Water Regulatory Update: U.S. EPA’s Latest Agenda

The Spring Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions was (finally) published in early September at reginfo.gov and it brought some anticipated but abbreviated insights into the water regulatory priorities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). Some key items of interest to ALL4’s readers are summarized below, and of course in the short time since the agenda was published we’ve seen a government shutdown that may impact the (in some cases, fairly aggressive) timetables noted in the agenda. We should see a Fall agenda that updates these items before the end of 2025.

• Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs) for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Manufacturers Under the Organic Chemicals, Plastics, and Synthetic Fibers Point Source Category – Under Effluent Guidelines Plan 15, U.S. EPA is moving forward with revising ELGs at 40 CFR Part 414 to address PFAS discharges from facilities manufacturing PFAS. An Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in March 2021, and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is targeted for January 2026.
• PFAS Requirements in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Applications – We’ve seen this coming for a few years now but were curious as to whether this would stay on the docket for this administration. U.S. EPA still plans to update the list of pollutants at 40 CFR 122.21 that NPDES permit applicants must report to the permitting authority in their NPDES renewal or modification applications to include PFAS for several types of existing NPDES permit applications. An NPRM is targeted for November 2025 with a final rule in May of 2027.
• Steam Electric ELG Reconsideration Rule – U.S. EPA is reconsidering the technology-based effluent limitations (TBELs) and standards for this point source category that were promulgated in 2024, including technology-based requirements for coal combustion residual (CCR) leachate. This reconsideration was part of S. EPA’s March 12, 2025 deregulatory announcement. The NPRM is targeted for November 2025 with a final action targeted for May 2026.
• ELGs and Standards for the Oil and Gas Extraction Category – U.S. EPA is proposing rulemaking to increase opportunities for discharge of treated produced water by expanding the geographic area where such discharges occur (currently limited to west of the 98^th meridian, which is essentially the western half of the U.S.) and evaluate increased opportunities to discharge for other uses (currently limited to agriculture and wildlife propagation with possible expansion to critical minerals extraction and industrial cooling water).
• Final Clarifying Definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) – U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of the Army are undertaking rulemaking to revise the WOTUS definition to align with the 2023 Sackett v. U.S. EPA decision, including continuous surface connection, “relatively permanent,” and jurisdictional vs. non-jurisdictional ditches. The goal, as stated, is to establish a clear and simple definition that will “stand the test of time.” See ALL4’s recent blog on WOTUS for more information. An NPRM was targeted for August 2025 but the proposal is at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and has not been released, so U.S. EPA will not meet its target for final action of January 2026.
• Multiple entries regarding drinking water, including revisions to microbial and disinfection byproducts rules, the drinking water method update rule, establishing the sixth unregulated contaminant monitoring rule (UCMR 6), and changes around PFAS including extending the compliance deadline for the PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation Rulemaking and withdrawal of regulatory determinations and removal of related provisions for certain PFAS (see our previous blog for the latest on PFAS in drinking water).
• And last but not least, Clean Water Act (CWA) Hazardous Substances Facility Response Plans (FRP) – As anticipated (see our most recent blog), U.S. EPA will propose to extend the compliance deadline (currently June 2027) and make “administrative changes.” The NRPM was originally targeted for July 2025, which has now come and gone, with final action by December 2025. Since the agenda was published, an “Amendment Reconsideration” categorized as a “prerule” and a proposal to delay the compliance dates and make changes to reflect the current administration’s policy went to OMB for review.

ALL4 is tracking these and other regulatory and deregulatory developments and will keep our readers up-to-date as we learn more. For any water regulatory questions or for help strategizing on how to deal with regulatory uncertainty, please reach out to our Water Tech Team Lead, Lizzie Smith, at lsmith@all4inc.com or 770-999-0269.