The Trump administration has removed a series of Biden-era regulations that were originally designed to protect the nation’s drinking water. Those regulations set the first national drinking-water limits for several PFAS compounds.
PFAS — otherwise known as per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are the toxic forever chemicals. Experts agree that PFAS shouldn’t be in our water, but some industry groups argue that the standards that regulated them were legally flawed and too expensive to meet.
There’s a lot to know about how regulations are changing. But first, what are PFAS and how did they come to be in our drinking water?
As They Say, ‘A PFAS Is Forever’
PFAS chemistry took off in the 1940s and 1950s, with companies like 3M and DuPont developing and using different PFAS compounds, including those used to make Teflon non‑stick coatings. Because PFAS can last for many decades, they’re often referred to as “forever” chemicals.
Now, there are thousands of different types of PFAS. They’re used to make a host of everyday products, from non-stick cookware and stain-resistant furniture and carpets, to raincoats, make-up, pizza boxes and popcorn bags. PFAS have great properties, like being non-stick, water-repellent and heat-resistant, which make them which make them useful.
Because they’re so useful and stick around so long, PFAS can be found everywhere — including the drinking water of millions of Americans. More than that, two of the most common types (PFOS and PFOA) are found in almost every American person’s bloodstream (estimated 99.7%). In fact, Dupont and 3M began testingPFAS levels in workers’ blood as early as the 1970s.
As Jon Oliver explained on his show, the testers needed a control sample with no PFAS in it. However, they had an extremely challenging time finding blood without traces of the chemicals. The testers even looked to remote tribes, but no luck — those blood samples contained PFAS too. Eventually, testers discovered blood that had been taken from soldiers during the Korean War, which contained no PFAS. So, they were able to use that as their control sample.
Are Those Red Flags Water-Repellent, Though?
Potential health impacts of PFAS on humans and animals have raised some major red flags. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS have been linked to a host of health concerns ranging from birth defects and fertility challenges to cancer, liver and immune system damage, obesity and thyroid disease. That’s why so many people want to regulate them.
The Trump EPA Claims the Biden Administration Failed to Follow the Law By Cutting Corners
The Biden administration set limits on PFAS in drinking water in 2024, including a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) of zero and enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Public water systems were given three years to finish initial monitoring of these chemicals, and were then required to tell the public about the level of PFAS they’d found in drinking water. If the levels were too high, they’d be required to take action to get the levels down within five years.
Generally, the Trump U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA) argued that the Biden administration’s EPA went too far, too fast when it implemented these drinking-water limits. According to the Trump EPA, the law requires certain procedural steps, which weren’t followed. In rolling back the Biden-era limits, the EPA now says it aims to regulate “the right way, following the law and following the science,” according to The New York Times.
The EPA Had Faced Pressure From Lobbyists Before the Rollback
The Trump EPA had faced a lot of pressure from chemical industry lobbyists and water utilities before this rollback. Much of that pressure was due to the high cost of implementing the Biden administration’s regulations.
Supporters of those Biden-era regulations said in response that, yes, it might be expensive to filter chemicals out of water — but that’s the price that polluters should pay for cleaning up the mess they made. They also say that the health benefits of eliminating PFAS far outweigh the costs.
It’d be easy to paint this as a black-and-white battle of Biden vs. Trump. However, things aren’t that clear. Many of the President Trump’s supporters are also supporters of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, which has pushed very hard to get contaminants out of our food and water.
They’re not happy with the change, and neither are many environmental groups. The Trump administration could face lawsuits for alleged violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act’s “no backsliding” provision, which bars the EPA from weakening existing drinking water standards once they’re in place.
What’s Next? Rescind and Restart.
According to a press briefing by Lee Zeldin of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA has decided to “rescind and restart” regulations on four PFAS. In other words, they say they will protect Americans from PFAS — just not the way the Biden administration did.
We’ll have to see how they plan to do it going forward, but it’s likely that the Trump administration will support narrower regulations that rescind protections for four of the PFAS and continue to protect against two of them. Companies will be allowed to request an additional two years to comply with the new regulations.
This isn’t the first time that public water systems have been given more time to comply with PFAS regulations. In 2025, the EPA announced that it would extend the compliance deadline and reconsider regulations on less common PFAS. This also isn’t the first time that PFAS have faced legal issues. In fact, there’s a long history of PFAS controversies in the U.S. One of the more recent controversies was the EPA’s registration of products containing isocycloseram, a new broad-spectrum insecticide and forever chemical, in November 2025.
