In recent years, federal, state, and international authorities have established various health-based regulatory values and evaluation criteria for a number of specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in response to growing concerns with contamination. In April 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted federally enforceable PFAS standards for five PFAS in drinking water. However, at this time, the U.S. has no federally enforceable PFAS standards for other PFAS or for these PFAS in other environmental media, leaving individual states to navigate various avenues for addressing contamination. Some states have established legally enforceable values (e.g., drinking water Maximum Contaminant Levels [MCLs]) for certain PFAS in drinking water, groundwater, surface water, soil, or air. Other states and regulatory agencies have opted for non-enforceable values such as guidance levels, screening numbers, or advisories that may apply to PFAS for which promulgated standards do not exist.
The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) in 2019 compiled information on state PFAS standards, advisories, and guidance values. Sharing data and regulatory approaches helps federal, state, and international authorities avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts, as well as understand and communicate about differences in guidelines. This paper outlines ECOS’ findings on state efforts and considerations for future regulatory activities on PFAS. The document was initially published in February 2020 and updated in March/April 2021, March 2022, and March 2023. This April 2024 update reflects the addition of three states, two new subsections, and new regulatory, legislative, and scientific activities that have occurred over the past year. ECOS will continue to update it annually as appropriate.
Additional Information
- File Size: 1.66 MB
- File Type: .pdf
