As EPA tries to loosen PFAS rules, NC regulators inch toward statewide protections
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- North Carolina regulators advance measures to cut PFAS and 1,4‑Dioxane discharges.
- Critics fault commission for relying on voluntary compliance and no enforceable limits.
- PFAS persist in environment and humans; studies show widespread blood contamination.
North Carolina environmental regulators on Thursday moved toward reducing the amount of several potentially carcinogenic “forever chemicals” being discharged into the state’s ground and surface waters.
Critics say the actions taken by the Environmental Management Commission on PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane fall short because they don’t set specific allowable limits on the chemicals; they rely largely on voluntary compliance; and they don’t establish penalties for industries that continue to pollute.
Commission Chair JD Solomon guided a lengthy discussion during the board’s January meeting in Raleigh and acknowledged there would be more work to do.
“But this is a first step,” he said.
What are ‘forever chemicals’?
There are many thousands of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, created by man to make products non-stick or water-, temperature-, chemical-, oil- or weather-resistant. They help fried eggs slide off a treated skillet or cause spilled red wine to bead up on carpet. They’re in the foam that air tankers drop on big forest fires in rugged terrain and they extend the life of gaskets in car engines. They’re in construction materials, electronics and food packaging.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences says that because they don’t break down easily, if at all, PFAS can accumulate in the bodies of animals and people exposed to them. One study published in 2015 on more than 1,600 people aged 12 to 80 found that more than 97% had PFAS in their blood.
PFAS have been associated with potential health issues such as cancer, immune issues, developmental delays, decreased fertility and high blood pressure among pregnant women and low birth weights in babies, as well as imbalances in thyroid and sex hormones and other concerns.
Ingesting drinking water contaminated with PFAS is the primary way most people are exposed, the state Department of Environmental Quality says.
North Carolina has the third-highest concentrations of 1,4-Dioxane in drinking water of any state in the U.S., more than double the national average, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Another forever chemical, 1,4-Dioxane is an industrial solvent used mostly to make other industrial chemicals. It can be released into the air, water and soil at places where it is produced or used, scientists say. It mixes easily with water and can travel long distances through the soil into the groundwater, where it can take years to degrade.
The EPA found 1,4-Dioxane most frequently in the Cape Fear River Basin during its sampling in North Carolina, which was part of a nationwide effort.
A 2024 report by the state noted the risk of liver cancers North Carolina residents face as a result of 1,4-Dioxane in the drinking water and the lack of water-quality standards governing the chemical.
What action did N.C. regulators take on forever chemicals?
In 2024, the EPA announced national standards for some individual PFAS and PFAS mixtures, and gave public water systems until 2029 to comply with the limits. In May 2025, the EPA announced it would extend the compliance deadline to 2031 on two of the compounds. In September, the agency asked a federal court rescind the standards for the others, in keeping with the Trump administration’s policy to loosen EPA regulations generally.
The EPA’s plan would drop rules on GenX, the trade name of a PFAS made by the Chemours company in Fayetteville, found in the water in the Cape Fear River and linked to cancer of the liver, pancreas and testicles in animals. N.C. State University is studying the health effects of GenX and other PFAS on humans.
The state has prohibited Chemours from discharging contaminated wastewater from its processing plant into the Cape Fear River, which has helped reduce the pollutant, but historic discharges have left significant groundwater contamination, according to DEQ.
Under an agreement with the state, in 2023 the company built an underground wall along the Cape Fear River to block contaminated groundwater from reaching the stream and installed extraction wells to capture the water, which is then treated to remove the chemicals.
Environmental advocacy groups are challenging the EPA’s plan to drop the standards for GenX and other PFAS, which is still in litigation.
While states cannot weaken federal environmental rules, they can develop rules that are stricter than federal standards.
Members of the Environmental Management Commission expressed the need for some urgency in moving forward with the development of statewide rules on Thursday. The group took up two sets of “monitoring and minimization rules”: one for three types of PFAS – PFOS, PFOA and GenX – and another for 1,4-Dioxane.
The PFAS rules would require sampling of water taken into water treatment plants and water discharged by industries.
The 1,4-Dioxane rules are targeted at the industries most likely to discharge it.
Both would require baseline sampling after the rules go into effect, then quarterly sampling to check for amounts of pollutants above the “lowest reporting concentration.”
If pollutants exceed those concentrations, the operation would have to develop a plan to reduce or eliminate the pollutant.
Some board members were frustrated by the lack of specific numerical limits in the proposals and asked to send them back to committee until thresholds could be set.
“If we want to do a ‘monitoring’ rule, I’m for it,” Commissioner Robin Smith said. “But we should not call this a ‘minimization’ rule,” because it lacks pollution level targets.
Still, the board voted to put both proposed rules out for public comment and public hearing.
Solomon repeatedly assured fellow commissioners that the board will later establish specific thresholds for the chemicals along with enforcement plans.
Fuquay-Varina wants to import water from Sanford
The southern Wake County town of Fuquay-Varina now buys its water from the City of Raleigh and Johnston County, both in the Neuse River Basin, and from Harnett County in the Cape Fear River Basin.
But the town, which has been one of the fastest-growing in the state, will lose its purchasing contracts with Raleigh and Johnston County in the next few years and can’t meet its needs by purchasing from Harnett County.
So the town has applied to the state for permission to make an inter-basin transfer, purchasing up to 6.17 million gallons of water a day from the City of Sanford, which lies in the Cape Fear River Basin.
The problem? The town would discharge much of the used water into the Neuse River Basin, resulting in a net loss of water from the Cape Fear.
Operators of several large drinking water systems downstream of where the water would be diverted in Sanford complained during public hearings that the transfer could leave them vulnerable to water shortages during drought and water quality problems because pollutants would be less diluted.
The state is taking public comment on the proposal through April 1.
The Environmental Management Commission would have to approve the transfer request.
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This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 12:55 PM with the headline "As EPA tries to loosen PFAS rules, NC regulators inch toward statewide protections."
