Feb. 12, 2026, 5:05 a.m. ET
- The EPA is proposing to narrow a 2023 rule, potentially exempting many businesses from reporting on PFAS manufacturing and use.
- North Carolina regulators have moved forward with weakened PFAS rules, relying on industry self-monitoring instead of enforceable limits.
- Environmental groups and clean water activists argue these federal and state rollbacks prioritize polluters over public health.
Nearly nine years after the StarNews first reported that DuPont and now Chemours had been dumping unknown manmade chemicals into the Cape Fear River that couldn’t be filtered out before entering public water systems, important steps have been taken to learn more about the health risk posed by the toxic contaminants and the extent of the contamination nationwide.
Since 2017, state officials also have largely succeeded in stopping Chemours from dumping any new PFAS (short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) into the river. But work on cleaning up the legacy contamination and the cost to local governments and utilities of dealing with these “forever chemicals” remains an ongoing project, as do rules and regulations to force companies to disclose what exactly they are producing and in what amounts.
With new federal and state rules and requirements over PFAS slowly moving forward, here’s an update on where they stand, and why many environmentalists, clean water activists and even government officials don’t think they go far enough.
EPA back tracks
Under a rule finalized in 2023, the federal government made a modification to the Toxic Substances Control Act that started requiring businesses to report on PFAS manufacturing and use, including amounts produced or imported and any known environmental or health impacts.
The rule was supposed to start in 2026. But in November 2025, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency announced that it intended to vastly narrow who would have to follow the reporting requirement, potentially exempting more than 95% of businesses. The proposed new rule is expected to be published later this year.
“This Biden-era rule would have imposed crushing regulatory burdens and nearly $1 billion in implementation costs on American businesses,”EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a Nov. 10, 2025, news release. “Today’s proposal is grounded in commonsense and the law, allowing us to collect the information we need to help combat PFAS contamination without placing ridiculous requirements on manufacturers, especially the small businesses that drive our country’s economy.”
The move comes after the Trump administration has already announced plans, again contested by environmentalists and many states while largely supported by industry, to roll back limits on certain PFAS in drinking water.
In May 2025, the EPA announced that it would uphold standards announced by the Biden administration for two manmade chemicals, but re-evaluate rules − including at what levels PFAS producers can safely release the contaminants into the environment − for four others, including GenX, the substance produced at the Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant about 75 miles upstream from Wilmington.
The new proposal also gives utilities an extra two years, until 2031, to comply with the federal standards to reduce the amount of manmade chemicals in their water supplies to what are considered levels safe for human consumption.
“When this administration talks about deregulation, this is what they mean – allowing toxic chemicals in drinking water at the request of polluters,” said Kelly Moser, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, in a release last summer.
N.C. steps up … sort of
North Carolina, an epicenter in the fight over PFAS contamination, has arguably been one of the leading states to push new PFAS rules and regulations in the wake of the massive contamination uncovered by the decades of releases from Fayetteville Works.
At the local level, utilities − including those in New Hanover and Brunswick counties − have aggressively moved to install filters and take other measures to filter out forever chemicals from their water systems, although the result has been added costs passed onto their customers while they seek financial ? from Chemours and DuPont.
But political squabbling between the Democratic-led governor’s office and the Republican-ruled N.C. General Assembly has seen some proposed PFAS regulations watered down, as has pressure from pro-business groups like the N.C. Chamber, over the potential economic impacts of any new rules.
In 2024, state regulators had proposed moving forward with establishing health-based standards for eight types of PFAS, including GenX. The surface water rules would seek to protect drinking water supplies by setting limits on forever chemical discharges into above-ground waterways. The groundwater rules would focus on getting existing contamination cleaned up.
While the GOP-controlled N.C. Environmental Management Commission has agreed to move forward with proposed PFAS rules, they dropped five of the chemicals from the list and moved away from state oversight to relying on industry self-monitoring and voluntary reduction plans. State regulators had been pushing for enforceable discharge limits and penalties .
Environmental groups criticized the decision, arguing that allowing polluters to police themselves is not the way to protect public health and guarantee that we’re not adding to a serious existing problem − never mind tackling clean-up efforts of the PFAS contamination that’s already occurred.
The EMC is accepting public comments on the proposed rules through April.
With the federal governments backtracking on standards of its own, some officials are arguing actions like North Carolina are taking is a good first step.
But Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette, who also is executive director of Cape Fear River Watch, said he worries that having a rule that doesn’t really require anything from manufacturers and businesses could be worse than having no rule at all, since that could give officials less impetus to push for real regulations down the road.
Still, public concern about PFAS should keep the issue at the forefront, such as how some people have raised worries about the proposed deepening of the Cape Fear River shipping channel churning back up into the water column forever chemicals that have settled to the river’s bottom.
“We’re seeing progress, but it’s slow progress,” Burdette said, noting how each research paper seems to show a new PFAS contamination hot spot or type of forever chemical that slips through current filtration systems. “But if we can get our foot in the door when it comes to at least some regulations, hopefully we can build on that.”
Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@usatodayco.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation, the Prentice Foundation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.
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