The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discusses how it is strengthening national and international efforts to combat PFAS contamination through science-based regulation, global partnerships, community outreach, and innovative technologies to protect human health and the environment.
The EPA is committed to combating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. This work will be guided by the following principles: strengthening the science, fulfilling statutory obligations, enhancing communication, and building partnerships.
Advancing scientific understanding through the PFAS testing strategy
In April 2025, the agency stated it would implement a PFAS testing strategy under TSCA Section 4 to seek scientific information informed by hazard characteristics and exposure pathways. EPA is exploring ways to refine this strategy to ensure it accurately reflects the President’s directives, does not create undue burden for industry, and protects human health and the environment.
International cooperation on AFFF phase-out
EPA is working with international partners in the Arctic to address PFAS contamination resulting from the application of Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF). The EPA recently co-hosted the AFFF Phase Out in the Arctic Workshop in Helsinki, Finland, with Arctic stakeholders from the oil and gas, defence, government, and indigenous communities. The workshop focused on transitioning away from firefighting foams that contain PFAS and seeking alternatives to AFFF used in firefighting activities.
The two-day workshop took place at the Finnish Environment Institute and was conducted through the Arctic Contaminants Action Program of the Arctic Council. Experts presented on research, programmes, and expertise related to PFAS/AFFF analysis, removal, remediation, and stock destruction, as well as shared case studies on actions taken to transition from AFFF. Experts further shared views on the range of alternatives and their effectiveness in remote Arctic commercial and military airports and at energy and fuel supply facilities. Many of the alternatives are effective and safer in the environment and meet the new US military specification to qualify as alternatives to AFFF.
Finland shared plans for a Phase 2 project, and participants scoped out next steps to develop a project in Alaska, Canada and Greenland to identify AFFF stocks as well as refinements to guidance for communities to remove AFFF from firefighting facilities.
EPA is convening technical sub-groups that started in July 2025 and expects to begin project work in the fall of 2025.
Strengthening regulations and safe drinking water standards
EPA’s great work on PFAS started under the first Trump Administration, and that work is continuing today. On April 28, the agency announced a suite of actions to address PFAS, including in water. On May 14, 2025, the EPA announced its intent to keep the existing maximum contaminant levels (or MCLs) for PFOA and PFOS, while extending their compliance deadlines.
EPA also intends to rescind the regulations and reconsider the regulatory determinations for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (commonly known as GenX), and the hazard index mixture of these three plus PFBS. This second action will ensure that the agency’s regulatory determinations and any resulting drinking water regulations follow the legal process laid out in the Safe Drinking Water Act. The agency plans to issue two proposed regulations in the coming months to advance progress on these intentions. After EPA completes these two actions, the Agency will follow the Safe Drinking Water Act’s legal process to determine which additional PFAS should be regulated. While EPA cannot pre-determine the outcome, it is possible that the result could be more stringent requirements.
In the near term, many water systems are complying with state regulations or taking proactive steps to reduce PFAS in drinking water. EPA is actively working to ensure that drinking water systems will be able to comply when they go into effect.
Supporting communities through the PFAS OUTreach initiative
This year, the agency is launching a new PFAS OUTreach Initiative (called PFAS OUT) to connect with every public water system known to need system upgrades to address PFAS, including those finding PFOA and PFOS in their water. The agency will share resources, tools, funding information, and technical assistance opportunities to help ensure that no community is left behind as we work to protect public health and position water systems for compliance with PFAS drinking water standards. PFAS OUT will engage utilities, technical assistance providers and local, State, Tribal, and Territorial leaders to develop effective and practical solutions where they are needed most.
Additionally, EPA’s suite of Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) initiatives provides free expertise to water systems to improve their drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater and help communities access available funding. In particular, EPA’s Tackling Emerging Contaminants (TEC) WaterTA initiative works with water systems nationwide to identify affordable solutions to assess and address PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS.
TEC services include water quality testing, technical plan development, operator training support, designing public engagement & outreach strategies, support for accessing federal funding opportunities, and more. The agency also recognises that water systems are passive receivers of PFAS, and it is committed to addressing PFAS at the source and holding polluters accountable.
Enforcement and accountability
EPA will focus its CERCLA enforcement efforts on holding responsible those who significantly contribute to the release of PFAS into the environment, including parties that manufactured PFAS or used PFAS in the manufacturing process, federal facilities, and other industrial parties. EPA does not intend to pursue otherwise potentially responsible parties where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including community water systems and publicly owned treatment works. EPA can also provide contribution protection through settlements to parties it does not intend to pursue for CERCLA cleanup. A party that resolves its liability through a CERCLA settlement with the United States will not be liable for third-party contribution claims related to the matters addressed in the settlement.
Driving innovation in PFAS treatment technologies
Concerns about the effectiveness of current, widely used technologies for managing PFAS and PFAS-containing materials have motivated efforts to develop new technologies and apply existing technologies to PFAS materials. EPA is aware of and, in some cases, has participated in efforts to identify, develop, and test non-thermal destruction technologies for PFAS-containing materials. EPA efforts to identify and test emerging technologies are described in Section 6 of the agency’s Interim Guidance on the Destruction and Disposal of PFAS and Materials Containing PFAS. The interim guidance also includes a technology evaluation framework that provides a transparent, consistent approach for evaluating destruction and disposal technologies for PFAS materials. The framework can be used by managers of PFAS-containing materials and others to evaluate emerging destruction and disposal technologies and to inform decisions about managing PFAS-containing materials.
Transparency and public engagement
EPA is committed to providing meaningful, understandable, and actionable information on PFAS to the American public. The information provided on EPA’s PFAS webpages contains important background information needed to understand the details of specific actions EPA takes to address PFAS, and other emerging events related to PFAS.
EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention releases announcements geared toward stakeholders and the public when it takes important actions to protect human health and the environment from the risks presented by chemicals. These announcements are sent out to those who sign up for email alerts about pollution prevention and toxic chemicals news. A link to sign up for the email alerts is available on EPA’s website.
PFAS continues to be a collaborative effort between political and career leadership from across the agency.
