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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under Administrator Lee Zeldin, has announced its regulatory stance to address the cleanup of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) under CERCLA.
On May 8, 2024, EPA finalized a rule to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. This rule requires to report PFOA or PFOS releases to National Response Center (NRC), in quantities equal to or greater than reportable quantity (RQ) of one pound or more within a 24-hour period.
In a announcement by EPA published on September 17, 2025, the agency is retaining the CERCLA designation for PFOA and PFOS effective on July 8, 2024, following a court filing by the U.S. Department of Justice related to the PFOA and PFOS designation as CERCLA hazardous substances.
Administrator Zeldin emphasized the ongoing challenge of holding polluters accountable while providing certainty for “passive receivers”—entities that did not manufacture or generate these chemicals but received them in feedstocks, products, or waste. He highlighted that CERCLA’s broad, retroactive, and potentially costly strict liability can impact “passive receivers,” including local municipalities that may bear the financial burden of contamination and pass those costs onto taxpayers and consumers.
To address these challenges, the agency believes a statutory fix stands as the best solution, which involves future rulemaking to establish a uniform framework for designating hazardous substances under section 102(a) of CERCLA. This will grant EPA the authority to designate additional hazardous substances beyond those already listed under other environmental statutes.
This rule aims to provide a consistent approach for future hazardous substance designations, including a consideration of the costs associated with proposed designations. The agency emphasized its commitment to regulatory actions based on disciplined analysis and rigorous review, taking into account costs to manufacturers, passive receivers, consumers, and the broader economy.
