On October 26, 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stood before an audience in Commerce City, Colorado, to launch the agency’s first comprehensive PFAS Technology, Evaluation, Coordination, and Harmonization strategy – commonly called the PFAS TECH plan. The announcement marks a decisive shift toward coordinated, science-driven action against per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, a class of persistent chemicals that have contaminated drinking water supplies, military sites, and industrial facilities nationwide.
The new roadmap promises a blend of research funding, public-private partnerships, and hands-on pilot projects designed to demonstrate that cutting-edge treatment methods can move from the lab to real-world application. Zeldin emphasized that “technology innovation is essential to accelerating our efforts to address these contaminants,” positioning the strategy as the centerpiece of the administration’s broader clean-water agenda.
Funding mechanisms and partnership network
Central to the PFAS TECH strategy is a robust financing structure. The EPA will channel money through the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant program and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, targeting early-stage inventions that can destroy PFAS molecules or render them harmless. Associate Administrator Teresa Booeshaghi highlighted that one of the first funded projects will conduct full-scale pilot tests to fine-tune drinking-water treatment methods currently deployed across the country.
Beyond federal dollars, the plan calls for a sweeping collaborative effort. Jess Kramer, EPA’s PFAS Lead and Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, noted that public-private alliances will “accelerate technology breakthroughs to reduce PFAS in water while also reducing the cost of treatment to save money.” Partnerships are expected to span state agencies, local water utilities, universities, and private firms developing promising approaches such as foam fractionation, supercritical water oxidation, and other emerging processes.
Pilot-scale demonstrations on the ground
To prove feasibility, the EPA will launch a series of pilot projects at sites that already grapple with PFAS contamination. These include selected Superfund locations, active military installations, municipal wastewater treatment plants, and drinking-water distribution systems. By testing technologies under authentic operating conditions, the agency hopes to lower technical risk and provide communities with clear, scalable cleanup options.
Steven Cook, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management, explained that ongoing pilots range from foam-fractionation units removing PFAS from groundwater to incremental sampling techniques that could dramatically cut monitoring costs. The outcomes will feed directly into user-friendly guidance documents and the newly unveiled Break the Bond Navigator, an online tool that translates complex science into actionable steps for water system operators.
Collectively, these initiatives aim to turn the PFAS TECH strategy from a policy statement into a tangible engine of change, delivering both scientific breakthroughs and practical solutions to the communities most affected by PFAS pollution.
