We urge GA-EPD to set real limits on forever chemicals:

In sum, why should Georgia residents be left with no choice but to drink contaminated water just because their drinking water did not have the “correct” type of PFAS contamination? We don’t believe they should. Accordingly, we urge EPD to promulgate MCLs for all six of the federally regulated PFAS compounds that are at least as stringent as the April 10, 2024 federal regulations.

Since this letter is replete with footnotes, I’m only quoting the beginning and end here. You can find the entire letter on the WWALS website in PDF, and images of each page are appended below.

Environmental groups urge GA-EPD to limit forever chemicals 2025-12-17, at least as stringent as 2024 federal limits

You can also write to EPDComments@dnr.ga.gov.

And you can also try EWG’s action page for U.S. EPA.

For what’s in your drinking water, see:
https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/

Here’s the beginning of the letter we sent to GA-EPD yesterday:

December 17, 2025

Veronica Craw, Chief
Watershed Protection Branch
Environmental Protection Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
EPDComments@dnr.ga.gov

Re: PFOA & PFOS Drinking Water Rule Updates

Dear Chief Craw:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on EPD’s proposed drinking water updates to finalize drinking water regulations for two specific PFAS: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). While we appreciate EPD’s work to protect our drinking water supplies from these two harmful compounds, the rule should be—and must be— more stringent. As discussed in more detail below, EPD is obligated to adopt drinking water regulations that are just as stringent as federal law; the proposed rule falls short. Moreover, EPD has sampling data showing that public drinking water systems are contaminated with other federally regulated PFAS compounds that pose significant threats to human health and the environment. By choosing not to regulate these other PFAS compounds, EPD is putting the health of Georgians at serious risk.

These comments are submitted on behalf of Altamaha Riverkeeper, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Coosa River Basin Initiative, Environment Georgia, Flint Riverkeeper, Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, Ogeechee Riverkeeper, One Hundred Miles, Satilla Riverkeeper, Savannah Riverkeeper, Science for Georgia, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter, Suwannee Riverkeeper, and Southern Environmental Law Center.

And here’s the end:

III. Proposing a new draft that adopts MCLs for all six PFAS is necessary to protect Georgia residents, especially where PFBS and PFHxS are the prevailing PFAS contaminants.

Adopting all six of the PFAS limits in the April 10, 2024 EPA rule is not just required by law; it’s good for all Georgians. As EPA explained in its press release announcing the six PFAS limits, “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.”³¹

Notably, EPD’s own data show that public drinking water systems in Georgia are contaminated with the very PFAS chemicals EPD now wants to omit from the safe drinking water rules. For instance, UCMR5 data and EPD’s PFAS Story Map show that drinking water systems serving hundreds of thousands of people in Augusta-Richmond County, Calhoun, Centerville, Chatsworth, Chickamauga, Dalton, Griffin, Lafayette, Lyerly, Ringgold, Rome, Spalding County, Summerville, Trion, Walker County, and Woodstock have all reported exceedances of the federal MCLs for PFHxS, PFBS, or the Hazard Index at various times between 2021 and 2024.³² In some of these drinking water systems, drinking water meets the MCLs for PFOA and PFOS but exceeds the MCLs for other PFAS like PFBS.

Critically, numerous public drinking water systems have yet to be tested for PFAS, so the true scope of the problem is unclear. By adopting a rule that regulates more than just two types of PFAS, EPD will ensure that the public knows whether their drinking water systems are contaminated with the most commonly used PFAS chemicals. EPD does a disservice to the people it serves if it allows drinking water systems to turn a blind eye and refrain from monitoring broadly for all six PFAS contaminants.

Furthermore, the proposed rule does nothing to incentivize industry to stop using harmful PFAS compounds like PFHxS, PFBS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA. The best way to stop PFAS contamination is to stop it at the source, but if industrial users know that drinking water utilities will not have to meet MCLs for these chemicals, they will continue to discharge PFAS- contaminated wastewater to publicly owned treatment works, emit PFAS into the air, and otherwise send these chemicals into our homes in household products. Stringent drinking water regulations would send a strong signal to industries operating in Georgia that they too need to play a role in fixing the problem they helped create.

In sum, why should Georgia residents be left with no choice but to drink contaminated water just because their drinking water did not have the “correct” type of PFAS contamination? We don’t believe they should. Accordingly, we urge EPD to promulgate MCLs for all six of the federally regulated PFAS compounds that are at least as stringent as the April 10, 2024 federal regulations.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss these comments further, please reach out to the undersigned at 404-521-9900 or jdegaetano@selc.org or alipscomb@selc.org.

Sincerely,

/s/ Joe DeGaetano
Joe DeGaetano
Senior Attorney

/s/ April Lipscomb
April Lipscomb
Senior Attorney

31 See Press Release, EPA, Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes First-Ever National Drinking Water Standard to Protect 100M People from PFAS Pollution (Apr. 10, 2024) https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-finalizes-first-ever-national-drinking-water-standard [https://perma.cc/HW29-DQNP].

32 Georgia Environmental Protection Division, PFAS Information & Interactive Story Map, https://gaepd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=e8f2c6a51c1c41088002350f1eabe598.