EPA weakens drinking water standards with latest repeal on regulations: 'This isn't a win for American public health'
In April 2024, the Biden administration announced a "first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard" aimed at limiting Americans' exposure to PFAS, which are also known as "forever chemicals."
In a press release issued at the time, the EPA said the "science is clear" on serious health risks posed by PFAS. The EPA stated that, as written, the rule limiting PFAS contamination in drinking water would "reduce PFAS exposure for approximately 100 million people, prevent thousands of deaths, and reduce tens of thousands of serious illnesses."
On Nov. 14, the EPA issued a second press release, detailing massive investments to address PFAS contamination in drinking water and the "unprecedented progress" achieved in the first few months during which the rule was in effect.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post was first to report the latest development — President Donald Trump's administration disclosed new "plans to rescind and reconsider limits on four 'forever chemicals,'" just over a year after those limits were implemented.
The outlet indicated the EPA planned to strike specific "regulations covering PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS," with no plans to issue any replacement rules until spring 2026.
North Carolina resident Emily Donovan lives in a part of the state impacted by GenX-contaminated water, and she spoke to the Post about the EPA's reversal on "forever chemicals."
Donovan said the EPA's decision to "rescind and reconsider GenX" represented a "victory for chemical companies" forced to act under the previous rule. "This isn't a win for American public health," she said of the plan.
The EPA will keep standards set in the 2024 rule for two common types of PFAS, known as PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion, which the Associated Press called "effectively the lowest level at which they can be reliably detected." That said, the EPA decided to give companies until 2031 to meet the new standards, instead of the previous administration's 2029 target.
In discussions with oil companies on the campaign trail in May 2024, Trump "vowed to reverse dozens" of Biden-era climate policies in exchange for a $1 billion commitment to his re-election campaign.
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In March, new EPA chief Lee Zeldin moved to seize a staggering $20 billion in funds appropriated by Congress to support clean energy projects. Around the same time, Trump claimed he instructed Zeldin to begin scaling back efficiency standards on household appliances like showers, toilets, and LED light bulbs.
Our regulatory framework as it pertains to the environment is a patchwork of federal and state laws protecting Americans from contaminated water, dirty energy, and irresponsible corporate stewardship.
As Trump's campaign pledge to oil companies illustrates, corporations can be far too willing to dispense with environmental regulations if they deem cleaning up after themselves too burdensome — which is precisely why such rules are imperative for a cleaner, more sustainable future.
As the Post pointed out, 190 bills were introduced in 35 states in 2025, aimed at combating PFAS contamination at the state and local level as well, so the effort to combat the problem is not limited to the federal level.
While it's not an immediate solution for the pressing issue of clean water, voting for pro-environment candidates and policies is one of the best ways to ensure crucial environmental regulations are less likely to be rescinded. It also helps to stay connected through newsletters like TCD's and the Vital Signs newsletter from the Environmental Defense Fund.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
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He felt as if his leg was still attached to his body, but bent – 'as if there is a hole in the bed, and my leg is just hanging through the bed.' When he pulled back the sheet and looked, the reality was too much to bear. But each time he thought of taking his life, Kateryna Polishchuk, a volunteer paramedic, calmed him down. His wife, Elvira, a neurologist, was waiting for him back home, Polishchuk reminded him. His life wasn't over, she assured him, it was just entering a new phase. Polishchuk, better known as Ptashka, or Bird, had become his guardian angel. She saved his life, he said. He'd never had an easy life. Born in a small village in Ukraine, his parents divorced when he was just a year old. He barely knew his father. When he was 13 or 14, his mother abandoned him and an eight-month-old sister, forcing him into parenthood. 'I was changing her diapers, I was ironing her clothes,' he said. Saiko and his sister moved in with their grandmother, who served as their guardian. He decided to join the armed forces after Russia's invasion of Crimea in the Ukraine in 2014, but he was rejected because, with neither of his parents in the picture, he was classified as an orphan. He signed up with a voluntary corps instead and was dispatched to Crimea to defend the Ukrainian border. Two years later, he was finally admitted into Ukraine's marine corps. Bromance to bitterness: Trump-Putin relationship full of twists and turns A decade passed, and now he was here, imprisoned in a POW camp near Olenivka, Ukraine, just weeks after losing his leg. The living conditions were dirty and overcrowded. Four prisoners had to take turns using a bunk bed just to grab a few hours of sleep. The prisoners were beaten and denied nutritious meals. Always hungry, they talked nonstop about food. 