What are PFAS?
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of thousands of man-made chemicals. Their specific chemical properties have made them commonly used in manufacturing and industrial applications such as: firefighting foam also known as AFFF, cleaning products, non-stick cookware, personal care products and water-resistant clothing.
What are the effects of PFAS on the environment and health?
These are chemicals that are found almost everywhere in the environment and some of them have been linked to health problems in humans and animals. According to the CDC, a large number of studies have examined possible relationships between exposure to certain PFAS and harmful health results in humans.
Our complete A to Z solution to responsibly manage PFAS:
From securing available funds, managing treatment in contaminated water, waste treatment through incineration, or other safe disposal options, our six-step approach offers tailor-made solutions to maximize your efficiency and water and waste management.
Step 1:
Administer sample plan development, training, sampling, and testing via for ground, surface water, or wastewater.
Step 2:
Evaluate water characteristics and potential treatment challenges within state/local policy. Deliver temporary/emergency solutions or full scale treatment.
Step 3:
Conduct lab trials or pilot testing in the field to evaluate pretreatment needs and best-fit technologies (e.g., granular activated carbon, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, foam fractionation).
Step 4:
Select process technology and sizing for your chemical destruction in a safe, environmentally responsible manner, while minimizing life cycle cost (including operations and maintenance expenses, such as media change-out optimization and disposal costs).
Step 5:
Capital program management services with a turnkey solution that includes construction and operations and maintenance pricing.
Step 6:
A disposal option for the spent material resulting from the water treatment through incineration at our facility in Port Arthur, Texas.
Are PFAS regulated in the United States?
Drinking water regulations
On April 10, 2024, EPA announced the final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six PFAS.
Chemical | Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) in parts per trillion (PPT) | Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in parts per trillion (PPT) |
| PFOA | 0 | 4.0 ppt |
| PFOS | 0 | 4.0 ppt |
| PFHxS | 10 ppt | 10 ppt |
| HFPO-DA (GenX chemicals) | 10 ppt | 10 ppt |
| PFNA | 10 ppt | 10 ppt |
| Mixture of two or more: PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS | Hazard index of 1 | Hazard index of 1 |
The final rule requires:
- Public water systems must monitor for these PFAS and have three years to complete initial monitoring (by 2027), followed by ongoing compliance monitoring. Water systems must also provide the public with information on the levels of these PFAS in their drinking water beginning in 2027.
- Public water systems have five years (by 2029) to implement solutions that reduce these PFAS if monitoring shows that drinking water levels exceed these MCLs.
- Beginning in five years (2029), public water systems that have PFAS in drinking water which violates one or more of these MCLs must take action to reduce levels of these PFAS in their drinking water and must provide notification to the public of the violation.
At the state level, 22 states have established or proposed health guidelines and notification levels or MCLs for PFAS in water:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- West Virginia
Some of these states require notification to drinking water consumers when those levels are exceeded.
Wastewater regulations
At the moment, there are no federal regulations limiting PFAS in wastewater. The EPA recently finalized a laboratory analysis method for non-potable water which will open the door for future regulations, most likely at the state permitting level. The EPA is also proposing monitoring requirements to reduce PFAS discharge in stormwater and wastewater, and some states have established monitoring requirements and discharge limits for specific PFAS. The EPA will also be initiating three new rulemaking revisions to effluent limitations guidelines and pretreatment standards for:
- Organic Chemicals, Plastics and Synthetic Fibers category to address discharges from facilities manufacturing PFAS
- Metal Finishing category to address discharges from chromium electroplating facilities
- Meat and Poultry Products category to address nutrient discharges
Hazardous waste regulations
In February 2024, the EPA released two proposed regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to protect communities from PFAS and other emerging chemicals of concern. These rules would add nine PFAS to the list of RCRA hazardous constituents and would assure that EPA’s regulations clearly reflect EPA’s and authorized states’ authority to require cleanup of the full range of substances that RCRA intended.
In August of 2022, the EPA proposed to designate two types of PFAS: PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. If certain PFAS are classified as hazardous under CERCLA, then responsible parties could be fully liable for the remediation and recovery efforts for sites contaminated with those PFAS, which would affect a large range of industries. The final rule is expected to be published in April 2024.
What are the available funds?
In 2021, The U.S. government unveiled a nationwide multi-agency plan to reduce PFAS pollution. As part of this plan, the EPA released a comprehensive strategy outlining deadlines and concrete actions that municipalities will have to follow. Over the next three years, these actions include steps to control PFAS at its sources, hold polluters accountable, ensure science-based decision making, and address the impacts on disadvantaged communities. The U.S. Government allocated $23.4 billion for the bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, $10 billion of which will address PFAS. The $10 billion is divided into three categories:
- $1 billion for the PFAS Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF)
- $5 billion for the PFAS Small & Disadvantaged Fund
- $4 billion to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)
Your PFAS management options
We provide treatment to both municipal and industrial customers including municipal drinking water facilities, military sites, airports, refineries, manufacturers, and more.
Our PFAS treatment solution for municipal drinking water customers
We use the most adaptive technologies on the market to treat municipal drinking water facilities. While regulations continue to develop and vary by state, we work closely with federal and state regulators as well as your facility to help you meet and maintain compliance for drinking water standards.
Our PFAS treatment solution for industrial customers
Veolia partners with our industrial customers to use available technologies to treat and remediate contaminated wastewater onsite. We closely monitor government regulations and the EPA’s Strategic Roadmap for the compliance of your sites with new and or changing regulations.
Our waste management solution
We work with industrial and municipal customers to offer disposal methods for the waste through incineration at our facility in Port Arthur, Texas.
The information contained in this statement is based on the Veolia group's understanding and know-how of the scientific and technical fields discussed herein as of the time of publication. Statements that may be interpreted as predictive of future outcomes or performance should not be considered guarantees of such, but rather reasoned assessments of the possible evolution of the technologies described. As this document is based on the state of the Veolia group's scientific, technical, and regulatory knowledge at the time of its publication, the completeness and accuracy of the information contained herein cannot be guaranteed. Descriptions contained herein apply exclusively to those examples and/or to the general situations specifically referenced, and in no event should be considered to apply to specific scenarios without prior review and validation.