, public water systems must monitor and, if necessary, reduce the levels of PFAS in drinking water, as well as notify the public if levels exceed the standard. It applies to five individual PFAS and sets a limit for any combination of four PFAS, including GenX Chemicals.
EPA estimates the standard will lower PFAS exposure for 100 million people, and will reduce thousands of deaths and serious illnesses.
With Wednesday's action "we are one huge step closer to finally shutting off the tap on forever chemicals once and for all,” said EPA administrator Michael Regan in a press call.
EPA Administrator Michael ReganPublic drinking water systems will have three years to complete their initial monitoring and inform the public of PFAS levels in their drinking water.
If the levels exceed the standard, the public drinking water systems must implement steps to reduce PFAS within an additional two years. The EPA estimates between 6% and 10% of the 66,000 public drinking water systems subject to the standard will need to reduce PFAS levels.
The proposed rule had a three-year compliance deadline, but EPA extended it to five years to give systems more time to install new treatment technologies, said a senior administration official. These could include activated carbon, reverse osmosis and ion exchange systems.
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The administration has opened $1 billion in funding through the bipartisan infrastructure law to support the new standards. The funds will be distributed through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and support states and territories to implement PFAS testing and treatment at public facilities, and help owners of private wells address PFAS contamination.
Communities, including smaller water systems, have flexibility under the rule to identify the best solution for them, said a senior administration official. A solution could be treating water through new technologies, or finding alternative water supplies.
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