Partners Matthew Thurlow and Stephanie Feingold and associate Drew Cleary Jordan spoke to InsideEPA for an article discussing the potential for the Environmental Protection Agency to uphold the previous administration’s rule classifying the two most researched Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances chemicals as hazardous substances under the Superfund law.
“Reading the tea leaves, you can see that the administration is committed to continuing to regulate PFAS, and there’s no sign from [Zeldin’s recent] press release that EPA is going to walk away from the CERCLA and Safe Drinking Water Act rulemakings,” Matt said.
Stephanie noted that the EPA’s general support for the regulation of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) rule would be consistent with the priorities laid out by the first Trump administration in its PFAS action plan.
Drew added that he does not expect to see a major deregulatory push by the Trump EPA with respect to PFAS, though there may be some easing of certain aspects of the CERCLA and water rules.