Pace® PFAS News & Views – March 2026
- By: Lindsay Boone, M.Sc.
- Tags: Pace® PFAS News and Views, PFAS
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FEDERAL ACTIONS
EPA Asks Court to Pause Drinking Water Litigation
On February 19, EPA filed a motion asking the D.C. Circuit to sever and pause litigation over four of the six PFAS drinking water standards it issued in 2024, following the court’s January 2026 denial of EPA’s earlier request to vacate the Hazard Index portion of the rule. The new filing seeks to withdraw the prior determination that those four PFAS must be regulated based on the assessment approach EPA used to set the limits. EPA states that it intends to send a new proposed rule on those chemicals to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.
OMB Begins Review of PFAS Rule Changes
While the fight continues in the courts over the proposed changes to the 2024 PFAS drinking water regulations, the Office of Management and Budget has begun its official review of these changes. As reported by the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), OMB reviews usually take approximately 90 days, meaning that the EPA will continue to be delayed in its originally stated rule release timeline. Finalization of the rule was originally anticipated in April of 2026.
TRI Addition Carries Reporting Obligations
As previously reported, the U.S. EPA added sodium perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS-Na) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) in October 2025. On February 23, 2026, the agency issued a follow-up announcement, reminding regulated industries of their obligation to track and report any use or releases of this chemical. Facilities must begin recordkeeping for PFHxS-Na on January 1, 2026, with the first TRI reports due July 1, 2027. Because PFHxS-Na is designated a chemical of special concern, it carries a low 100-pound reporting threshold.
UCMR 5 Data Updated
The latest release of UCMR 5 data represents the eleventh set of drinking water results for 30 contaminants, including 29 PFAS and lithium, collected from public water systems monitoring between 2023 and 2025. With this update, EPA reports that it has now received and released about 95% of all monitoring results. The data are accessible through EPA’s UCMR 5 Data Finder. The twelfth and final UCMR 5 data release is planned for early fall 2026, after which the dataset will be complete.
EPA Releases PFAS Year One Report
In a recent release, EPA touted its first-year progress on PFAS, emphasizing that the agency has elevated PFAS contamination as a policy priority and begun using a range of existing statutory tools to tackle PFAS risks. The announcement highlights expanded analytical methods, movement toward enforceable drinking water standards and hazardous-substance listings, and increased reporting obligations intended to generate better PFAS data. EPA also pointed to on-the-ground response work, including installation of treatment systems and provision of alternative water in impacted communities, as evidence that its PFAS agenda is translating into concrete action.
FDA 2026 Priorities Include PFAS
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released its Human Foods Program 2026 Priority Deliverables. The FDA states that it plans to treat PFAS as part of its chemical safety agenda, focusing on four areas:
- Expanding PFAS research and food testing to better understand exposure
- Applying a new post-market assessment process to existing chemicals, including PFAS
- Strengthening chemical-hazard controls by phasing out higher-risk uses
- Updating public PFAS resources as new data emerge
USDA Plans to Tackle PFAS
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced plans to tackle PFAS on agricultural lands by using its conservation programs to help farmers identify, manage, and mitigate contamination on working lands. Guided by a new National Academies report, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is exploring how existing tools such as conservation planning, pilot projects, and financial assistance can be tailored to PFAS—through actions like prioritizing PFAS-related projects, adapting conservation practice standards, and supporting applied research to close key data gaps.
Revised Canadian PFAS Regulations Go into Effect in June
For our clients that sell into Canada, a quick reminder that Canada’s revised Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations (published December 2025) go into effect on June 30, 2026. The revised rules replace the 2012 rules and sharply tighten controls on several high-concern chemicals, including certain PFAS, by prohibiting their manufacture, use, sale, and import in Canada. The regulations include only narrow, time-limited exemptions that are intended to be phased out as alternatives become available.
KEY STATE ACTIONS
Georgia
On February 10, 2026, the Georgia House Judiciary Committee advanced House Bill 211, the “PFAS Receiver Shield Act,” which would grant broad immunity from PFAS-related liability to most entities in the state that use, receive, or handle PFAS-containing products, so long as they comply with state and federal regulations and are not grossly negligent. The bill would largely insulate manufacturers, users, purchasers, and permitted waste or wastewater receivers from PFAS lawsuits, leaving primary liability mostly with PFAS manufacturers, and is expected to face strong opposition from environmental groups and affected residents.
