August 6, 2026 - This week, Senators and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) members Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and 24 of their Democratic colleagues demanded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdraw their proposal to roll back drinking water protections—which, if finalized, would remove federal public health limits on the amount of certain PFAS compounds in our drinking water.  

The senators emphasized that removing these health limits will expose Americans to unsafe levels of chemicals that have been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, immune suppression problems, developmental harm, thyroid disease, pregnancy complications, and liver damage.   

“Safe drinking water is not a partisan issue. Families across the country expect that when they turn on the tap, their water is safe to drink. Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure EPA relies on the best available science to protect public health—not to weaken existing protections once the science has been established,” the senators wrote.    

Despite the administration touting their ‘Make America Healthy Again’ (MAHA) agenda, if enacted, EPA’s proposal would rescind the 2024 National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for PFAS and delay compliance for the PFOA and PFOS standards from 2029 to 2031—putting the health of millions of Americans at risk.    

“As far back as the 1950s, scientists observed that PFAS compounds could accumulate in human bloodstreams. It took decades of advocacy and heroic scientific research to reach the historic moment in 2024 when EPA finally promulgated the very first national drinking water standards for PFAS compounds. We cannot afford to go backwards and make Americans’ health worse,” the senators concluded.    

Kelly has long fought to protect Arizona’s water from PFAS contamination. In April 2025, he introduced bipartisan legislation to give states the ability to address PFAS contamination in private wells. In November 2025, he pressed Pentagon officials over delays in PFAS cleanup on military sites in Arizona. In July 2026, Kelly demanded the Department of Defense for answers on why they are delaying chemical cleanups at those Arizona military sites.  

In addition to Kelly, the letter is signed by Ranking Member of the EPW Committee Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Edward Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).  

Click here to read the full text of the letter. 

Source: Senator Mark Kelly