Recent State Activity on PFAS Regulation

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Since January 2022, many states have passed and proposed dozens of laws regulating PFAS substances.  These legislative efforts address topics including setting drinking water standards for PFAS, banning PFAS in consumer products, banning or restricting the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS, and adding PFAS substances to toxic and hazardous substances lists.

Virginia and Washington will soon adopt regulations establishing maximum contaminant levels for drinking water.  Indiana and Rhode Island have also proposed doing so.  California is considering legislation that would establish a Central Basin Communities water fund that would, in-part, offset treatment costs of PFAS-contaminated public water systems.

Minnesota, California, and Rhode Island have proposed legislation that would ban the use of PFAS in consumer products.  Products that would be subject to these bans range from cosmetics and cookware to carpets and clothing.

Arkansas, California, Illinois, Maine, and Louisiana have passed laws banning or restricting the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS.  Rhode Island and Ohio have proposed legislation that would restrict the use of firefighting foams.

Minnesota has added PFAS substances to its list of Toxic and Hazardous Substances.  California has added PFAS to the list of substances subject to Prop 65.  A Rhode Island bill would include PFAS in the definition of “hazardous substances” for purposes of industrial property remediation.

Legislative efforts have also addressed notice requirements.  Maine enacted legislation that requires manufacturers to provide notification if any personal, residential, commercial, or industrial product contains PFAS.  A bill pending in the California General Assembly would create a publicly accessible registry of products containing PFAS.  The bill would also require manufacturers to register PFAS-containing products.  A Minnesota bill would require manufacturers of products for sale in the state that contain intentionally added PFAS to provide written notice of the PFAS, its amount, and its purpose.

Other legislative proposals would enact the following:

  • A prohibition on products containing PFAS from being classified as recyclable.
  • A requirement for state-owned solid waste disposal facilities to establish leachate treatment to reduce PFAS.
  • A requirement for screening for PFAS in sludge or sludge-derived compost that is applied to land.
  • A requirement to adopt groundwater quality standards for certain PFAS.
  • A prohibition on the sale of products labeled as “compostable” or “home compostable” if it has a total organic fluorine concentration greater than 100 parts per million (ppm).

Legislators in other states following example set by CA's Safer Consumer Products regulations.

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California led the way in state-level regulation of chemicals in products, and now, other states are beginning to follow its example. Bills pending in both Massachusetts and Vermont are modeled after California’s Safer Consumer Products (SCP) regulations.

In Vermont, the State Senate yesterday voted to approve S. 239, a bill which has provoked controversy in the state and must pass final approval in the Senate today before moving to on to the House. Last week, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture held a hearing on H. 235, which would establish a SCP-like program. The proposals in both states entail creating a list of “priority” chemicals, as in the California program, which would likely be based on existing authoritative lists. Both bills also call for manufacturers to conduct alternatives assessments for certain products containing priority chemicals, and authorize state regulators to ban the sale of certain products. The Vermont bill provides for companies to apply for a waiver, and the Massachusetts bill provides for a range of regulatory responses besides an outright ban.

Various state legislatures are also considering more limited proposals targeting chemicals in children’s products, including Minnesota’s H.F. 605 and Connecticut’s S.B. 126.