Update – March 21, 2026
The House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy will hold a hearing on HF 4257 on March 24, 2026, at 1 p.m. CDT. The bill’s sponsor has also introduced an amendment that would delete its CUU provisions but retain the proposed extension of the reporting deadline.
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A Minnesota lawmaker has introduced legislation to delay and narrow the scope of Minnesota’s PFAS reporting requirements ahead of the current July 1, 2026, deadline for manufacturers to file initial reports with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
Minnesota HF 4257, introduced March 12, 2026, would postpone initial notifications for manufacturers of products with intentionally added PFAS to July 1, 2027. The bill would also limit reporting to products manufactured on or after that date, meaning products made before July 1, 2027, could be sold without any reporting obligation.
In addition, the bill would designate numerous PFAS uses—including fluoropolymers—as currently unavoidable uses (CUUs). Products falling within these categories would be exempt from both the reporting requirements and the broader prohibition on products containing intentionally added PFAS, which will take effect in 2032.
HF 4257 would not change the substance of the reporting requirements, which were finalized by MPCA in December 2025. It would also leave existing PFAS prohibitions for 11 product categories unchanged.
Meanwhile, MPCA is developing a rule to implement the state’s CUU framework, including a draft concept released last month that is currently open for public comment.
Currently Unavoidable Uses in HF 4257
The complete list of CUUs proposed by HF 4257 is as follows:
- Cooling, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, or refrigeration equipment.
- Veterinary products regulated by FDA, USDA, or EPA.
- Public health and water-quality testing products.
- Products required to meet DOT, FAA, NASA, DOD, or DHS standards.
- Motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment.
- Watercraft and aircraft.
- Semiconductors.
- Non-consumer electronics and laboratory equipment.
- Products using PFAS as a substitute for an ozone-depleting substance under EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy program.
- Electricity generation, distribution, and storage products.
- Solid fluoropolymers.
- Products with PFAS in electronic or internal components.
- Complex manufactured goods with 100 or more components and an intended useful life of five or more years.
- Electronic or mechanical devices with an intended useful life of three or more years whose components would be impracticable to redesign or replace.
- Product components of the previous two categories.
- Equipment used in the manufacture or maintenance of all the foregoing categories.
Existing Minnesota law also allows MPCA to designate uses as CUUs upon manufacturer request. MPCA is currently developing a rule to implement this CUU mechanism, which is largely undefined in statute.
CUUs designated through this regulatory process would differ from those proposed in HF 4257 in two important respects. First, MPCA-granted CUU status would exempt products only from the 2032 prohibition, not from reporting requirements. Second, MPCA designations are expected to carry expiration dates, whereas the CUUs listed in HF 4257 would not expire.
Draft CUU Rule Concept
In February 2026, MPCA released a draft rule concept outlining how manufacturers could request CUU status.
The draft rule concept proposes a January 2030 deadline for CUU requests for existing products, which would allow sufficient time for agency review before the January 2032 prohibition takes effect. Requests submitted after this deadline, including those for new products, would be termed “novel products” and reviewed on a lower-priority basis.
To apply, manufacturers would need to provide:
- An explanation of why the use of PFAS in the product is “essential for health, safety, or the functioning of society” and explain how the lack of PFAS in that product would disrupt the service it provides.
- Information on reasonably available alternatives to either the product itself or the intentionally added PFAS within the product.
- If applicable, the “extreme conditions of use” that require intentionally added PFAS for the product to provide its service.
- Any finalized CUU determinations made by other jurisdictions in the US, and information on restrictions on the sale or use of PFAS in the same product or product category both within and outside the US.
Upon receiving a request, MPCA would first assess completeness and allow applicants 30 days to correct any deficiencies. The agency would then open a 30-day public comment period, followed by a 30-day applicant rebuttal period.
Approved CUU requests—referred to by MPCA as “positive” determinations—would be valid for eight years for existing products and five years for novel products. Positive determinations could be renewed, with renewal applications due one year before expiration. All renewals would be valid for five years, regardless of whether the product is classified as existing or novel.
Comments on the draft rule concept are due March 29, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. CDT. Submit comments here. More information is available on MPCA’s website.
