Attorney General Mayes Opposes EPA’s Rollback of PFAS Limits in Drinking Water

PHOENIX – This week, Attorney General Mayes filed comments opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rollback on limits to four PFAS “forever” chemicals in drinking water. The rollback means that public drinking water systems won’t be required by federal law to test for these chemicals, report how much of them are in our public drinking water, or treat drinking water to remove these chemicals so people don’t ingest them.  

"The dangers of forever chemicals in drinking water are well documented," said Attorney General Mayes. "This is not the time to be rolling back limits of these toxic chemicals. Eliminating protections already in place will only further jeopardize the health of Arizonans."

The United States is going through a PFAS contamination crisis. Nearly 10,000 areas in the United States have been found to be contaminated by PFAS and more than 170 million people drink water that has tested positive for PFAS. These forever chemicals can be toxic to people and animals at very low concentrations. They leach into groundwater and surface water through manufacturing materials, discharges and emissions from manufacturing facilities, and other sources. They don’t degrade and are difficult to remove from the environment, so they’re a long-term public health danger. Research has shown that PFAS are linked to damage to the thyroid, liver, kidney, immune system, blood, and reproductive systems.  
 
Two years ago, EPA put in place a final rule to regulate the presence and amount of four PFAS chemicals – including GenX – in public drinking water. That rule was adopted under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which gives EPA the authority to set such national standards for chemicals and contaminants in our water. EPA went through a years-long process to adopt this rule, including conducting research and analysis and asking for public feedback.  
 
Now, EPA is proposing to eliminate this rule entirely for four important PFAS, including GenX, without providing any good reason. The agency hasn’t analyzed how this rollback would impact drinking water or people’s health, and didn’t consider taking a narrower action or trying a different solution instead.  
 
Attorney General Mayes and the coalition of attorneys general filed comments reminding EPA that this action is illegal and arbitrary. The federal Safe Drinking Water Act has a specific provision to protect public health that prevents EPA from backsliding on its regulations. That’s exactly what the EPA is trying to do here. Eliminating these protections would put people’s public health at risk, and the attorneys general are asking the EPA to not rescind the 2024 rule.  
 
Attorney Genera Mayes is joined in filing these comments by the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.