Good morning. In 2024 the EPA set the first national drinking-water limits for PFAS. This year it proposed to delay part of that and rescind another part. Neither proposal is final. But buried in the delay is a list of things a water system would have to do to earn it — and most of the list is equipment you sell.
Top story — the slower deadline has a price, and the price is point-of-use gear
What is actually on the books: on 26 April 2024 the EPA set maximum contaminant levels of 4.0 parts per trillion each for PFOA and PFOS, and 10 ppt each for PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA (GenX), plus a hazard index of 1 for mixtures of those three and PFBS. Systems have until 26 April 2027 to finish initial monitoring and 26 April 2029 to comply (89 FR 32532).
On 20 May 2026 the agency proposed two changes. One would rescind the four regulatory determinations behind the PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and hazard-index limits, leaving only PFOA and PFOS; EPA says that action is "necessary to correct the unlawful procedure under which these regulations were promulgated." The other would push the PFOA and PFOS compliance date from 26 April 2029 to 26 April 2031 — but as a federal exemption that applies "for systems that apply," and only in "states, territories, and Tribes that have not obtained primacy for those MCLs." A system in a primacy state cannot ask the EPA at all.
Here is the part worth your attention. An applying system does not simply get two more years. Under the proposal it must notify the EPA by 16 November 2026, and a system at or above 12 ppt of PFOA or PFOS would have to put interim control measures in place. EPA's proposed menu is short: "certified water filtration pitchers," "alternative water supplies," "certified POU/POE devices," and source water controls — two of them. The agency also writes that the extra time should improve "the availability of POU and POE devices as both an additional and lower-cost compliance option, specifically for very small water systems and certain NTNCWS such as schools, factories, office buildings, and hospitals."
Read that as a contractor, not as a citizen. The proposal that slows the municipal fix is the same proposal that would have utilities — and the schools and factories on their systems — buying, installing and maintaining point-of-use and point-of-entry equipment as a condition of the delay. That is not the homeowner market shrinking. It is a second, institutional buyer appearing next to it.
Quick hits
Three chemicals and an index, not four chemicals. The rescission proposal covers PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and the hazard index for mixtures — three compounds plus one calculated index. PFBS sits inside that index but never had an individual limit of its own; EPA "deferred its individual regulatory determination to regulate PFBS." If it finalizes, PFOA and PFOS keep their 4.0-ppt limits and everything else loses an enforceable one.
Proposed is not final — and 16 November is the date to watch. Comment periods on both proposals closed 20 July 2026 after a public hearing on 7 July, and no final rule has published. ⚠ EPA also notes the 2024 rule is already in court: Am. Water Works Ass'n, et al. v. EPA, et al., No. 24-1188 (D.C. Cir.). If the extension is finalized as proposed, systems that want it must have told the EPA by 16 November 2026.
A certified filter was never certified to the limit. At the time of the 2024 rule, EPA stated the NSF/ANSI standard for PFOA and PFOS removal in point-of-use and point-of-entry devices "did not meet the PFOA and PFOS MCLs" it had just set. The 2022 NSF/ANSI 53 standard sets a combined limit of 20 ppt across seven PFAS; an older standard certified pitchers at 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS. EPA says the committee is "currently continuing the process to update their standards."
The Tip — quote the certification, not the limit
There is a gap between "certified for PFAS reduction" and "meets the federal limit," and the EPA has said so in writing. A quote that blurs the two is the one that comes back.
Two questions worth asking before the next filtration job. Ask your supplier which NSF/ANSI standard and which revision a device is certified to, and what combined PFAS number that certification actually covers — 20 ppt across seven compounds is a different promise from 4.0 ppt on two. And if the customer is a school, a factory or a small water system rather than a household, ask whether their water system is in a state with primacy, because that decides whether the federal exemption is even open to them. We are not telling you what any system must do; both are questions for the utility and the certifier, not for us.
Tool watch — [Not sponsored]
The Federal Register's own free API will tell you whether either proposal has gone final, without a word of news coverage. Open federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2026-10086.json and read one field: "type". While it says "Proposed Rule", nothing has changed. That is how the status line above was checked.
That's the callout. See you next time.
The Callout — the business brief for the trades. We label every commercial placement: [Sponsor], [Affiliate], or [Not sponsored]. Today's Tool watch is our own honest read — no one paid for it. 231J Ramparts Road, Te Anau 9600, New Zealand · Unsubscribe anytime. Nothing in The Callout is legal or engineering advice. PFAS treatment depends on your customer's specific water — test before you promise.
Sources
Federal Register — "Rescission of Regulatory Determinations and Removal of Related Provisions for Four PFAS Substances (PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (GenX), and the Mixture of These Three PFAS Plus PFBS)," proposed rule, 91 FR 29413, published 20 May 2026; FR Doc 2026-10085; docket EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0654; comments closed 20 July 2026. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/20/2026-10085/rescission-of-regulatory-determinations-and-removal-of-related-provisions-for-four-pfas-substances
Federal Register — "Extending the Compliance Deadline for the PFOA and PFOS Maximum Contaminant Levels," proposed rule, 91 FR 29425, published 20 May 2026; FR Doc 2026-10086; docket EPA-HQ-OW-2025-1742; proposed SDWA 1416(f) exemption from 26 April 2029 to 26 April 2031 for systems that apply, in non-primacy states; notification to EPA under 40 CFR 142.58(b) by 16 November 2026; control measures under 40 CFR 142.59; comments closed 20 July 2026. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/20/2026-10086/extending-the-compliance-deadline-for-the-pfoa-and-pfos-maximum-contaminant-levels
Federal Register — 2024 PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, 89 FR 32532, 26 April 2024 (MCLs and the deferred PFBS determination, as recited in both 2026 proposals above).
All source text read in full, live, 23 September 2026, from the Federal Register's own full-text service.