Environmentalists are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to protect public health and water resources by quickly proposing a rule

that would limit manufacturing discharges of the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS into waterways like rivers and streams.

The health harms of PFAS, including from contaminated water, are well known. But there are still no federal limits on how much PFAS industrial facilities can release into our water. Without those standards, communities near these companies and also downstream of the discharges remain at risk. 

On December 9, actor and activist Mark Ruffalo

joined the Environmental Working Group and frontline community advocates at a press event to demand stronger restrictions on PFAS discharges. They urged the Biden administration to act immediately, emphasizing the urgency of these protections for public health and the environment.

Holding polluters accountable

At the press event, Ruffalo noted that the federal guidelines for industrial discharges are critical.

“This is about making the polluters responsible for their pollution,” Ruffalo said. “They knew they were significantly and singularly responsible for them. It is the communities downstream who are still repeatedly paying the price for this in their lives.” 

The EPA sent its draft PFAS discharge rule, known as effluent limitation guidelines, or ELGs, to the White House in June for mandatory pre-release review. That process typically takes 90 days, but the PFAS rule has languished much longer than that. 

The culprit in the delay is not the lack of technology capable of limiting PFAS discharges from the manufacturers that would be covered by the rule. The technology is available.

This long overdue rule could address the pervasive pollution caused by toxic PFAS while also setting up a much needed framework for action across various industries. The proposed rule would apply to a fairly small number of facilities. But its influence would be much broader and stand as a vital tool in tackling the PFAS contamination crisis.

The rule would set a precedent by developing standards for reducing PFAS discharges, detailing best practices for monitoring, sampling and employing the best available technologies. These measures are essential not just for federal oversight but also for state-level agencies responsible for issuing most Clean Water Act permits.

Here are the facilities the EPA identified in 2021 that the proposed ELGs would likely apply to:

^Source: EPA

Many state regulators are waiting for more federal guidance. It is needed so they can incorporate effective PFAS monitoring and treatment requirements in their permits. 

Although they would not be final, the ELGs will nevertheless provide the clarity and direction state agencies need when issuing permits to PFAS manufacturers. The standards will help states to better protect their water resources and the communities downstream. The scientific and technological tools required to address PFAS pollution are already available, and many facilities have voluntarily adopted measures to curb their discharges. 

Companies like Chemours and 3M have installed PFAS discharge control technologies and begun regular monitoring as part of legal settlements. 

And the EPA has finalized a reliable method for measuring 40 PFAS compounds in wastewater,

ensuring consistent and accurate assessments of contamination levels.

Tell Congress: Stop the PFAS Contamination Crisis

We need your help to protect our environment from toxic PFAS chemicals.

Tell Congress

Widespread PFAS pollution 

With a new Trump administration poised to dismantle environmental protections, weakened oversight could grant polluters unchecked freedom to release toxic forever chemicals into U.S. waterways, endangering millions of Americans.

EWG estimates nearly 30,000 industrial polluters could be releasing PFAS into the environment, including into sources of drinking water. Restrictions on industrial discharges would lower the amount of PFAS drinking water utilities must treat.

The Trump administration’s track record suggests it might weaken or eliminate health-protective rules entirely, allowing industries to discharge PFAS and other hazardous chemicals with little to no accountability.

PFAS contamination is a public health crisis. And the chemicals are toxic at extremely low levels. Low doses have been linked to suppression of the immune system

. Studies show exposure to PFAS can also increase the risk of cancer, harm fetal development and reduce vaccine effectiveness.

They are known as forever chemicals because once released into the environment they do not break down, they accumulate in wildlife and they pose long-term risks to human health as they build up in the body. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has detected PFAS in the blood

of 99 percent of Americans, including newborn babies. 

History of neglect

Communities near industrial PFAS dischargers, such as those in Alabama and North Carolina, suffer the most, with their water supplies increasingly contaminated by unchecked pollution.

The burden of addressing this contamination has unfairly fallen on the very people harmed by it. Taxpayers and water utilities are spending billions to remove PFAS from drinking water while the polluters responsible for these discharges face little accountability. 

Allowing this to continue is not just unjust – it’s dangerous.

The urgency of the EPA’s proposed rule becomes even more clear when viewed in the context of decades of inaction. 

Chemical companies like 3M and Chemours have been aware of PFAS’s toxicity since the 1960s. By the 1980s, they knew the chemicals were harming nearby communities.

For over 30 years, EWG has been dedicated to safeguarding families from harmful environmental exposures like PFAS, holding polluters accountable and advocating for clean, safe water.

Urgent action needed 

The Biden administration has already made historic progress on PFAS, including by establishing first-time drinking water standards and designating certain PFAS compounds as hazardous substances under the Superfund law. These measures hold polluters accountable and lay the groundwork for cleaning up contaminated sites.

But the lack of federal limits on PFAS discharges remains a glaring gap in the nation’s response to this crisis. Communities like Parkersburg, W.Va., which have waited decades for action, cannot afford further delays.

The EPA must publicly release the proposed ELG rule immediately. Doing so will not only protect public health but will also send a clear message that the federal government is committed to addressing PFAS pollution. 

The science, technology and framework are all in place. All that is missing is the regulatory action needed to turn off the tap on PFAS contamination. The stakes are too high to wait any longer.