Trump Administration Cuts Plans for Stricter Federal PFAS Regulations

WASHINGTON — As cleanup continues in the West Plains, the federal government’s plans to strictly regulate PFAS were scrapped last week by the new administration of President Donald Trump.

Known as “forever chemicals,” perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, abbreviated PFAS, are a set of man-made chemicals used in thousands of products over the decades. High levels of them have since been linked to cancers, heart disease, high cholesterol, thyroid disease, low birth weight and other diseases.

New federal regulations were enacted last year limiting the amount of PFAS in public drinking water to less than four parts per trillion. Former and current Trump administration officials had sent mixed signals on whether the federal government would maintain the Biden administration’s strict PFAS regulatory framework or lessen its requirements.

But the new direction became clear only a couple of days after Trump took office when the Environmental Protection Agency announced it scrapped plans to regulate PFAS being discharged by corporations in wastewater. These draft guidelines had been sent to the White House last year before they were released for public review.