U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Announces New PFAS Action Plan

On April 28, 2025, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the Agency’s plan to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during the second Trump Administration. PFAS are manmade chemicals—of which there are thousands—commonly found in textiles, cookware, packaging, plastics, and firefighting foams. These “forever chemicals” are persistent in the environment and human body, as they do not break down and can accumulate over long periods of time. EPA’s outlined action plan calls upon its investigatory, regulatory, and enforcement powers under various statutes, including the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Key elements of the plan include:

• Designation of an EPA lead for PFAS to manage work across programs.
• Development of effluent limitation guidelines under the CWA for certain PFAS compounds for PFAS manufacturers and metal finishers. Such guidelines would introduce additional requirements in such entities’ discharge permits in order to protect drinking water systems. The Office of Management and Budget previously withdrew EPA’s proposed rule on PFAS effluent limitations guidelines and standards on January 21, 2025, in line with an Executive Order freezing certain regulatory activity.
• Launching various information gathering efforts, such as TSCA Section 4 test orders on chemical manufacturers and other efforts related to developing air emissions measurement techniques and new detection methods.
• Investigating additional mechanisms to address PFAS releases by manufacturers and users, such as under RCRA, and additional PFAS compounds, such as through TSCA risk evaluations.
• Advancing cleanup efforts at CERCLA sites where drinking water has been contaminated by PFAS.
• Enforcing CWA restrictions on PFAS releases and TSCA limitations on PFAS use, and using EPA’s SDWA authority to respond to imminent and substantial threats to public health.
• Working with Congress, industry, and states to establish a “clear liability framework” (i.e., one that protects “passive receivers” of PFAS from liability) and coordinate cross-governmental enforcement, permitting, and regulatory efforts.

This action plan is intended to align with EPA Administrator Zeldin’s “Powering the Great American Comeback” initiative announced in February 2025—and squares with Zeldin’s prior actions on PFAS. When he previously served in Congress, Zeldin co-sponsored the PFAS Action Act—legislation aimed at addressing PFAS-contaminated water systems—and served as a member of the PFAS Congressional Taskforce. Significant EPA action to understand and address PFAS contamination also originated during the first Trump Administration, such as the comprehensive PFAS Action Plan focused on finding solutions to PFAS in drinking water.

At the same time that it is advancing its plan, EPA is reviewing two Biden Administration actions that increased regulation of PFAS. Last year, industry groups challenged EPA’s May 2024 designation of two PFAS compounds (PFOA and PFOS) as “hazardous substances” under CERCLA that would allow EPA to take or order response actions and require reporting for releases of those compounds.[1] Industry groups also challenged EPA’s April 2024 promulgation of national maximum contaminant levels, which would require monitoring and potential future corrective action by public water systems for five PFAS compounds (PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, GenX, and PFHxS).[2] Both cases are being held in abeyance at EPA’s request.

[1] Chamber of Commerce v. EPA, No. 24-1193 (D.C. Cir. 2024).

[2] American Water Works Association v. EPA, No. 24-1188 (D.C. Cir. 2024).

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