Lynn L. Bergeson Quoted in C&EN Article “Federal PFAS action may slow, but not state efforts or litigation”

On January 6, 2026, comments by Lynn L. Bergeson were featured in Chemical & Engineering News’s article regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) move to roll back limits on certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water while state efforts to regulate PFAS show no signs of slowing down.

The EPA is also working to roll back some PFAS reporting requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act, reporting that was called for in a 2023 rule (PDF). In November, the EPA proposed changes to that rule, most notably for imports of certain PFAS-containing products, such as textiles, cookware, electronics, and car parts, to be exempt from reporting requirements.

“There was a considerable sigh of relief” from industry, says Lynn Bergeson, an attorney and managing partner of the Bergeson & Campbell law firm.

A final rule that closely resembles the proposed rule will likely emerge in the first half of 2026, she tells C&EN.

But companies’ preparations for the Joe Biden–era rule “will not be for naught,” she adds, because states are also creating new requirements. “The tsunami of state PFAS reporting obligations shows no sign of abating.”

With attention focused on midterm elections in 2026, legislative and regulatory action will likely slow down at the federal level. “I would expect there to be PFAS initiatives, but maybe not as robust or as numerous as in other years, because politics is everything,” Bergeson says.

But at the state level, she expects momentum to continue. “States have picked up on a sense that the federal government has retreated a little bit from limiting and restricting PFAS and have really rushed to fill a perceived void,” she says. “Every single state at some point is going to be enacting, if it has not already, reporting obligations and/or product restrictions on PFAS.”

See – https://cen.acs.org/policy/chemical-regulation/Federal-PFAS-action-slow-state/104/web/2026/01