Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Biden Administration set the first federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, finding they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and babies being born with low birth weight.

Now, the EPA under new management is facing a court-ordered deadline to tell a federal appeals court in Washington whether it will stand by those limits or attempt to weaken them in the face of an industry challenge by Chemours and other companies. 

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is one of multiple groups defending the standards. In a backgrounder document posted on its website, NRDC explains that the industry lawsuit “challenges the Biden administration EPA’s April 2024 drinking water standards (“maximum contaminant levels,” or MCLs) for six PFAS (American Water Works Association et al. v. EPA, Case No. 24-1188). The EPA has estimated that this rule will protect up to 105 million Americans from drinking water that is contaminated with these forever chemicals at levels exceeding the EPA’s new standards.” 

The Court deadline for filings on the question of EPA’s position is today, May 12, 2025. States already hard-hit by PFAS pollution—including North Carolina—will be watching.