The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will distribute billions of dollars in grants for PFAS treatment infrastructure and to educate communities and water systems about how to make the most of these resources and position themselves for compliance with its new proposed PFAS regulations. These investments mark the latest in the Trump administration’s pattern of environmental federalism, limiting federal regulation and enforcement while emphasizing state and local government actions to manage environmental hazards like PFAS.
PFAS OUT Initiative
On January 15, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule titled “Updating the Water Quality Certification Regulations” (Proposed Rule). This rule implements changes to the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) Section 401 permitting process. EPA intends to narrow the scope of the States’ certification authority to the application of solely water quality-related conditions which may be applied only to the discharge, not the project as a whole.
This change, among others in the Proposed Rule, will significantly reduce the ability of States or ...
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