The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed changes to reporting requirements imposed on companies that manufactured or imported per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), otherwise known as “forever chemicals,” the agency said in a Nov. 10 statement.
In October 2023, the EPA, under the Biden administration, finalized a one-time reporting and recordkeeping regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act for PFAS. Exposure to these chemicals has been associated with several serious illnesses, including birth defects and cancers.
The reporting regulation requires businesses that dealt with PFAS at any time between 2011 and 2022 to report data related to exposure, and any existing environmental and health effects resulting from PFAS-related activities to the EPA.
“The rule exemplifies regulatory overreach by imposing a nearly billion-dollar compliance burden on industry without establishing any clear framework for utilizing the collected data or demonstrating how it advances environmental protection goals,” the agency stated.
“The rule’s lack of practical implementation standards, evidenced by significant IT system failures and administrative delays, represents poor regulatory design that unnecessarily burdens small businesses and importers while failing to achieve meaningful environmental outcomes.”
The EPA is now proposing to change the scope of the reporting regulations. Specifically, the EPA wants to provide reporting exemptions for things such as imported articles, research and development chemicals, certain byproducts, and mixtures or products containing PFAS at concentrations of 0.1 percent or lower.
These exemptions will maintain critical PFAS reporting requirements while exempting the PFAS-related activities least known or understood by businesses, the EPA said.
According to the EPA, the proposal seeks to make regulations more practical and implementable while cutting down “unnecessary, or potentially duplicative” reporting requirements.
“This Biden-era rule would have imposed crushing regulatory burdens,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said.
“Today’s proposal is grounded in common sense and the law, allowing us to collect the information we need to help combat PFAS contamination without placing ridiculous requirements on manufacturers, especially the small businesses that drive our country’s economy.”
The EPA’s decision to relax PFAS reporting rules comes amid concerns about the effect of these chemicals on people’s health.
According to a July 22 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PFAS have been used in consumer and industry products since the 1940s and are used in products such as water-repellant clothing, firefighting foams, stain-resistant fabrics and carpets, products resistant to oil or water, and some cosmetics.
PFAS can end up accumulating in soil, water, and air. Most of these chemicals do not break down. As they percolate through the environment and food chain, PFAS enter the blood of people and animals, building up in the body over time with each exposure, according to the agency.
The CDC stated that PFAS could be linked to increases in cholesterol levels, decreases in birth weight, kidney and testicular cancer, and changes in liver enzymes. The health risk posed by PFAS depends on factors such as the dose and frequency of exposure, the sensitivity of the individual, and access to safe water.
In 2023, an EPA report revealed that forever chemicals were present in the water systems across the United States. This followed an earlier study released that year by the U.S. Geological Survey, which found PFAS was present in 45 percent of water taps in the country.
Reporting Requirements
The PFAS reporting rule had initially required businesses to begin their reporting from November 2024. This was delayed to July. And in May, the EPA once more delayed the beginning of reporting to April 13, 2026, with the end date for submission set for Oct. 13, 2026.
In June 12 comments submitted to the EPA, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, a water conservation group, had raised concerns about delaying the reporting period.
“We have concerns that with every week and month we continue to delay this reporting, we put the health and safety of West Virginians and Americans at further risk,” it stated.
However, the National Association of Manufacturers, representing 14,000 manufacturers in the United States, welcomed the prolonging of reporting requirements in its June 12 comments submitted to the EPA.
“[The delay grants] more time for manufacturers to comply with the rule. Manufacturers welcome this much-needed submission period change, and we appreciate the EPA taking steps to make the Biden administration rule more workable for our industry,” it stated.
