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Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) released the legal notice to adopt new rules for reporting and fee program regarding PFAS in products. The new rules seek to clarify the existing PFAS Reporting Rules (Minn. Stat. § 116.943) which requires a manufacturer or a group of manufacturers to report to MPCA information about intentionally added PFAS in products. The public hearing is scheduled to take place on May 22, 2025, by Webex begining at 2pm. Stakeholders can submit comments either orally at the hearing or in writing at any time before the close of the hearing record.
Reporting information
The manufacturers of a product that contains intentionally added PFAS must submit the report to the authority on or before January 1, 2026. The report must include the following information:
a brief description of the product, including a universal product code (UPC), stock keeping unit (SKU), or other numeric code assigned to the product;
the purpose for which PFAS are used in the product, including in any product components;
the amount of each PFAS, identified by its chemical abstracts service registry number, in the product, reported as an exact quantity determined using commercially available analytical methods or as falling within a range approved for reporting purposes by the commissioner;
the name and address of the manufacturer and the name, address, and phone number of a contact person for the manufacturer; and
any additional information requested by the authority.
Under the proposed rules, manufacturers are provided with the options to group similar products and components when reporting if the following criteria are met:
the PFAS chemical composition in the components are the same;
the PFAS chemicals in the components fall into the same reporting concentration ranges;
the PFAS chemicals in the components provide the same function in each product component; and
the components have the same basic form and function in the final product and only differ in size, color, or other superficial qualities that do not impact the composition of the intentionally added PFAS
For PFAS chemicals used in the products or components, both the chemical name and the CAS number(or other chemical identifying number) is required to be reported.
The proposed rules provide chemical concentration ranges to help manufacturers group similar products or components and to conceal sensitive trade secret or confidential business information related to chemical formulations used in the products reported as follows:
Practical detection limit to < 100 parts per million (ppm);
100 ppm to<1,000 ppm (0.1 percent);
1,000 ppm to<10,000 ppm (one percent);
10,000 ppm to<150,000 ppm (15 percent);
50,000 ppm to<300,000 ppm (30 percent);
300,000 ppm to<600,000 ppm (60 percent);
600,000 ppm to<900,000 ppm (90 percent);
90 to 100 percent; or
Present but the amount or concentration range is unknown.
Additionally, it is allowed to report Total Organic Fluorine (TOF) within each product or component if the amount of each PFAS is not known. It is reasonable to provide options to report TOF when a supply chain is not able or not willing to provide exact PFAS data downstream or due to the difficulty and lack of standardized test methods for the majority of PFAS chemicals in various matrices.
Reporting updates
The proposed rules provide clear expectations that updates to the initial report must be submitted annually by February 1 if during the previous 12 months:
a significant change was made to a product;
new product information was provided to a manufacturer; or
a new product was sold, offered for sale, or distributed in or into the state.
Waivers
At the request of manufacturers, MPCA commissioner must waive all or part of the information if it is determined that substantially equivalent information is publicly available. The waiver may reduce redundant PFAS reporting if similar information is required in other states proposing similar PFAS laws. The waiver request by manufacturers must be completed 30 days before the applicable reportin due date.
Extension
MPCA also preserves the authority to extend the deadline for submitting reports. The request for extension by manufacturers must be completed 30 days before the applicable reportin due date.
Confidential business information
A manufacturer may assert the following data as confidential business information in accordance with part 7000.1300:
chemical name;
chemical identifying number; and
specific supply chain information identified in part 7026.0080, subpart 2.
Reporting exemptions
While reiterating the exemptions outlined in the existing PFAS bill, It is now proposed to exempt products that are already reported to another state agency and “classified information” for which the MPCA does have clearance. The following products are exempt from the reportin requirements:
a product for which federal law governs the presence of PFAS in the product in a manner that preempts state authority;
a product regulated under section 325F.072 or 325F.075, namely firefighting foam and food packaging for which state law already restricts PFAS content;
the sale or resale of a used product;
a product reported to the Department of Agriculture as meeting the reporting waiver requirements under Minnesota Statutes, section 116.943, subdivision 3, paragraph 14.13 (b);
information regarding PFAS-containing products or components that is provided to any federal government agency and that is classified information as defined in United States Code, title 18, section 798.
Reporting fees
The MPCA is authorized to establish fees to cover reasonable costs to implement the reporting rule under Minn. Stat. §116.943. Accordingly, the reporting fees are established as follows:
Initial report, $1000
Annual update, $500
Extension request, $300
To adjust for inflation, from July 1, 2027, for each odd-numbered year the reporting fees should be adjusted using the aggregated annual consumer price index and becomes the new unadjusted fee rounded to the nearest dollar.
