All Knowledge & Insights By Date

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the release of an enforcement advisory letter on October 17, 2023, to manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of food packaging and cookware, alerting them to their obligations under AB 1200, a recently enacted statute that restricts the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging and imposes labeling disclosure requirements for cookware. Bonta also issued a consumer alert with tips for reducing PFAS exposures. The...

The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) is holding its 31st fall conference October 11-13, 2023, in Washington, D.C. On October 12, 2023, in his remarks at the conference, David Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), stated that EPA will not pursue per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) enforcement actions against farmers who used biosolids,...

On October 8, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) announced that he vetoed a number of bills, including AB 727, which would prohibit, by 2026, the manufacture, distribution, or sale of cleaning products that contain intentionally added per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and would apply this ban, by 2028, to floor sealer or floor finish products. Newsom’s veto message notes that the bill is one of three single-product chemical bans passed by the legislature to...

On October 2, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced 30 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners, recognizing their achievements in the design, manufacture, and the selection and use of cleaners, detergents, and other products with safer chemicals. EPA states that the Safer Choice program helps consumers and purchasers of facilities, such as schools and office buildings, find cleaning and other products containing chemical ingredients that are safer alternatives for...

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) published two Requests for Comments (RFC) on two planned per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) rulemakings in the September 25, 2023, State Register, the PFAS in Products Reporting Rule (Revisor ID Number R-4828) and the PFAS in Products Fees Rule (Revisor ID Number R-4827). Comments on the RFCs are due by 4:30 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday, November 28, 2023....

On September 28, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a long-overdue final rule under Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regarding reporting and recordkeeping requirements for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). As discussed below, the final rule is not what many of us expected, nor wanted. EPA states that the reporting rule is a statutory requirement under the fiscal year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that requires...

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) publicly released a report on September 27, 2023, entitled “Persistent Chemicals: Detecting, Limiting Exposure To, and Treating PFAS Contamination.” According to GAO, examples of how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) enter the environment include: GAO’s recommendations, published in earlier reports, include: GAO states that it has ongoing work examining public water systems’ implementation of PFAS treatment methods and efforts to...

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a request for information (RFI) on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used in commerce or potentially used in consumer products, potential exposures associated with the use of PFAS in consumer products, and potential human health effects associated with exposures to PFAS from their use in consumer products. 88 Fed. Reg. 64890. CPSC also announced the availability of a contractor report with a focus on PFAS that are...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 21, 2023, that the Office of Compliance within the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has released an updated version of the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Analytic Tools. The tools are hosted on EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website. EPA states that the data visualization tools enable users to evaluate what is known about PFAS manufacturing, releases, and occurrence in...

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) published a blog item on September 18, 2023, entitled “Now’s the Time — How EPA Can Use TSCA to Turn Off the PFAS Tap.” According to EDF, for both previously approved per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and for new PFAS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should: EDF concludes that by using its full authority under TSCA, “EPA can ensure a future where chemicals do not compromise our health and...