White House Review Stalls EPA PFAS Wastewater Survey For Nearly Two Years
The White House Office of Management and Budget has blocked approval of the EPA's national PFAS wastewater and biosolids survey, leaving the review stalled for nearly two years, former EPA officials told PBS News.[1]
The survey was submitted to OMB in October 2024.[1] It is the EPA's first-of-its-kind national effort to identify industrial sources of PFAS entering wastewater plants and to measure PFAS in biosolids applied to farmland.[1]
Former OMB staffer Stuart Shapiro said typical information-collection reviews take about 60 days, making the nearly two-year delay "sufficiently unusual." PBS News The Trump EPA criticized a biosolids PFAS risk assessment for lacking a national occurrence study — the same kind of survey now awaiting OMB approval.[1]
EPA says it is working on rules to reduce PFAS in wastewater from certain manufacturers and has sought public input on PFAS in biosolids.[1] But EPA did not confirm that it supports the OMB survey, former officials told PBS News.[1]
Show source details & analysis (1 source)
📌 Key Facts
- The EPA submitted its first-of-its-kind national PFAS influent and biosolids survey to the White House Office of Management and Budget in October 2024.
- Former OMB staffer Stuart Shapiro says such information collection reviews typically take about 60 days, making the nearly two-year lack of approval 'sufficiently unusual.'
- The survey is designed to identify industrial sources of PFAS entering wastewater plants and to generate national data on PFAS in biosolids used on agricultural land.
- The Trump EPA previously criticized a biosolids PFAS risk assessment for lacking a national occurrence study, the same type of survey now stalled at OMB.
- EPA states it is working on rules to reduce PFAS in wastewater from certain manufacturers and seeking public input on PFAS in biosolids, but did not confirm its support for the survey.
📰 Source Timeline (1)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time