EPA Proposes Important Revisions to its PFAS Reporting Regulations

On November 10, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released proposed regulations that, if adopted, would substantially alter the reporting obligations of companies that manufacture or import products containing per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The proposed regulations would significantly reduce reporting burdens by exempting numerous products that currently trigger reporting requirements under EPA’s PFAS reporting regulations.  The proposed regulations would also delay the current deadline for reporting.

As we previously discussed here, here, and here, the current regulations, promulgated in 2023 under Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), impose sweeping reporting obligations on any company that, at any time from 2011 to 2022, manufactured or imported any PFAS chemical in any amount, including any PFAS chemical imported as part of a manufactured article.  See 40 CFR Part 705.  Importantly, the current PFAS reporting requirements omit many of the exemptions typically found in TSCA regulations, including, for example, exemptions for impurities or byproducts, as well as exemptions for manufactured articles.  Because of the broad sweep of the regulations and because certain types of PFAS materials are critical components in diverse industrial applications, such as aerospace, electronics, transportation, energy, communications and manufacturing, the current requirements impose reporting obligations on tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of businesses in the US. After several delays, reporting under the regulations is currently scheduled to begin in April 2026.

EPA’s proposed amendments would profoundly scale back on the scope of required reporting by reinstating many of the traditional TSCA exemptions that were omitted from the current regulations.  Specifically, the proposal would exempt from reporting:

1. 1. Imported articles;
   2. Impurities;
   3. Research and development chemicals;
   4. Products containing de minimis concentrations (0.1% or lower) of PFAS;
   5. Certain types of byproducts; and
   6.  Non-isolated intermediates. 

Thus, for example, companies that have only imported manufactured articles containing PFAS and have not otherwise manufactured or imported PFAS substances, would no longer have reporting obligations under the proposed rule.  Similarly, companies that have manufactured or imported PFAS substances only as impurities or only in de minimis concentrations would also be excluded from the reporting requirements. Additionally, under the proposed rule, reporting would be delayed until 60 days after the effective date of the final rule.

Although the newly released proposed regulations would substantially reduce the burdens of complying with EPA’s PFAS reporting rule, it is important to remember that companies that manufacture or import products containing PFAS, including manufactured articles containing PFAS, may still be subject to burdensome PFAS reporting obligations at the state level. For example, under Minnesota’s PFAS law, the manufacturer of any product containing intentionally added PFAS that is sold or distributed in the state must provide detailed information regarding that product to the state regulator (Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency) by July 1, 2026.  Notably, the Minnesota reporting requirements do not include many of the exemptions contained in EPA’s proposed rule, although, unlike the EPA rule, Minnesota’s requirements focus on current manufacturer activities and do not look back to prior years’ activities.

Once EPA’s proposed rule is published in the Federal Register (which is anticipated to occur on November 13, 2025), interested parties will have 45 days within which to submit comments to the Agency.