Brace yourself if you are in the finishing business, whether it be electroplating, anodizing, powder coating, or any other type of process.
The upcoming years could be a rocky one for regulations, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that by July 2026, it will have issued its "Revisions to the Metal Finishing Effluent Guidelines to Address PFAS Discharges in Chromium Electroplating Wastewater."
If you recall, the EPA is revising the Metal Finishing Effluent Limitation Guidelines at 40 C.F.R. Part 433 to address discharges of PFAS in wastewater from chromium electroplating facilities. You can read more on this in our News section in an article by attorneys Lynn Bergeson and Carla Hutton from the Bergeson & Campbell law firm.
This is data the EOA collected in 2023 and 2024 from over 2,400 finishing operations it surveyed. If you were one of the shops that received the survey, you may recall how extensive the almost 80 pages of questions were, and especially how invasive they were as well.
Of course, everyone in the industry has been expecting these results to come out at some point, but it should make things a bit nervous — or could it be more nervous? — as the industry braces for what level of restrictions the EPA is going to impose on finishing operations with these new PFAS rules.
And yes, this would apply not only to metal finishers but also to anyone who sends treated wastewater to municipal drains, which includes some powder coaters as well.
We have heard that the current administration wants to reduce the number of regulations imposed by the EPA on industry. Additionally, we have also heard that PFAS rules will be rolled back, rather than strangling the U.S. manufacturing sector and public water systems.
However, don't bet on it; although it may seem the foot is coming off the throttle somewhat, the current EPA administrator still singled out the metal finishing industry as a targeted sector for PFAS enforcement shortly after being confirmed. Just when you think you know what is coming, things can get even more baffling.
We'll continue to follow this closely to bring you the most up-to-date information. These decisions will affect nearly all finishers, whether anodizing, plating, or powder coating. Any decision will have an impact on the industry. We just hope it is not as crippling as we expected before the surveys went out. Now it’s time to see what the data holds.
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A follow-up to my column a few months ago about the late Brian Dancy, the former owner of United Metal Finishing in Greensboro, NC, who passed away at age 54 earlier this year from cancer. Brian's dream was to be a business owner, and he purchased UMF in 2019, only to be diagnosed with the disease just a short time later.
I received a note from my friend John Cutchin at Palmetto Plating in Easley, SC, from Brian's wife, Anna. John shared my column with her, and she sent John this note, which I wanted to share here:
"I appreciate so much the article from FinishingAndCoating.com on Brian. It made me cry! I shared with his family, and they all appreciated it as well. I hardly ever go to Facebook anymore, but I posted the article there and have a ton of comments. That was kind and thoughtful of you, and it is nice to see how many lives Brian touched. I hope I have given him enough credit when he was still with us; I am learning more and more about him and the people he met (and some he hadn’t!). It’s comforting to see his memory live on. Thanks, and Love, Anna."
Well said, and you are welcome.
Tim Pennington is Editor-in-Chief of Finishing and Coating, and has covered the industry since 2010. He has traveled extensively throughout North America visiting shops and production facilities, and meeting those who work in the industry. Tim began his career in the newspaper industry, then wound itself between the sports field with the PGA Tour and marketing and communications firms, and finally back into the publishing world in the finishing and coating sector. If you want to reach Tim, just go 