Indiana
Indiana Senate Bill 237, introduced on January 8, 2026, defines “PFAS chemicals” and a narrower category of “state prioritized PFAS chemicals,” then directs the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to center its PFAS-related work on that prioritized list while limiting IDEM’s ability to base decisions primarily on federal PFAS risk values that have not gone through full federal rulemaking. In the introduced bill, state prioritized chemicals include:
- Non-polymeric perfluoroalkyl or non-polymeric saturated polyfluoroalkyl substances
- Must contain at least two fully fluorinated sequential carbon atoms
- Must be likely to be persistent in the environment
- Must have bioaccumulation potential in humans, animals, or the environment
- Must be regulated by EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act with an MCL
- Expressly includes PFOA and PFOS (and their salts) as state-prioritized compounds
- Excludes gases and substances that become gases in use
Iowa
Iowa Senate File 2193, introduced on February 3, 2026, would require wastewater treatment plants to test sewage sludge for PFAS before land application, disclose results to landowners, and allow landowners to refuse sludge containing PFAS.
Kentucky
Introduced on February 10, 2026, Kentucky Senate Bill 178 would bar Kentucky agencies from adopting environmental rules that are more stringent or broader in scope than corresponding federal environmental laws or regulations on the same subject. If passed, this bill could effectively prevent the state from setting PFAS limits or requirements that go beyond EPA regulations, unless they fit within one of the bill’s narrow exemptions.
New Mexico
New Mexico’s Environment Department has launched an interactive PFAS dashboard for drinking water systems, allowing residents to look up PFAS testing results for their local public water system. Built from statewide sampling results, the tool is intended to make data more accessible, highlight where contamination is occurring, and support ongoing remediation and upcoming PFAS rulemaking in the state.
On February 18, 2026, the New Mexico Legislature passed House Joint Memorial 3, directing the New Mexico Environment Department and Environmental Improvement Board to report on whether exemptions in the 2025 PFAS Protection Act—particularly the exemption for fluoropolymers—should be continued, modified, or removed, including an assessment of public health, environmental, and economic risks. Preliminary findings are due December 1, 2026, and a final report is due August 1, 2027.
New York
New York’s A6192/S5759 seeks to impose a five-year moratorium on the land application, sale, and distribution of biosolids and products containing biosolids. Regulators would be directed to use that time to address PFAS contamination risks to farmland and water supplies through improved sludge handling, alternative disposal, and stricter oversight.
New York Senate Bill S9073, introduced on January 28, 2026, would prohibit the sale of certain consumer products containing regulated PFAS, including textiles, cookware, cleaning products, and dental floss. The bill sets PFAS limits using a total organic fluorine threshold to be set and reevaluated every five years by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Manufacturers are required to provide certificates of compliance confirming products are PFAS free. If the state has reason to believe a product contains PFAS, the manufacturer must, within 30 days, either submit independent third-party laboratory test results showing the product does not contain regulated PFAS or notify sellers that the product is prohibited in New York and provide a list of those sellers.
Introduced in January 2025, New York S3972 and A216 direct DEC to establish two new supports for households that rely on private wells: a one-time PFAS removal treatment installation grant of up to 5,000 dollars for installing treatment or up to 10,000 dollars for connecting to a public water system, and an ongoing maintenance rebate that helps eligible owners, tenants, and other occupants cover the costs of maintaining certified PFAS treatment equipment so that contaminated private wells can consistently meet state drinking water standards.
Virginia
Introduced on January 13, 2026, Virginia HB880 would require the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to update its regulations so that owners of sewage treatment works would be required to regularly sample and test sewage sludge (biosolids) for PFAS, with results reported to the state and used to inform management of land application and other disposal options.
Also introduced on January 13, Virginia SB386 is similar to HB 880 but includes additional restrictions. If passed as drafted, this bill would require owners of sewage treatment works to test finished sewage sludge for PFAS using EPA Method 1633, report results to the Department of Environmental Quality, and prohibit distributing or land applying sludge that contains any detectable PFAS, with civil penalties for violations.
Wisconsin
On February 20, 2026, the Wisconsin Assembly unanimously passed AB130 and AB131 and sent them to the Senate for approval. AB131 sets up the programs and requirements to address PFAS contamination, including a municipal PFAS grant program and other PFAS grant mechanisms, while AB130 provides funding from the segregated PFAS fund to pay for those programs.
Under these bills, funding is targeted to specific grant uses, with more than $79 million directed to a community PFAS grant program to help municipalities and other eligible recipients investigate and mitigate PFAS contamination. Additional funding, totaling over $132 million, supports a suite of PFAS grant and assistance programs, such as grants for private well sampling, public water system projects, biosolids and sludge sampling, landfill leachate treatment systems at municipally owned landfills, and technical assistance to local governments. Governor Evers has expressed support for the legislation, and he is expected to sign both bills into law if they reach his desk.
OF INTEREST
Precision Matters: What the Olympic “PFAS Ban” Gets Right — and Wrong
UK Releases National PFAS Strategy for 2026
Safer States: 2026 Analysis of State Policy Addressing Toxic Chemicals and Plastics
PFAS Settlement Deadlines Updated: How to Secure Your City’s Share of Funding
New Review Identifies Pathways for Managing PFAS Wastewater in Semiconductor Manufacturing
Understudied PFAS Precursors Dominate Household Dust
MSU Extension Offers PFAS in Agriculture Webinar Series
Minnesota Legislature Holds Hearing on PFAS Reporting
New Mexico Revises Proposed Labeling Requirements for the Second Time
EVENTS
If you are in the area or attending one of these upcoming events, we would love to meet with you. Contact us to request a meeting.
Environmental Professionals of Arizona, Mesa, AZ, March 4-5, 2026.
New Jersey Rural Water Association, Hopewell Township, NJ, March 4, 2026. Training session: Regulations, Testing and Implications for Water and Wastewater.
New Jersey Rural Water Association, Morris, NJ, March 5, 2026. Training session: Regulations, Testing and Implications for Water and Wastewater.
TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo: PFAS Emerging Contaminant and Remediation, Raleigh, NC, March 10-12, 2026.
Alabama Rural Water Association 47th Annual Technical Training Conference, Montgomery, AL, March 16-19, 2026. Presentation: PFAS Treatability Pilot Case Study, March 16, 3:00 – 3:45 PM.
AEHS West Annual Conference, San Diego, California, March 16-19, 2026. Presentation: Analyzing PFAS in Consumer Products, Time/Date: TBD.
Georgia Solid Waste Association of North America Spring Conference, Helen, GA, March 23-25, 2026.
Environment Virginia Symposium, Lexington, VA, March 24-26, 2026. Presentation: Navigating PFAS in NPDES Discharges, Property Due Diligence and Pace’s PFAS Analytical Toolbox, Time/Date: TBD.
Wisconsin Rural Water Association Annual Technical Conference, Green Bay, WI, March 24-27, 2026.
New Jersey Site Remediation Conference, New Brunswick, NJ, March 25-26, 2026.
Alabama Solid Waste Association of North America Spring Conference, Orange Beach, AL, March 30-April 1, 2026. Presentation: PFAS Impacts on NPDES Permits: What Landfill Operators Need to Know, March 30, 1:30 PM.
Illinois Wastewater Professionals Conference, East Peoria, IL, March 30-April 2, 2026. Presentation: Biosolids Analysis for PFAS: Challenges, Considerations, and Options, April 1, 1:30 – 2:15 PM.
Idaho Rural Water Association Spring Conference, Boise, ID, April 1-3, 2026. Presentation: Biosolids Analysis for PFAS: Challenges, Considerations, and Options, Time/Date: TBD.
Annual Clemson Hydrology Symposium, Clemson, SC, April 2, 2026. Presentation: Is PFAS Sample Cross-Contamination a Major Concern? April 2, 2:00 – 2:20 PM.
Looking Ahead
PFAS regulatory actions are heating up, and staying ahead of new requirements is essential for managing risk, maintaining compliance, and planning cost-effective responses. As an environmental laboratory deeply engaged in PFAS science and policy, Pace® will continue to monitor key developments and share practical perspectives to help you plan and prioritize next steps. If you have questions about potential impacts—or need help with sampling, analysis, or mitigation strategy—contact us to continue the conversation.
