June 7, 2026
I think we can all agree that we don’t want “forever chemicals” in our drinking water. Right?
Well, certainly Congress agrees, and lawmakers directed the Biden administration to come up with the first-ever federal rule to limit the amount of forever chemicals in our drinking water.
And in April of 2024, the Biden administration did.
At the time, environmentalists said the rule the Biden administration finalized was one of the most protective in the world.
But now the Trump administration wants to get rid of it.
But why? Why would they want these chemicals in our water?
Great question.
I’m going to tell you what the Trump administration is saying about it in a second, but you should also know this is not a done deal.
In order to roll this rule back, the Trump administration must also hear from you. And I’m sure you’re going to have a lot to say.
So I’m also going to tell you how you can let them know in this video.
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OK, let’s get into these forever chemicals.
They’re technically called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS for short.
PFAS is the general term for thousands of different synthetic chemicals found in, at this point, everything around the world.
They take a reeeeeeeally long time to break down.
The usage of some of these PFAS chemicals has been phased out in the United States, but others are definitely still being used.
They’ve been found in various products and industries since the 1950s because of their ability to repel oil and water.
They’re used in things like Teflon nonstick products, stain- and water-repellent fabrics, carpet, cosmetics, paint, cleaning products, food packaging, and firefighting foams.
Because these chemicals have been so widely used for so many years, the Environmental Protection Agency has said PFAS chemicals, at this point, are found in water, air, fish, and soil — not just in the U.S., but around the world.
And the Centers for Disease Control says while their use is certainly declining, PFAS chemicals are definitely found in all of our bloodstreams, from adults to newborns.
PFAS chemicals have been known, depending on your level of exposure, to cause reproductive, developmental, and hormonal issues, along with some cancers and increased cholesterol levels.
Take a breath. I know.
So as I said at the beginning of the video, in April of 2024, after a lengthy rulemaking process — which included your comments — the Biden administration finalized its brand-new drinking water standard.
That rule set limits for five individual PFAS and set limits on mixtures of four different PFAS.
On top of that, the Biden administration announced $1 billion in funding set aside by Congress in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed under the Biden administration to help states and territories implement PFAS testing and treatment in public water systems and even help owners of private wells address PFAS contamination.
Under the Biden rule, everyone had to be compliant with and abide by this new drinking water standard by April of 2029.
Well, just a few weeks ago, President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency announced a new proposed rule to get rid of that Biden drinking water standard and replace it with a new rule that only limits two of the PFAS instead of Biden’s five.
This new rule would allow the other three individual PFAS to stay and appears to also allow the mixture of the other four PFAS too.
Trump’s EPA is also proposing a separate rule to give companies an additional two years to comply with the more narrow Trump PFAS rule.
Under this new proposal, companies would have until 2031 to remove just those two PFAS from our drinking water.
The Trump EPA also said they would be giving $1 billion to states to address these PFAS.
But the thing is, that $1 billion appears to be the same $1 billion Biden already announced two years ago.
It’s coming from the same pot of money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Biden signed.
So while the Trump administration says it’s “new,” it may not actually be.
So why is the Trump EPA doing this?
Aren’t they supposed to care about our health and our water?
Well, the Trump EPA agrees that PFAS are a problem and agrees they need to be dealt with.
But they disagree with the way the Biden administration came up with the water standard rule.
The Trump administration said the Biden EPA made procedural errors during the rulemaking process that probably wouldn’t stand up to legal challenges.
The Trump administration also believes rolling the Biden-era rule back is necessary because the Trump EPA believes the costs companies would have to absorb to implement the drinking water standard could be passed on to the American people, even though there’s $1 billion available for these companies to implement it.
The Trump administration says in the meantime they’re moving forward with new technology to better detect PFAS in drinking water and to better remove them from drinking water.
The EPA justified this move by saying:
“A drinking water standard only protects Americans if it can actually be implemented by the nation’s water systems and survive legal challenge.”
So when do you come in? When do you get your say?
Now. Right now.
The EPA has scheduled a virtual public hearing on all this on July 7, where you can share your thoughts, but you will need to register to attend that virtual meeting.
Or you can add your comment to the public registry.
The deadline to do both is July 1.
Read more from Trump’s EPA about this decision here.
Read the Biden Drinking Water Standard announcement here.
Register for the July 7 Public Hearing here.
Submit your written comments on this proposed rule here.
Learn more about PFAS from the EPA here.
Compliance and extension rule info here.
