On May 8, 2026, USEPA withdrew its proposed rule to classify nine PFAS as Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous constituents. The agency stated that existing regulations already provide adequate authority to impose protective permit conditions and that adding the substances could create confusion for regulators and solid waste facility operators. As of 2026, approximately 3,700 to 4,000 priority facilities are undergoing cleanup under the RCRA Corrective Action Program. While the EPA indicates that over 5,000 facilities are generally subject to these statutory authorities, the active “Corrective Action Baseline” or “2020 Baseline” includes 3,779 sites that require focused remediation.
The USEPA proposed rule, published on February 8, 2024 (89 FR 8598), identified nine affected PFAS as follows:
Through the proposed rule, USEPA sought to align its regulations with the RCRA statutory requirement that facilities seeking permits conduct corrective action to address releases not only of substances listed or identified as hazardous waste in the regulations but of any substance that meets the statutory definition of hazardous waste. USEPA particularly intended the rule to provide clear authority to address, through corrective action in permits, releases of emerging contaminants that have not yet been listed or identified as hazardous waste under the regulations.
During the comment period, feedback on the proposed rule argued that it is unnecessary, as nearly all corrective actions address regulatory hazardous wastes and hazardous constituents demonstrated through years of program implementation. USEPA and authorized states have issued only a limited number of permits and section 3008(h) orders addressing substances that were not hazardous waste or hazardous constituents listed or identified by regulation. RCRA section 3005(c)(3) and USEPA’s implementing regulations at § 270.32 require that all permits already include such requirements as are necessary to protect human health and the environment, including any necessary conditions requiring an owner or operator to address releases of substances that are not hazardous waste or hazardous constituents under the regulations.
For these reasons, USEPA has determined that the rule is not necessary.
Additional RCRA Resources:
