On September 4, 2025, EPA released its Unified Agenda which includes plans for a number of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulatory actions. The PFAS regulatory agenda is consistent with Administrator Zeldin’s April 2025 announcement regarding combatting PFAS contamination but includes more details. (See our prior post regarding the announcement.) The PFAS regulatory agenda includes plans to issue final PFAS effluent limitation guidelines for the chemical manufacturing sector by January 1, 2026, plans to withdraw the MCLs for PFNA, GenX, PFHxS and mixtures of these three PFAS with PFBS by February 2026, extend the compliance deadline to 2031 for the MCLs for PFOA and PFOS by April 2026, and to add exemptions to the TSCA PFAS reporting rule by June 2026. However, the regulatory agenda does not include any proposals regarding withdrawing the designation of PFOS and PFOA as hazardous substances under CERCLA. That rule is subject to ongoing litigation in which EPA has received multiple extensions to enable EPA’s new leadership to evaluate the rule within the broader context of EPA’s PFAS strategy. (See our prior post on the litigation). Despite reports that EPA is considering repealing the hazardous substance designation of PFOA and PFOS, no action is planned in EPA’s upcoming regulatory agenda.
It looks like a busy upcoming year for PFAS regulatory developments. Stay tuned.