State Environmental Advocates Urge Regulators to Bring State PFAS Standards in Line With Federal Standards

Thursday, October 9th, 2025 -- 11:00 AM

(Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) Environmental advocates are urging state regulators to bring Wisconsin’s PFAS standards in line with federal drinking water standards despite an ongoing legal challenge to the federal rules.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources held a public hearing Thursday on its proposed rule to mirror PFAS standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency last year.

The EPA issued a rule that set individual limits for two of the most commonly studied chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion. The agency also set standards at 10 parts per trillion for three other chemicals: PFNA, PFHxS and GenX chemicals.

And it set a limit on a mix of four PFAS substances. However, water utilities and chemical companies are challenging those limits in federal court. In a court filing last month, the EPA moved to roll back parts of the rule.

The agency said it would not defend individual limits for PFNA, PFHxS and GenX chemicals or a mixture of those three and a fourth chemical, PFBS. The DNR must continue to implement federal environmental standards regardless of litigation, said Dan Gustafson, senior staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, and it cannot allow the legal challenges to delay action.

“(That) would risk leaving vital public health protections like those established by this rule in limbo to the detriment of the communities these rules are designed to safeguard,” Gustafson said.

State law dictates Wisconsin’s drinking water program may be no less stringent than federal requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act, said David Strifling, director of the Water Law and Policy Initiative at Marquette University Law School. However, he noted, litigation could change that.

“If the challenge is successful, then obviously there would be no obligation for Wisconsin to comply with the (federal) rule because the rule wouldn’t exist anymore,” Strifling said.

For now, EPA standards remain in effect. In comments to the DNR, industry groups have urged the agency to avoid rushing to bring state standards in line with federal PFAS limits.

The groups include the Wisconsin Paper Council, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the Midwest Food Products Association. “It’s premature and irresponsible for the DNR to replace our current PFAS drinking water standards with new, costlier federal standards that could change due to litigation or administrative action by the EPA,” said Scott Manley, executive vice president of government relations for WMC.

Industry groups said water systems would have until 2031 to comply with the standards after EPA announced plans to extend the deadline. They argue that means there is plenty of time for the DNR to see litigation play out and complete rulemaking after the legal challenge is resolved.

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