The Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency this week released a draft guidance document that directly contradicts and undermines a landmark Biden administration risk assessment detailing serious human health risks, including cancer, from the application of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-contaminated sludge to agricultural land. The Biden-era assessment had documented the pathways by which forever chemicals accumulate in soil, groundwater, and crop systems, ultimately contaminating drinking water and food supplies. The EPA's new draft guidance criticizes the methodology and conclusions of the prior assessment without presenting alternative health data, effectively reversing federal acknowledgment of documented risks.

Farmers, farm workers, rural residents, and consumers of food grown on treated land are directly affected by this action. PFAS compounds persist indefinitely in the environment and bioaccumulate in human tissue, with established links to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, and immune suppression. By rejecting the health risk assessment, the Trump EPA removes federal accountability for contamination from industrial sludge application—a common agricultural practice that concentrates forever chemicals in soil and groundwater serving as sources for drinking water wells serving rural communities across the country.

This action follows and escalates the Trump administration's pattern of deprioritizing PFAS contamination despite recent enforcement actions. While the EPA settled a $450 million case against Chemours in April 2026 for PFAS pollution at specific facilities, simultaneously withdrawing scientific risk assessments for broader contamination sources reveals inconsistent policy driven by industry pressure rather than public health. The rejection of the farm contamination assessment contrasts sharply with the Biden approach of using EPA science to establish enforceable standards, placing the Trump administration in alignment with agricultural chemical manufacturers and waste management industries that benefit from unregulated sludge disposal.

The draft guidance is currently open for public comment and has not yet been finalized into binding rule, leaving legal opportunity for environmental and health advocacy groups to challenge the withdrawal of scientific findings. No court has yet intervened, but public health organizations and environmental groups are mobilizing to oppose the guidance's finalization. Reversal would require the Trump administration to reinstate the Biden risk assessment, establish EPA drinking water and agricultural soil standards for PFAS, and enforce remediation requirements for contaminated farmland—actions inconsistent with the current administration's deregulatory agenda.