GAO Report On EPA PFAS NPDWR Cost Analysis

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a Q&A Report to Congressional Committees entitled, “Persistent Chemicals: Information on EPA’s Analysis of Costs for its PFAS Drinking Water Regulation.” This report was developed to address the provision in the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act to review the cost estimates supporting EPA’s PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR). Since this issue is the subject of ongoing litigation, the GAO’s work focused on whether EPA sought and published public comment on various elements of the analysis of costs, as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). GAO did not evaluate the quality of the estimates.

The report provides information about EPA’s regulatory development process and the estimated benefits and costs of the PFAS NPDWR. It also notes the May 14, 2025, EPA announcement for making changes. The report’s key takeaways are that:

• EPA sought and published public comment on the cost estimate the agency prepared for its PFAS drinking water regulation, as required by SDWA.
• EPA’s initial estimate of quantifiable costs for the proposed regulation was lower than the revised estimate for the final regulation. The revised estimate was higher, in part, due to changes EPA made in response to public comments and newly available data.
• EPA also published descriptions of nonquantifiable costs and sources of uncertainty, as required by SDWA.

For more information, visit read the report here.