Trump officers want to reduce the borders of PFAS into drinking water – what will have the effects? | Trump Administration

The Trump administration has announced that it would try to kill some of the strong new PFAs “Forever Chemical” drinking water borders in April 2024.

While the movements would achieve a clear victory for the US chemical and water supply companies, it is less clear whether the action will be successful, which it means in the long term for the safety of the drinking water in the long term, and its effects on the progress in combating chemical contamination forever.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tries maneuvers that violate the law, say observers, and even if they survive a legal challenge, progress cannot be completely reversed in the context of the bidges. There is also a certain dynamic in regulatory and legal battles that have gained the lawyers for public health at the state level and court, which are ultimately improved the water pieces, regardless of the backtracking of the EPA.

However, the announcement raises a new round of questions about the water supplier industry, which has submitted the attack on the new rules. And the announcement is a blow to a popular problem in environmental and public health, which has achieved remarkable successes in recent years.

“With this campaign, the EPA makes it clear that it is ready to ignore Americans who only turn on their kitchen taps and have clean, safe water,” said Erik Olson, the Senior Strategic Director of Health at NRDC. The non -profit organization is an intervener on legal steps in this topic and campaigned for the borders.

PFAs are a class of chemicals that are often used to make products against water, stains and heat resistant. They are referred to as “chemicals forever” because they do not collapse naturally and are associated with cancer, liver problems, thyroid problems, birth errors, kidney disease, reduced immunity and other serious health problems.

The chemicals are omnipresent in the environment and is considered a contaminating drinking water for more than 200 million people in the United States. The 2024 PFAS rules marked the first time in 27 years that the EPA had set new drinking water borders for contaminants.

The EPA created borders for six PFAS compounds, and the Trump distribution aimed at four of them -PFNA, PFHXs and HFPO -Dimer -Sicen, which are more often referred to as GENX.

However, the law on safe drinking water would theoretically prevent the EPA from simply killing or even weakening the limits, since it contains an “anti -reference” rule that prohibits loosening restrictions. It is said that a revision “maintains greater protection of the health of people or provides for greater protection”.

“The EPA cannot pick up or weaken the drinking water standard – this action is not only harmful, but illegally,” said Olson.

However, the water supply and chemical industry have sued to try to kill the borders for all six PFAs – not just the four that are covered in yesterday's announcement. The EPA and the Ministry of Justice under Joe Biden began to defend the rules, and it is unclear how the EPA of the Donald Trump will cope with the cases for the four PFAs borders, which he announced to undo.

Kyla Bennett, the political director among public employees for environmental responsibility and a former EPA scientist, suspects that the agency and the Ministry of Justice will actually try to lose the case.

“The doj could stop defending and doing a crappy job and having the dish say:” These limits are not scientifically “, then they will be going,” said Bennett. It would then hold legal interveners like NRDC to defend the rules.

Olson has described the other legal options of the agency in detail, which include the revision of the rule. This could take more time than the Trump administration in office, but it delays the implementation of the rules.

“It will take years and years and you will step down the can because you don't make shit,” added Bennett.

While the proposal concludes protection against the four PFAs, it remains boundaries for Pfoa and Pfos in place. The supply companies for reverse osmosis systems are installed to remove PFOs, and Pfoa would also catch most of the other PFAs. However, not all water supply companies install systems that can catch smaller PFAs such as GenX.

In addition, chemours are responsible for high GENX pollution in relation to its PFAS plants in North Carolina and West Virginia. The consumption agreement use EPA limits as the standard for cleaning up and the requirements for the company in order to enable the affected residents to drink safe drinking water.

The complete effects on these communities are unclear, but the plans of the EPA are “right on the Bullseye of what chemours wanted,” said Olson.

The development also underlines the need for a reform of the country's water supply industry, which leads the indictment against the borders. What happens if the largely public industry, which is commissioned to ensure that the country's water is certain, as it is repeatedly opposed to clean water rules?

“It's definitely a big problem,” said Olson. “Most people would be shocked to hear that their water supply company spends valuable dollars for lobbying, legal disputes and struggles against the requirements of public health instead of using the money to install better water systems.”

There are some good quick answers, say supporters. Nevertheless, there is some momentum that the EPA campaign and the supply companies do not slow down. More than $ 12 billion in legal readiness are already available for supply companies that were part of these suits. In the meantime, the federal government has made more than 20 billion USD available, and many projects are underway, while the states also issue their own limits and have made some money available.

The Trump administration wrote [limits] For Pfoa, Pfos “and” On the way to maintain the nationwide standards of the agency to protect the Americans from Pfoa and Pfos in their water “.

The explanation did not impressed activists.

“It's just lies and this press release was gas lighting,” said Bennett.