Wyden, Merkley Demand Trump Administration Drop Effort to Weaken Health Protections for Millions of Americans

New EPA rule would roll back federal protections for clean drinking water

Washington, D.C.-U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight said today they have joined colleagues to demand the Trump administration withdraw its proposal to roll back drinking water protections, which would remove federal public health limits on the amount of certain polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) or "forever chemicals" in our drinking water.

The senators emphasize in their letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that removing these health limits will expose Americans to unsafe levels of chemicals linked to kidney and testicular cancer, immune suppression problems, developmental harm, thyroid disease, pregnancy complications, and liver damage.

"Safe drinking water is not a partisan issue. Families across the country expect that when they turn on the tap, their water is safe to drink. Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure EPA relies on the best available science to protect public health-not to weaken existing protections once the science has been established," the senators wrote to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

Despite the Trump administration touting its 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda, if enacted, the EPA's new proposal would rescind the 2024 National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for PFAS and delay compliance for the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) standards until 2031 - risking the health of millions of Americans.

"As far back as the 1950s, scientists observed that PFAS compounds could accumulate in human bloodstreams. It took decades of advocacy and heroic scientific research to reach the historic moment in 2024 when EPA finally promulgated the very first national drinking water standards for PFAS compounds. We cannot afford to go backwards and make Americans' health worse," the Senators concluded.

In addition to Wyden and Merkley, other signers of the letter led by U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate EPW Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, are EPW Committee Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

The full text of the letter is here.

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