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On Wednesday, June 25th, Representative Dan Shagoury’s (D-Hallowell) bill LD 1326 became law. The bill, titled “An Act to Protect the Drinking Water for Consumers of Certain Water Systems by Establishing Maximum Contaminant Levels for Certain Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances,” makes Maine the first state in the nation to formally adopt in statute the federal maximum contaminant levels (MCL) which were published by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2024. Trump’s EPA recently announced that enforcement of the federal law would be delayed, and that the Agency would be stripping drinking water protections for four PFAS, which were initially included in the EPA’s guidance and are still in wide commercial use, and thus continue to enter the environment in large volumes. PFAS can linger in the human body for many decades and have been linked with illnesses including kidney, testicular, and breast cancers, liver disease, thyroid disorders, autoimmune disorders, and reproductive and child development effects and delays. EPA’s standards were created based on evidence of PFAS’s ability to damage the immune systems of children even at very low levels.

LD 1326 will replace Maine’s interim drinking water standard of 20 parts per trillion (ppt) with the original federal standard of 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, 10 ppt for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX, and a combined limit including PFBS.  

In response, Defend Our Health’s Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, Sarah Woodbury, stated:

“Maine continues to lead in protecting its communities from toxic PFAS exposure. When the federal government neglects public health, it’s up to the states to implement policies to safeguard their residents. We are very grateful to Rep. Dan Shagoury for taking a stand on this issue and fighting to protect the health and environment of all Mainers. Rep. Shagoury’s own community has high levels of PFAS in its drinking water, so he understands better than most the importance of this legislation.

This new law extends protection from PFAS to more than 94,000 Mainers served by 87 different public water systems. This is a major win for vulnerable Mainers across the state, and we hope it will inspire other states to once again follow Maine’s lead.”