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Dingell, Fitzpatrick Urge EPA to Uphold National Drinking Water Standard for PFAS

Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, today led 69 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin urging the agency to uphold the first-ever national primary drinking water regulation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) established last year. The letter follows the EPA’s announcement that it plans to reconsider key elements of the April 2024 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) rule establishing national, legally enforceable drinking water standards for several PFAS.

“This decision threatens to undermine the Safe Drinking Water Act’s (SDWA) core purpose, which is to provide communities with clean and safe drinking water. Delaying or weakening the rule will prolong harmful exposure and exacerbate the damage caused by decades of PFAS pollution,” the lawmakers write. “As of 2025, EPA data indicates that approximately 165 million Americans have drinking water contaminated with PFAS, and recent CDC data confirms that almost all of the U.S. population have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood.

“Every community across the country faces the real consequences of contamination. These forever chemicals persist in our environment and failing to act will only compound the public health crisis,” the lawmakers continue. “Rolling back MCLs and weakening the mixtures provision risk not only more exposure and illness but also increased legal and regulatory uncertainty, undermining confidence in EPA’s commitment to public health.”

“EPA’s 2024 PFAS drinking water rule marked a historic step forward,” the lawmakers conclude. “Communities have waited decades for action. We urge EPA to stay the course, implement the existing enforceable limits for all six regulated PFAS, and maintain its commitment to safeguarding the health of every American.

View the full text of the letter here.

Last month, Dingell and Fitzpatrick introduced the PFAS National Drinking Water Standard Act of 2025, bipartisan legislation that would codify the EPA’s drinking water standard into law.

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