'They treated their dogs better than us,' Saiko said. He ended up in the camp about two months after his evacuation from the hospital. He'd hidden in bunkers with other Ukrainians for a couple of weeks, still nursing his amputation wound. A medical team fed him antibiotics to keep infection from setting in. He learned to wrap the wound with bandages himself to keep it clean. Eventually, he took shelter with thousands of other Ukrainian soldiers and civilians at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant, a massive facility in Mariupol. The plant would become the scene of one of the war's longest and bloodiest battles as malnourished and outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers tried to stop the Russians from taking the strategic port city. Saiko, who had been so eager to fight for his country, could now only watch. Unable to stand on his own, how could he help his fellow soldiers? The Ukrainians surrendered upon orders from their commander-in-chief on May 16, 2022. The Russians brought Saiko and others to the POW camp, where he said, they were subjected to psychological and physical torture. Saiko and others who had lost limbs were often targeted for abuse. A warning: President Trump says Zelenskyy should not target Moscow with strikes One day, in a hallway outside a prison cell, Russian soldiers ordered Saiko and some other POWs to undress and stand against a wall. Saiko didn't have his crutches, so he leaned his head against the wall to help him keep his balance. One of the Russians punched his right leg, knocking him to the ground. The Russians beat him for several minutes, giggling at the sight of their naked, one-legged prisoner writhing on the hard floor. After 43 days of captivity, he gained his freedom in June 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange with the Russians. Back in Mariupol, doctors removed shrapnel from his heart and performed another surgery on his leg. A bone had been left protruding after his first operation and was putting pressure on other tissue, causing pain and leaving him unable to use a prosthetic. Doctors sawed off part of the bone, smoothed and flattened the rest and closed the wound with skin and soft tissue. Staten Island, New York For most adults, walking is instinctive, an act of human nature as spontaneous as breathing. You don't think about your gait, your steps, how your foot hits the ground or locking your knees when you're about to fall. You just do it. It's different with a prosthetic leg. The first time Saiko tried out his artificial limb, 'I was learning to walk as if I were a child again,' he said. Dmitry Shevchenko, the clinical director of Kind Deeds and one of its founders, said he hears that often when patients are given a prosthetic leg. When you have an artificial leg, movements that used to come naturally are a lot more challenging. 'Now you have to think,' he said. When Saiko was given his first artificial leg, he spent an hour just getting used to it. Then he walked for an hour. The next day, he was so sore and in so much pain that he was unable to put the prosthetic back on. Four months would pass before he felt like he had truly mastered his artificial limb. In some ways, he said, the learning curve was like riding a bicycle. 'For all of the swaying and shaking and falling down, with practice, it rides very smoothly,' he said. He had even more to learn when he was fitted this summer with his modern, microprocessor-equipped prosthetic. 'We need to keep living': What life is like for Ukrainians a year into Russia's invasion The new limb is more functional than his old mechanical leg, which makes walking easier. With the old leg, extending his knee or taking a step was harder. The new leg comes with built-in settings and sensors that read his movements and automatically adjust depending on his gait or whether he's walking uphill or on uneven surfaces like sand. An app on his mobile phone allows him to manually adjust the settings if, for example, he wants to ride a bike or walk faster. For users, the difference between going from a mechanical leg to a computerized one is 'almost like going from a manual transmission in an old car to getting in a fancy new car that does a lot of different things,' Shevchenko said. Saiko can tell the difference in practical ways. The new leg is lighter and doesn't require as much body strength to take a step, which means he can walk farther, Saiko said. He can now walk a kilometer (roughly 1,100 yards) without stopping or feeling fatigued. 'Now, I'm trying to live my life to the fullest and get the best out of it,' he said. And that meant going back home to Odesa, Ukraine, a southern port city on the Black Sea. There will still be challenges. Ukraine doesn't have a lot of accommodations for people with disabilities, he said. He lives on the 13th floor of an apartment building. One time, the elevator went out and he had to climb the stairs with a backpack. Much of his life has been dedicated to the military and war with Russia, so he's still sorting out what comes next. He has developed a following on TikTok and communicates regularly with his followers, who are helping him adjust to life as a civilian. The venture has helped him to earn some money. Three months after his trip to America, Saiko was ready to return to Ukraine. In some ways, the journey that began at the Mariupol hospital had come to an end. So he boarded a plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Aug. 4 and returned to Ukraine. Back to his family. Back to a nation at war. To start over, as a citizen. Michael Collins writes about the intersection of politics and culture. A veteran reporter, he has covered the White House and Congress. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS.
