Key Contacts
EPA Maintains PFOA and PFOS CERCLA Designations and Signals Additional PFAS Remediation Activity in 2026
While the Trump Administration has worked to undo many of the environmental policies of the Biden Administration, it has taken a more measured approach when it comes to the cleanup of PFAS contaminated sites. Looking at 2026, we expect continued movement on this topic, with potential new rules, new legislation and ongoing litigation shaping the scope of cleanup liability for PFAS compounds under both CERCLA and RCRA.
In 2024 the Biden Administration advanced rules designed to use CERCLA and RCRA cleanup authority to address PFAS impacts to soil and groundwater, most notably publishing a final rule that designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA. In September, EPA announced that it would maintain the designation of PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA hazardous substances and moved to lift the abeyance of the petition before the DC Circuit challenging the designations. A future ruling on this DC Circuit petition could further affect the PFOA and PFOS designations.
As part of the September announcement, EPA highlighted its concern regarding the potential liability of passive receivers, such as landfills and wastewater treatment works, and advocated for a “statutory fix” from Congress to protect these passive receivers from cleanup costs. To that end, Congress is currently considering various proposals to limit such liability. In addition, EPA’s September announcement indicated that EPA intends to develop a “Framework Rule” to provide a more definitive approach regarding future CERCLA hazardous substance designations, which will include the consideration of costs associated with such designations. Presumably, this means that the April 2023 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which identified seven additional PFAS compounds for CERCLA hazardous substance designation, will not be moving forward for the time being. Consistent with that position, there is no update on this rule in the most recent unified regulatory agenda for EPA.
By contrast, the most recent unified regulatory agenda indicates that another pair of rules proposed in February 2024 to add nine PFAS compounds as hazardous constituents under RCRA, and amending the definition of hazardous waste as it relates to releases from permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs), is set to be finalized in April 2026. These rules, if finalized, would require TSDFs engaged in RCRA corrective action to investigate and, if necessary, remediate PFAS releases, and is an important regulatory precursor to designating wastes containing PFAS compounds as RCRA hazardous wastes.
