The regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has continued to evolve at the federal and state levels in recent months under the Trump administration. EPA announced in April 2025 a bundle of planned actions to combat PFAS contamination, although the agency’s proposed actions since that announcement would actually roll back some Biden-era PFAS regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The New York State Legislature, meanwhile, has passed bills banning, and amended existing bans on, the sale of various products containing PFAS. The state legislature has also added certain amendments to the State Superfund law pertaining to PFAS.

Draft Risk Assessment for PFAS in Sewage Sludge

On January 14, 2025, just before President Biden left office, EPA released a draft risk assessment for PFAS in sewage sludge. This document assesses the PFOA and PFOS-related potential human health and environmental risks presented by sewage sludge that is surface disposed, incinerated, or treated and applied to soil as a conditioner or fertilizer (i.e., as a “biosolid”). The risk assessment is not a regulation, but is instead a tool that, once finalized, may inform future regulatory actions under the Clean Water Act to protect against PFOA and PFOS exposure via runoff/percolation or crop/livestock uptake. EPA’s analysis focuses on those who live on or near sites where sewage sludge is disposed, incinerated, or land-applied, and on those who rely primarily on products (e.g., food, groundwater) from impacted sites. Typical wastewater treatment methods do not remove PFOA and PFOS, and therefore the presence of these chemicals in sewage sludge presents potential health risks.

The draft risk assessment found that the highest risk pathways related to land-application of sewage sludge include: “(1) drinking milk from majority pasture-raised cows consuming contaminated forage, soil, and water, (2) drinking water sourced from contaminated surface or groundwater on or adjacent to the impacted property, (3) eating fish from a lake impacted by runoff from the impacted property, and (4) eating beef or eggs from majority pasture-raised hens or cattle where the pasture has received impacted sewage sludge.” Note, however, that this assessment only modeled risk for those who receive the majority of such products from contaminated property.

EPA found no exceedances of risk thresholds in groundwater downgradient of PFOA or PFOS surface disposal sites where such sites are composite-lined. However, where surface disposal sites are unlined or clay-lined, EPA found increased cancer risk levels associated with drinking groundwater. As for sewage sludge incineration, the draft risk assessment qualitatively described potential risks to those living near an incinerator but did not model these risks quantitatively.

EPA is accepting public comments on the draft risk assessment through August 14, 2025.

EPA Announces “Major Actions to Combat PFAS Contamination”

On April 28, 2025, the new EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, announced a list of actions EPA intends to take related to PFAS. EPA organized these intended actions under three principles: “strengthening the science,” “fulfilling statutory obligations and enhancing communication,” and “building partnerships.” Noteworthy elements of EPA’s plan include:

• Providing more frequent updates to the PFAS Destruction and Disposal Guidance—changing from every three years to annually—as EPA continues to assess the effectiveness of available treatment technologies
• Implementing a PFAS testing strategy under the Toxic Substances Control Act Section 4
• Creating “effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for PFAS manufacturers and metal finishers,” and evaluating whether other ELGs are necessary to reduce PFAS discharges
• Addressing national primary drinking water regulations for certain PFAS and using the Safe Drinking Water Act to “investigate and address immediate endangerment”
• Determining “how to better use RCRA authorities to address releases from manufacturing operations of both producers and users of PFAS”
• Adding PFAS to the Toxic Release Inventory
• Enforcing Clean Water Act and TSCA “limitations on PFAS use and release”
• Advancing remediation and cleanup efforts for PFAS-contaminated drinking water
• Implementing “section 8(a)(7) to smartly collect necessary information, as Congress envisioned and consistent with TSCA, without overburdening small businesses and article importers”
• Working “with Congress and industry to establish a clear liability framework that operates on polluter pays and protects passive receivers”
• Working with states to assess PFAS contamination risks

Following this news release, EPA announced plans to rescind the regulations for four PFAS compounds under the SDWA and has extended the reporting deadlines for the TSCA PFAS reporting rule. See the discussion below for further details. Otherwise, EPA has not indicated a timeline for the actions indicated above.

EPA Revisits MCLs for PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act

On May 14, 2025, EPA announced that the agency will keep the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water, which the agency promulgated in April 2024, although it intends to extend compliance deadlines for these MCLs from 2029 to 2031. EPA also announced that it intends to rescind and “reconsider” the regulations for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (a.k.a. GenX), as well as the Hazard Index mixture of these three compounds plus PFBS. EPA plans to issue a proposed rule in fall 2025 and a final rule in spring 2026.

Two days prior to this announcement, EPA for the third time sought an abeyance in a case challenging the agency’s April 2024 rule finalizing MCLs for the above-mentioned six PFAS compounds.[1] EPA’s unopposed motion for the additional 21-day abeyance stated that this would “provide time for EPA to decide on its planned course of action.” In EPA’s announcement that it intends to keep the MCLs for PFOA and PFOS, EPA stated that the agency “will support the U.S. Department of Justice in defending ongoing legal challenges” to the regulations for PFOA and PFOS.

