The Environmental Protection Agency may soon rescind its limits for GenX, the “forever chemical” that has polluted drinking water in Southeastern North Carolina for years.
The deregulatory move would reverse the maximum contaminant levels instated by the EPA less than two years ago, which at the time received bipartisan support and was viewed as a major public health victory. The current limits targeted not only GenX but five other types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly called PFAS.
These synthetic chemicals are used in the manufacture of coatings for nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing and stain-resistant fabrics. They break down very slowly and accumulate over time. They’ve been found in water, air, soil, food and human blood.
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Scientists think PFAS may be linked to harmful health effects in humans, including cancer, although they don’t yet know the extent of those potential harms.
Under the current rules, which have been in place since 2024, drinking water utilities are required to monitor their water for the six regulated PFAS through 2027, and they must work to bring those levels below the maximum limits by 2029.
Last month, current EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency would propose new rules which would eliminate the limits for GenX and three other types of PFAS. The proposed rules would keep the current limits for PFOS and PFOA, the two most common and well-studied types of PFAS, but would allow some utilities an additional two years to come into compliance with those limits.
The agency framed the proposed rules as “legally defensible” and “practical.” It argued that the previous administration under former president Joe Biden didn’t properly follow the rulemaking process, leaving the rules vulnerable to legal challenges. It also said the current rules didn’t give small and rural water utilities enough time to bring their drinking water into compliance.
The Southern Environmental Law Center rejected that framing, saying the EPA’s move was more about politics than process.
“The Biden administration’s rulemaking, in our opinion, was lawful and valid,” SELC senior attorney Kelly Moser told Carolina Public Press.
“It seems like this is the EPA kind of rolling over to industry and siding with polluters instead of people.”
Feds downplay industry influence
The EPA’s announcement came amid a state-level push to regulate PFAS at the source. The Environmental Management Commission is considering rules which would require industry polluters to implement plans to minimize their dumping of PFOA, PFOS and GenX into drinking water sources.
Environmental groups have criticized both the state-level and federal rulemaking processes for being overly deferential to chemical manufacturers and water utilities, neither of which want to pay to remove PFAS from drinking water.
Industry groups such as the American Chemistry Council, as well as municipal water systems, have challenged the current federal limits in court for the same reasons that the EPA cited. However, Moser said she believed the rules could have survived those lawsuits if the agency hadn’t conceded.
Backtracking on the already-established limits might be illegal in itself, Moser added. The Safe Drinking Water Act has an anti-backsliding clause which prevents the EPA from weakening maximum contaminant levels that have already passed the regulatory process.
If the current limits for GenX and other regulated PFAS were rescinded, the EPA said it would consider new limits in a separate rulemaking process.
“While EPA cannot pre-determine the outcome of the rulemaking, it is possible that the result could be more stringent requirements addressing these PFAS in drinking water,” the agency’s press release stated.
The proposed rollbacks came despite public messaging from the EPA about its dedication to addressing PFAS pollution, specifically from PFOS and PFOA.
The agency announced the proposed rules at a “PFAS destruction event” alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at which they also announced new grant funding for PFAS removal projections. North Carolina received $30 million in federal funds for new projects targeting PFAS.
The EPA also announced a “PFAS OUTreach” initiative which will work with communities to reduce exposure to PFOS and PFOA.
Moser called the initiative “smoke and mirrors” and said it was simply a repackaging of existing resources from the previous administration.
“It seems to us that they’re trying to confuse people,” she said.
Change could create vulnerability to GenX
A potential issue with the federal government wanting to focus primarily on PFOS and PFOA is that the filtration systems which remove them from drinking water would not necessarily work for other types of PFAS. That’s because of their chemical makeup. PFOS and PFOA are long-chain PFAS, meaning their molecules have many carbon atoms. Short-chain PFAS, such as GenX, are smaller and more difficult to remove from water.
If, under the new rules, utilities go ahead with new treatment systems specifically targeting long-chain PFAS, they might not be equipped to deal with GenX or other short-chain PFAS, Moser said.
That could be alarming for North Carolina communities who are still dealing with the consequences of years of GenX contamination. The most high-profile example of this comes from a Chemours-owned facility in Bladen County, which is facing several major lawsuits over its pollution of the Cape Fear River Basin.
Some water treatment plants, such as those operated by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington, have already installed filtration systems capable of removing most PFAS, including GenX.
“Granular Activated Carbon filters at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant continue to provide effective PFAS treatment for GenX and all of the other PFAS compounds in EPA’s original regulatory proposal,” said CFPUA spokesperson Vaughn Hagerty, who added that the utility supported the current limits for GenX.
“CFPUA has no plans to alter its treatment operations as a result of EPA’s recent announcement.”
Other drinking water facilities are still contending with GenX contamination, such as the Rocco Water Treatment Plant in Robeson County.
The drinking water in parts of Robeson County has continually tested positive for high levels of GenX and PFOA originating from a nearby landfill, and the county’s current treatment process is not adequate to remove those PFAS, according to the SELC.
Earlier this year, the SELC threatened to sue the county if it did not act to address the PFAS contamination. The county is currently soliciting quotes for a project to improve its groundwater supply and treatment infrastructure.
Robeson County officials did respond to CPP’s inquiries as to whether the EPA’s recent announcement might change the county’s plans to address its PFAS pollution.
If the new rules were to pass, the county may not be required to remove the GenX from its water, and it could apply for an up to two-year extension on the deadline to get its PFOA levels below the federal limit.
Utilities play waiting game on new rules
Meanwhile, the North Carolina Rural Water Association, a nonprofit which advises and lobbies on behalf of small and rural water systems, said it was “waiting for the dust to settle” with the EPA’s proposed rules before advising its members to deviate from their current PFAS monitoring and removal projects.
“Everybody’s kind of been on the bubble waiting,” NCRWA executive director Heather Somers said, “but we’re still telling people to go forward with the same directives they’ve had until there’s something official.”
It could be months until the rulesmaking process plays out and the proposed rules are put in place. The EPA is currently seeking public input and will hold a public hearing on July 7.
If the current limits for GenX and other short-chain PFAS are rescinded and forced to undergo a new rulesmaking process, it would mean a frustrating setback in the ongoing fight to remove PFAS from drinking water.
“This is an immense step backwards,” Moser said.
She also called the EPA’s promise to pursue new limits for GenX and other short-chain PFAS “cold comfort.”
“This is an administration that has announced its commitment to deregulatory action, and what we’re seeing here from them is exactly what they mean by deregulation — it means removing protections from people and allowing toxic chemicals to be in our drinking water.”
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