EPA Pulls Guidance to Address PFAS in Wastewater Permits

The U.S. EPA has rescinded a 2022 guidance document that gave state permitting authorities standard language they could use to limit, reduce and monitor per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in wastewater. The guidance was nonbinding. But it gave state agencies reassurance that they could begin to tackle PFAS contamination from industrial sites upstream of drinking water sources — including landfills, pulp and paper plants and other manufacturing facilities — through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. The agency made the move in August as part of a broader rescission of five documents, including memoranda addressing climate change and environmental justice considerations for water permits, Inside EPA first reported. The three-page memo, published Aug. 11 and signed by Office of Water Assistant Administrator Jessica Kramer, said the changes were made as part of a systematic review of guidance documents, informed in part by recommendations made to the Office of Management and Budget’s deregulation initiative.

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