Arizona’s Kris Mayes is among a group of 19 attorneys general opposing the Trump administration's plans to roll back PFAS restrictions for drinking water.
PFAS are widely-used, human-made chemicals that don’t break down naturally. Exposure has been linked to health issues, including some cancers.
The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency introduced the first drinking water regulations for some of the most prominent PFAS compounds in 2024. Now, the same agency is proposing to eliminate regulations for some chemicals and extend the time utilities have to comply with the regulations for PFOS and PFOA — the two remaining compounds with regulations.
In a multipage response to the proposal, Mayes and other officials say PFAS are a danger to public health that their states have long urged Congress and the EPA to address. The chemicals have been detected in Tucson’s groundwater as well as in public water systems statewide.
They attorneys general argue the agency cannot wholly rescind a regulation once it has been finalized. Their letter is one of more than 50,000 responses to the EPA's call for public comment on the proposed change.
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A new study says the tiny alpine streams that feed rivers like the Colorado are seeing less groundwater-fed streamflow. That could have a cascading effect. -
The reservoir, which straddles the Arizona-Nevada border, has suffered due to an imbalance between supply and demand for Colorado River water. -
As communities across the West keep a close eye on water supplies and wildfire risk, a new federal drought forecast highlights where relief may be on the way, and where dry conditions are likely to continue. -
The largest reservoir in the United States has plummeted to its lowest water level since it was created some 90 years ago. Federal data shows Lake Mead fell Friday to a level just below the prior record-low set in July 2022. -
Federal officials said Thursday they will not release cool water this year from one of the Colorado River's major reservoirs, which would have protected a threatened native fish downstream but put more strain on already struggling hydropower production.