Extension of PFAS Reporting Deadlines under TSCA

Pursuant to EPA’s plan to take action under TSCA section 8(a)(7), on May 13, 2025, EPA published an interim final rule delaying the submission period under the TSCA PFAS reporting rule EPA had promulgated in October 2023 (codified in 40 CFR Part 705). PFAS reporting will now begin on April 13, 2026 (rather than on July 11, 2025), and end on October 13, 2026, for most entities. For small manufacturers reporting exclusively as article importers, the reporting end date was extended to April 13, 2027. In this interim final rule, EPA also indicated that the Agency “is separately considering reopening certain aspects of the rule to public comment.” This delayed reporting period is intended, in part, to give EPA “adequate time to consider the public comments and propose and finalize any modifications to the rule before the submission period begins,” should EPA reopen public comment.

CERCLA

A challenge to EPA’s May 8, 2024, designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA is also currently in abeyance at EPA’s request.[2] EPA’s May 30, 2025, unopposed motion for an additional 30-day abeyance stated that EPA’s “new leadership is currently still in the process of reviewing the issues presented in this case, evaluating the Rule within the broader context of EPA’s comprehensive strategy to address PFOA and PFOS, and developing EPA’s position on how to proceed in this litigation.”

New York State PFAS Legal Developments

Several PFAS-related laws have been enacted and/or gone into effect thus far in 2025.

• PFAS in Apparel Law: Effective January 1, 2025, no new apparel may be sold within New York State that contains intentionally added PFAS chemicals. ECL § 37-0121(1). Additional restrictions on PFAS in apparel in this same law will go into effect in future years.
• PFAS in Firefighting Foam & Firefighting PPE: The FY 2026 NYS Budget Legislation signed into law on May 9, 2025, included amendments to General Business Law § 391-u. Section 391-u restricts the sale and distribution of class B firefighting foam with intentionally added PFAS (Aqueous Film Forming Foam or AFFF), prohibits the use of such foam for training purposes, and imposes recall and reimbursement obligations on AFFF manufacturers. The amendments clarify that manufacturers who “at any time” manufactured, sold, or distributed such foam must recall the product and reimburse the retailer or purchaser. A3008C/S3008C, Part SS. The amendments also add a ban, effective January 1, 2028, on the sale and distribution of firefighting personal protective equipment that contains PFAS chemicals either as an intentionally added ingredient or above a level to be established by DEC. Id.
• State Superfund Amendments: The FY 2026 NYS Budget Legislation also added certain State Superfund amendments pertaining to PFAS:
  • A requirement that DEC, by January 1, 2027, “establish interim generic PFAS soil and groundwater testing guidance to inform the development of cleanup objectives until the department of health establishes maximum contaminant, notification, or action levels for any PFAS chemical.” A3008C/S3008C, Part RR.
  • A municipal exemption from State Superfund liability with regard to airports and fire training sites “owned or operated by such municipality, public corporation, or fire district and at which foam containing PFAS chemicals was used pursuant to law.” A3008C/S3008C, Part RR.
• PFAS Ban in Menstrual Products: On March 26, 2025, the New York State Legislature passed a bill banning, among other chemicals, the use of PFAS as an intentionally added ingredient, or as an incidental ingredient above a level to be established by NYSDOH, in menstrual products. A1502/S1548. At the time of this writing, the bill is awaiting signature by the Governor to be enacted into law. This ban will take effect beginning 12 months following the law’s enactment.

New York State PFAS Legislative Proposals

A number of bills are currently being considered by the New York State Legislature to address human PFAS exposure and environmental contamination. These bills include:

• The PFAS Discharge Disclosure Act, which would require certain State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit holders (including industrial dischargers) to test for PFAS in their wastewater discharges and disclose the results to DEC. These results would also be made publicly available. (A4832B/S4574B)
• A ban on the sale of playground surfacing materials that contain PFAS, PAHS, or more than 90 ppm of lead (A7594/S3852A)
• A ban on the sale of new consumer and household products containing PFAS (A7738/S187A)
• The Beauty Justice Act, which would ban the sale of personal care and cosmetic products containing PFAS, among a number of other substances (A2054/S2057)
• Regulating PFAS as a Toxic Air Pollutant under Article 19 of the Environmental Conservation Law (A4373/S1493)
• Establishing a moratorium on the land application of biosolids; requiring monitoring of certain biosolids, groundwater, and soil; and establishing a PFAS agricultural response program and agricultural PFAS response fund (A6192B/S5759A)
• A ban on the sale of medical adhesives and bandages containing PFAS (A1430/S7839)
• Establishing grant and rebate programs for PFAS removal treatment installation and maintenance for private well users (A216/S3972)
• Establishing MCLs of no higher than 4 ppt in drinking water for PFOA and PFOS, and no higher than 10 ppt for PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA (S3207)
• A ban on the sale of anti-fogging sprays or wipes containing PFAS (A4525)

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

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