EPA announces new drinking water standards. How could NJ water systems be impacted?

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standards with a goal of helping protect communities from exposure to PFAS chemicals.

"Drinking water contaminated with PFAS has plagued communities across this country for too long," said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. "That is why President Biden has made tackling PFAS a top priority, investing historic resources to address these harmful chemicals and protect communities nationwide."

Here is everything you need to know about PFAS, the new regulations, and how New Jersey water systems may need to take action to meet the federal standards.

What are PFAS?

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, are a large group of man-made chemicals that are commonly referred to as "forever chemicals." They have been widely used for industrial and commercial purposes since the 1940s.

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Since that time PFAS chemicals have contaminated drinking water all over the country through industrial release into water, air, or soil, leaching from landfills, and use of certain firefighting foams among other outlets.

They are referred to as forever chemicals because they do not break down in the environment, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

Contaminated drinking water is a primary source of human exposure to PFAS chemicals with other sources including packaging, consumer products, house dust, indoor and outdoor air, and workplaces where PFAS are used or made. Exposure can also come from food prepared with contaminated drinking water. PFAS cannot be boiled out of water.

Numerous health effects caused by exposure to PFAS chemicals have been observed in humans. According to the EPA, peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown that exposure to certain levels of PFAS could lead to:

• Reproductive effects

• Developmental effects or delays in children

• Increased risk of some cancers

• Reduced ability of the body's immune system to fight infections

• Interference with the body's natural hormones

• Increased cholesterol levels and/or risk of obesity

Public water systems in New Jersey are required to monitor for PFAS and inform customers if results exceed state required levels.

If you are concerned about PFAS in your drinking water, you can consider in-home water treatment filters that are certified to lower PFAS levels in water, according to the NJDEP. When it comes to bottled water, the FDA does not have nationwide sampling or monitoring requirements for PFAS. However, the New Jersey Department of Health has a program which oversees bottled water in New Jersey which must comply with all of the state's drinking water standards.

The EPA's new national standards

Wednesday's announcement from the EPA outlines a "signature step to protect public health by establishing legally enforceable levels for several PFAS known to occur individually and as mixtures in drinking water."

The new rules set national limits for individual PFAS chemicals including PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS and HFPO-DA, which are also known as GenX chemicals. There will also be a limit for mixtures of two or more of four PFAS chemicals including PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and GenX chemicals.

The EPA's new national PFAS standards require:

• PFOA: Maximum contaminant level of 4.0 parts per trillion

• PFOS: MCL 4.0 ppt

• PFNA: MCL 10 ppt

• PFHxS: MCL 10 ppt

• HFPO-DA (GenX chemicals): MCL 10 ppt

• Mixtures containing two or more of PFNA, PFHxS, HFPO-DA, and PFBS: 1 (unitless)

"By reducing exposure to PFAS, this final rule will prevent thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of serious illnesses, including certain cancers and liver and heart impacts in adults, and immune and developmental impacts to infants and children," states the announcement.

In addition to the new rules, the EPA announced nearly $1 billion in newly available funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help states and territories implement PFAS testing and treatment in public water systems. The funding will also help owners of private wells address PFAS contamination.

The EPA estimates that between 6% and 10% of 66,000 public water systems might have to take action to be in compliance with the new standards.

Public water systems will have three years to complete and inform the public of the level of PFAS in their water. Systems with PFAS levels that exceed federal standards have five years to resolve the issue and reduce the PFAS levels.

"Only strong nationwide standards can ensure that every single American gets clean, safe drinking water free from PFAS forever chemicals that can endanger our health," said Shawn M. LaTourette, New Jersey's environmental protection commissioner. "As these persistent chemicals have wrought havoc upon communities across the nation, the polluters responsible for creating them have left their mess behind for the public to clean up."

How NJ water systems and the DEP plan to comply with the new federal standard

According to the EPA's announcement, the agency will "be working closely with state co-regulators in supporting water systems and local officials to implement this rule."

"The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection supports the U.S. EPA's adoption of federal Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ... New Jersey, having experienced some of the nation's most widespread impacts from historical use of PFAS, is a national leader in setting state MCLs and helping water systems provide necessary treatment," said the NJDEP.

According to the NJDEP, in light of the new EPA standards, "Water systems are strongly encouraged to begin taking proactive measures to comply with the EPA's standards, such as increased monitoring, designing, and installing treatment, and begin engaging customers in communication as outlined by NJDEP in prior communications."

New Jersey will continue to enforce its state regulations until the EPA requirements go into effect.

The state will also work to obtain primacy, assuming authority for the enforcement of federal standards, according to the NJDEP.

Other steps that the state plans to take to meet the national standards include:

• Maintaining and expanding the New Jersey Technical Assistance program

• Continuing the Water Infrastructure Investment Plan initiative, deploying funds to mitigate costs of compliance for water systems in need of financial support

• Rolling out the Emerging Contaminants for Small or Disadvantaged Communities grant, which will prioritize systems that have already exceeded the state's PFAS MCLs

In response to the new rules, Gov. Phil Murphy said, "While PFAS present a continuing challenge to New Jersey's water supplies, added support from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has enabled New Jersey to provide its water systems with the low-cost financing needed to make upgrades that will reduce PFAS exposure, protect the health of New Jersey families, and ensure that businesses who too rely upon clean water continue to thrive in the Garden State."

Do NJ water systems meet the new federal standard?

An interactive map from USA TODAY shows water systems around the country that tested at or above the newly established PFAS limits since last year based on boundaries developed by water-testing company, SimpleLab.

The map shows several water systems in New Jersey that tested at or above the new federal limits such as Ridgewood Water, the Southeast Morris County MUA in Cedar Knolls, and NJ American Water in Short Hills among multiple others.

Click on the highlighted areas in New Jersey to see if your water system made it onto the map.

New Jersey's fight against PFAS in recent years

The first PFAS studies took place in New Jersey in 2006 after the NJDEP learned that PFOA was present in ground water and drinking water wells near an industrial site.

In 2018, New Jersey became the first state to establish an enforceable standard for PFAS in drinking water. The state set a maximum contaminant level of 13 ppt for PFNA and PFOS, and 14 ppt for PFOA. The EPA's new standards are stricter.

Despite the state's standards there have been cases where high levels of PFAS chemicals were found in drinking water. In recent years municipalities and water companies have spent millions to implement solutions and some have sued the corporations that manufactured, marketed, and sold PFAS in the state to begin with.

In 2022, 34 drinking water systems around New Jersey, including several in Bergen County, exceeded the state's PFAS limits.

In August 2023, Ridgewood Water broke ground on a $3.9 million treatment plant that aimed to minimize PFAS levels in the four towns that the company serves. This came after they sued multiple corporations in 2019 claiming that the companies knew their products were "very likely" to contaminate surface and ground water.

Hawthorne spent over $6.3 million to design and install a filtration system, suing DuPont de Nemours Inc. and 3M Co. in 2023 claiming that they manufactured, marketed and sold products containing PFAS for decades, knowing that they would contaminate groundwater if released into the environment.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: PFAS in drinking water: How new EPA standard impacts NJ water systems