New State Laws on PFAS in Products Pose Compliance Challenges – Journal Important Internet

States crossways the land move to add to the ontogeny puff of restrictions for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in products, move challenges for those who manufacture, distribute, and delude products in the U.S. In 2024 alone, states introduced nearly 250 bills addressing PFAS, including restrictions for PFAS in products. Thirteen states hit already enacted laws curb PFAS in products, including (as previously reported) Minnesota and California. In the instance some months, Maine, Colorado, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island hit connected the list, apiece with its possess unequalled and nuanced ordered of requirements, deadlines and exemptions. The variations in these land laws presents a complicated deference matrix, necessitating an conversant and strategic approach, specially for companies navigating the complexities of extensive, orbicular cater chains. Below, we wage our psychotherapy of these newborn laws that companies commerce products in these states should be alive of.

Maine’s LD 1537

On Apr 16, 2024, the Governor of Maine subscribed into law LD 1537 which significantly scales backwards LD 1503, the state’s preceding forbiddance and news requirements for products containing designedly additional PFAS.

• Reporting Requirements Significantly Scaled Back and Delayed Until 2032

LD 1537 eliminates the preceding news responsibility for all products containing designedly additional PFAS oversubscribed in the land of Maine. Companies were originally required to inform to the land by Jan 1, 2023; but, cod to momentous concerns by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) most feat of this requirement, the assembly had touched the news deadline to Jan 1, 2025. Now, LD 1537 extends this deadline to Jan 1, 2032. Further, the accumulation today exclusive requires news for products containing designedly additional PFAS that DEP deems to be “currently unavoidable uses” kinda than all products. Manufacturers that land 100 or less grouping are also today privileged from reporting.

• Reporting Standard Established

The accumulation also establishes that news is exclusive required to the extent the aggregation is “known to or fairly ascertainable” by the submitter. “Known to or fairly determinable by” means, with attitude to a person, every aggregation in the person’s cacoethes or curb as substantially as every aggregation that a commonsensible mortal similarly situated strength be due to possess, curb or know. Maine candid borrowed this constituent from the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)’s news accepted for its panoptic PFAS news conception (for more info most this news standard, see our journal post about the TSCA PFAS rule).

• “Currently Unavoidable Uses” Further Defined

“Currently unavoidable uses” of PFAS (which are mortal to the news requirement) effectuation a ingest of PFAS that DEP has observed by conception to be primary for health, country or the functional of gild and for which alternatives are not fairly available. The accumulation today clarifies that “essential for health, country or the functional of society” effectuation ingest of a PFAS in a creation when the duty provided by the PFAS is needed for the creation to action as intended, much that the inconvenience of the PFAS for ingest in the creation would drive the creation to be unavailable, which would termination in: (1) a momentous impact in perverse upbeat outcomes; (2) an calibre to mitigate momentous risks to manlike upbeat or the environment; or (3) a momentous flutter of the regular functions on which gild relies.

The accumulation also clarifies that “alternative” effectuation a center that, if utilised in locate of a PFAS in a product, would termination in a functionally equal creation and would turn the possibleness for alteration to manlike upbeat or the environment, or that has not been shown to bear the aforementioned or greater possibleness alteration to manlike upbeat or the surround as the PFAS. This includes a reformulated edition of a creation in which the designedly additional PFAS has been distant and changes to a product’s manufacturing impact that termination in the remotion of the PFAS from the product.

Currently unavoidable uses are privileged from the prohibitions of the conception for fivesome eld from the trenchant fellow or within fivesome eld of the currently unavoidable ingest determination, whichever is longer.

• Series of Product Bans, Followed by Ban for All Products Containing Intentionally Added PFAS, Including Fluorinated Containers

The accumulation maintains Maine’s underway edict on carpets or rugs containing PFAS (which was trenchant Jan 1, 2023) but adds exemptions to this ban, including but not restricted to, rugs or carpets solely for exterior ingest and staged turf. Fabric treatments containing PFAS also move to be illegal (effective Jan 1, 2023), and the accumulation clarifies that modify if artifact act does not contain PFAS, the creation is ease illegal if it is oversubscribed or diffuse in a fluorinated container or a container that otherwise contains designedly additional PFAS.

Maine module forbiddance the mass products containing intentionally-added PFAS play on these individual dates. Notably, the bans also administer to the traded products if they are in fluorinated containers (even if the creation exclusive the container does not allow PFAS).

The accumulation also creates newborn exemptions from the accumulation for the mass products that allow designedly additional PFAS:

• Products for which federal accumulation governs the proximity of PFAS (carried over from example law)
• Packaging eliminate when the collection is the creation of the concern (carried over from example law). This waiver is not practical to the collection of a creation that is illegal from understanding if the collection is a fluorinated container or container that otherwise contains designedly additional PFAS
• Semiconductors, including equipment and materials utilised in manufacturing
• Used creation or utilised creation component
• Firefighting or fire-suppressing foam
• Medical devices, drugs, etc., and products thermostated by the FDA
• Veterinary products thermostated by the FDA, USDA, or EPA
• Products matured for open health, environmental, or liquid calibre testing
• Products required to foregather standards or requirements of the DOT, FAA, NASA, DOD, or DHS
• Motor vehicles and locomote container equipment
• Watercraft
• Non-consumer work equipment or electronics
• Equipment candid utilised in the concoct or utilization of the above-exempted products
• Firefighting foam
• Used products or creation components
• Retailers are privileged from the bans unless the merchandiser has conventional a asking that the understanding of the PFAS-containing creation is prohibited

Colorado SB 24-081

On May 1, 2024, the Governor of river subscribed into law SB24-081, which expands the state’s underway restrictions on products containing designedly additional PFAS (Colorado already has publicised restrictions for PFAS in carpets and rugs, artifact treatments, matter packaging, someone products, lubricator and pedal products, textile furnishings, upholstered furniture, and cosmetics). The newborn accumulation adds the mass products to Colorado’s itemize of prohibitions:

The accumulation also creates newborn exemptions for the mass products that allow designedly additional PFAS:

• Medical devices, drugs, biologics or medicine utilised in a scrutiny environment or in scrutiny applications thermostated by the FDA
• Veterinary liquid and parasiticide products authorised by EPA or USDA
• Packaging utilised for these exempted products

Connecticut SB 292

On June 5, 2024, the Governor of America subscribed into law SB 292. The accumulation imposes restrictions on the mass products containing designedly additional PFAS:

Vermont S.25

On May 30, 2024, the Governor of Vermont subscribed into law S.25, repealing the preceding accumulation addressing PFAS in different products and enacting a broader creation forbiddance in its place. The accumulation imposes restrictions on the mass products:

Rhode Island S. 2152

On June 26, 2024, the Governor of Rhode Island subscribed into law S. 2152, the Comprehensive PFAS Ban Act. This accumulation prohibits designedly additional PFAS in different products oversubscribed in the state, as distinct below:

Tracking State PFAS Restrictions

The Hunton naturalist Kurth PFAS in Products State Law Tracker is a publically reachable agency to support companies road land statutes and regulations that forbiddance or bill news or revealing requirements for products containing PFAS. As states move to impact requirements for products containing PFAS, companies hunt to reassert deference and combative plus should oppose a multi-pronged PFAS strategy to guardian and embellish old with these apace aborning laws, civilize interior playing teams to improve cognisance of the requirements, vow in legislative and restrictive advocacy to essay needed exemptions, set the proximity of PFAS in their cater chains, writing deference efforts, and study client act strategies. Because legislatures module move to amend existing laws and take newborn ones, businesses should also enquire experienced direction for more broad aggregation on germane land laws.