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Citing risks to the food supply and animals, the coalition is demanding EPA set rules on “forever chemicals” in biosolids.

A spreader applies sewage sludge to a farm field Feb. 17 in Wellston, Oklahoma. Joshua A. Bickel/AP

Numerous farmers and advocacy groups are continuing their push for court-ordered EPA regulations on fertilizer containing “forever chemicals.”

The farming coalition on Tuesday filed its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, nearly two months after a federal district court judge dismissed the group’s complaint alleging the agency’s slow pace violates the Clean Water Act.

EPA in the final days of the Biden administration released a draft assessment detailing the risks of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, found as contaminants in treated sewage sludge used as fertilizer. The Trump administration did not list plans to finalize the assessment in its latest regulatory agenda update.

The five Texas farmers who originally brought the lawsuit said the spread of PFAS from biosolids has harmed their animals’ health and severely limited their abilities to grow crops. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and the Potomac Riverkeeper Network joined the suit as well.

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