Fifteen States Oppose Reduced PFAS Reporting Requirements

January 2, 2026

Read the full article by Anne Wallace (Lawyers and Settlements)

"On December 22, the attorneys general for 15 states sent comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opposing proposed revisions to a 2023 reporting requirement rule for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS/PFOA) under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The EPA sets standards for what can be considered a “safe” level of PFAS contamination. Those standards are based on data reported to the agency.

The data and the standards are critical to the success of enforcement efforts including PFAS lawsuits. The historic $2.5 billion settlement achieved by New Jersey in New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours is a case in point. The easing of those reporting requirements and the delay in their implementation has alarmed state AGs on whom much of the enforcement burden has landed.

Toxic “forever chemicals”

PFAS have been manufactured and widely used in industry since the 1940s. They biodegrade, if at all, only very slowly and now contaminate water supplies, soil, air and food products throughout the world. They bioaccumulate in human beings and have been linked to:

kidney and testicular cancers;
liver damage;
increases in cholesterol levels; and
pregnancy complications and lower birth weight.

In April 2024, the EPA set the acceptable level of PFAS contamination in drinking water at 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for perfluorooctane sulfonate/sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), two common PFAS compounds."