A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sewage sludge.
The lawsuit, filed in June 2024 by farmers and public health organizations, argued that the EPA has a duty under the Clean Water Act to regulate PFAS in sewage sludge, often applied to farmland as fertilizer. The plaintiffs said the agency failed to act despite growing evidence of health and environmental risks linked to the persistent chemicals.
More than half of the sewage sludge produced in the U.S. is spread on agricultural land, according to EPA data, while the rest is composted, landfilled, or incinerated. The issue has drawn national attention as farmers report contamination of soil, crops, and livestock, that they say is traced to biosolids originating from wastewater treatment plants.
In Johnson County, Texas, local farmers involved in the case said their animals showed PFAS levels hundreds of times higher than state health limits after biosolids were spread on nearby land. They argued the EPA’s inaction left them without federal recourse.
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“The decision is particularly unfortunate, because EPA has long known that PFAS from biosolids end up in our nation’s food and water supply,” announced Laura Dumais, staff counsel at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which represented the plaintiffs. She suggested that the EPA became aware of the problem almost 20 years ago.
Biosolids processors and industry groups have pushed back against tighter federal regulation, saying wastewater plants are “passive receivers” of PFAS pollution from industrial sources upstream. Synagro, one of the largest biosolids companies in the U.S. and a defendant in a related civil case in Texas, has denied responsibility for the contamination alleged by local farmers.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), which represents public utilities and intervened on the EPA’s behalf, welcomed the court’s decision. Agreeing with arguments made by NACWA and the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of EPA, the court held that the Clean Water Act does not require EPA to identify and regulate new pollutants in biosolids within a particular timeframe. The court also held that EPA’s failure to list new pollutants in biosolids as potentially toxic to human health or the environment does not constitute a “final” agency action subject to court challenges.
“NACWA fought to intervene in the litigation over PEER’s strenuous objections to ensure that the voice of the public clean water utilities responsible for managing biosolids every day was heard by the court, and to try to prevent biosolids regulations from being promulgated as a result of piecemeal private lawsuits rather than well-established, transparent Clean Water Act processes,” the association announced in an October 2 statement.
The September 29 ruling leaves unresolved how PFAS in sewage sludge will ultimately be addressed as calls grow for stricter national standards on the chemicals. However, the court also noted that the plaintiffs could submit a petition to EPA to request that the agency initiate rulemaking to regulate any PFAS pollutant, regardless of whether that pollutant had been identified in EPA’s biosolids report.
NACWA joined DC-area legislators to discuss PFAS & biosolids — emphasizing practical, science-based solutions. Collaboration among MD, VA & DC utilities is driving real progress toward sustainable biosolids management. Read more: https://t.co/YBCfOLVpL8 pic.twitter.com/iYUBwwavdQ
— NACWA (@NACWA) October 17, 2025
