On April 28, 2025, after much anticipation, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin unveiled a plan to address contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In this suite of actions, the EPA announced a long list of regulatory and enforcement initiatives under key environmental statutes.
Departing from the Trump Administration’s focus on environmental deregulation, the EPA is now advancing many of the Biden Administration’s PFAS initiatives, signaling that PFAS will continue to be a top priority for the federal government. At the same time, the EPA has hinted at some potential rollbacks.
Specific Actions
According to the EPA, the PFAS actions will fall under the following categories: “strengthening the science,” “fulfilling statutory obligations and enhancing communication,” and “building partnerships.”
Strengthening the science
PFAS testing faces several challenges. Many PFAS compounds are present at low levels in the environment in the parts-per-trillion range. This makes detecting and accurately quantifying PFAS difficult. The EPA intends to address these issues by ramping up the development of testing methods to improve detection and strategies to address PFAS, identifying information gaps when not all PFAS can be measured and quantified, and launching efforts on air-related PFAS information collection and measurement techniques.
The EPA will also designate an agency lead for PFAS to better align and manage PFAS efforts across agency programs. This differs from the Biden Administration’s approach, which convened an EPA Council on PFAS consisting of senior EPA career officials to strategize on how to use the agency’s authorities to counter PFAS contamination.
Fulfilling statutory obligations and enhancing communication
The EPA intends to “engage with Congress and industry to establish a clear liability framework that ensures the polluter pays and passive receivers are protected.” This aligns with Zeldin’s concerns about drinking water utilities and other passive receivers bearing the costs and burdens of compliance with the Biden EPA’s rule designating two legacy PFAS – PFOA and PFOS – as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This announcement also signals the potential for the EPA to revisit or rollback the PFAS hazardous substance designation while the agency engages with lawmakers to address concerns around the burden on passive receivers.
In addition, the EPA will implement the PFAS reporting and recordkeeping rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to “smartly collect necessary information, as Congress envisioned and consistent with TSCA, without overburdening small businesses and article importers.” This rule, adopted under the Biden Administration, requires any person who has manufactured (including imported) PFAS or PFAS-containing articles in any year since January 1, 2011 to electronically report information regarding PFAS uses, production volumes, disposal, exposures, and hazards.
The EPA’s announcement indicates a potential exclusion of small businesses and article importers from the TSCA rule, addressing industry concerns about the rule burdening manufacturers. It may also signal another delay in the reporting period, which was scheduled to begin on November 12, 2024 but was extended to July 2025 due to budgetary constraints.
The EPA will also “determine how to better use” the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) “to address releases from manufacturing operations of both producers and users of PFAS.” The EPA has faced industry pressure to withdraw action and reopen stakeholder engagement on two rules proposed by the Biden EPA. These proposed rules would add nine PFAS to the RCRA list of hazardous constituents, modify the definition of hazardous waste, and clarify that hazardous constituents are subject to corrective action. This would expand the number of chemicals subject to consideration by regulated industries undergoing RCRA corrective action, give RCRA corrective action authority to address emerging contaminants like PFAS, and pave the way for future efforts to regulate PFAS as RCRA-listed hazardous wastes.
The EPA appears willing to take a more industry-friendly approach to using RCRA to address PFAS.
Additional developments include continuing the Biden Administration’s efforts to develop effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for PFAS manufacturers and metal finishers and evaluate additional ELGs to address PFAS, updating the Toxic Release Inventory to incorporate PFAS, and leveraging the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to “investigate and address immediate endangerment.”
Building partnerships
The EPA will ramp up partnerships with states to assess risks, provide enforcement assistance, evaluate air petitions, and support investigations. Such efforts will include completing the public comment period for biosolids risk assessment and determining a path forward based on comments received and advancing remediation and cleanup efforts for drinking water supplies.
Future of 2024 PFAS Rules Still Uncertain
The statement did not clarify how the EPA will approach the Biden Administration’s rules designating PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA and establishing legally enforceable maximum contaminant levels under the SDWA for six PFAS in drinking water. The EPA had been actively defending legal challenges to both rules under the Biden Administration. However, the EPA under the Trump Administration secured stays of litigation in both cases while it determines its approach to PFAS going forward. The press release does not mention these legal challenges or how they factor into the new Administration’s PFAS goals and initiatives.
Nonetheless, the announcement indicates an intent to use authorities under CERCLA and the SDWA to address PFAS contamination while exploring ways to potentially narrow the rules, reduce compliance burdens, and shield passive receivers.
Looking Ahead
With the recent change in Administrations, the EPA may adjust its approach to regulating PFAS and exercising its enforcement discretion, but the agency’s commitment to addressing PFAS contamination will remain a top priority.
Companies should be prepared for possible shifts in enforcement priorities and regulatory compliance requirements. While the EPA’s announcement signals some potential relief for businesses, the announcement is scant on details, which means companies should remain diligent with compliance and meeting current deadlines, such as the deadline to begin reporting under the TSCA PFAS reporting and recordkeeping rule.
The EPA indicated this list of upcoming agency actions “is the first, not the last, of all decisions and actions EPA will be taking to address PFAS over the course of the Trump Administration.” Thus, businesses can expect further clarity and additional action from the EPA in the near future.
Alston & Bird is monitoring litigation, legislative, and regulatory changes as the PFAS landscape continues to develop. To stay on top of these developments, please visit our PFAS Primer or contact an attorney on our PFAS Team.
If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please contact one of the attorneys on our Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources team.
You can subscribe to future advisories and other Alston & Bird publications by completing our publications subscription form.