EPA Issues Draft Guidance on PFOA and PFOS Use in Biosolids

On June 29, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Draft Guidance Memorandum titled "Draft Guidance for Reducing Risk from Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonic Acid (PFOS) in Biosolids" (Draft Guidance) with the corresponding Federal Register notice published on July 6, 2026. The Draft Guidance is framed as providing non-binding, voluntary recommendations to operators of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), landowners, farmers, state and Tribal water agencies, and the public on ways to mitigate risks from PFOA and PFOS in biosolids applied to land. The guidance does not have the force and effect of law and does not supersede existing federal, state, Tribal, or local requirements. Notably, EPA acknowledges that the previous Biden-era Draft Risk Assessment contained "a number of serious flaws" — including a failure to conduct a national survey, reliance on higher-risk hypothetical scenarios not reflective of the majority of land application practices, and the use of a 1 ppb concentration that was misinterpreted as a "safe level".

EPA's specific recommendations for bulk land appliers include avoiding land application near fishable waters and drinking water sources, avoiding areas accessible to children under five, favoring lower-risk crops (grain, fiber, ethanol corn), and generally avoiding agricultural practices with higher risks for human exposure. The guidance also highlights that several states have already enacted tiered concentration thresholds (e.g., Michigan at 100 ppb PFOS, Virginia at 50 ppb PFOA or PFOS) and that two states — Maine and Connecticut — have outright banned land application of WWTP biosolids. The EPA is soliciting feedback from the public and industry participants on practices for reducing risk, the adequacy of its recommendations, potential future land use considerations, and next steps for the Draft Risk Assessment.

If finalized, the Draft Guidance could significantly disrupt the entire biosolids land application chain. For WWTPs, the recommendations to implement source identification, pollution prevention, and PFAS monitoring programs will increase operational costs at a time when nearly 60% of the nation's sewage sludge is land applied as the most cost-effective disposal option, and alternative disposal capacity through landfills and incinerators is already limited in many areas. For companies in the biosolid land application business, the Draft Guidance's recommendations to avoid application near water features, areas accessible to children (including speculatively "in the future"), and on anything other than "lower risk crops" could dramatically shrink the universe of eligible application sites, undermining the core business model of nationwide biosolid application. For agricultural businesses, the combined effect of potential monitoring and testing costs, stigmatization of biosolids as a soil amendment, and the growing patchwork of state-level concentration thresholds and outright bans, resulting in "significant issues and cost increases for utilities," will drive up the cost of both biosolid-based fertilizers and the chemical fertilizer alternatives farmers would be forced to turn to, while simultaneously depressing land values for properties with a history of biosolid application and exposing landowners to uncertain future-use liability.

The deadline for public comments on the Draft Guidance memorandum is September 4, 2026.