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ARTICLE · 27 JANUARY 2026

D.C. Circuit Rejects EPA's Bid To Partially Vacate PFAS Drinking Water Rule

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On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied EPA's request to partially vacate portions of its 2024 PFAS drinking water rule in American Water Works Association, et al....

United StatesEnvironment
Michael C. Mims
Michael C. Mims
Emily von Qualen
Emily von Qualen
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On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied EPA's request to partially vacate portions of its 2024 PFAS drinking water rule in American Water Works Association, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 24-1188. In a short per curiam order, a unanimous three-judge panel (Judges Millett, Pan, and Garcia) concluded that "the merits of the parties' positions are not so clear as to warrant summary action," and refused to unwind the rule while the case proceeds on the merits. The decision keeps the Biden-era standards fully in place—for now.

The case arises from EPA's first-ever National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) establishing enforceable limits for six PFAS compounds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Water sector petitioners, including the American Water Works Association and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, challenged the rule as technically flawed and procedurally defective. After the

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