In July, the Washington Department of Ecology, the Washington State Department of Health and the Washington State Board of Health submitted comments on proposed regulatory changes by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would extend compliance dates to meet standards for PFAS chemicals in drinking water systems and weaken drinking water standards for certain PFAS chemicals. 

Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller, Secretary of Health Dennis Worsham and State Board of Health Executive Director Michelle Davis issued the following statement on these proposals:

Across our nation, far too many of our communities are struggling to provide safe drinking water to their residents. Now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is telling those communities they are on their own as it seeks to weaken standards for toxic chemicals while also delaying requirements for water systems to deliver clean water. 

Here in Washington, strong state laws mean that more protective standards will continue, even in the face of these federal rollbacks. We believe that every American deserves that same access to clean and safe drinking water. 

Across our country, the toxic chemicals known as per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, have leached into wells and aquifers from special foams used in firefighting at airports, military bases, and training centers, industrial practices, and municipal and commercial disposal.  

PFAS are often called “forever chemicals” because once released, they persist in the environment for thousands of years. Instead of breaking down, they build up in human bodies and in fish and animals, delivering a toxic payload that harms children, mothers, and those already dealing with health issues. 

In recent years, EPA moved to set more protective standards for PFAS in our drinking water systems, standards that help to protect our families from these chemicals. But in a new rulemaking, EPA proposes to punt the deadline to meet these standards to 2031, undermining the hard work already done to tackle these toxics, while pushing treatment requirements past the funding availability of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Even worse, EPA is accompanying this unwarranted extension with a proposal that would weaken the standards for several types of PFAS, exposing millions of people to higher levels of chemicals linked to cancer, pregnancy complications, and damage to child development.  

Together, EPA’s actions would leave toxic impacts to fester for years to come in much of the United States, delaying investments in cleaner water and better treatment systems, and leaving states to shoulder the burden of providing safe drinking water without federal support.  

Washington law means that progress on safe drinking water will continue here. That should be the case everywhere. We urge the EPA to reconsider its reckless course and return to its mission of protecting public health, ensuring the water from our faucets is safe to drink, and partnering with states and local utilities to deliver clean, healthy water to every American.