California to Enforce PFAS Prohibitions in Specific Products

SafeGuardSToys and Juvenile Products, Hardgoods, SoftlinesOct 08, 2024

SG 151/24

The US state of California has approved measures to apply enforcement mechanisms for existing and future PFAS bans and labeling requirements. The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is authorized to enforce and ensure compliance with the new law from July 1, 2030.

In 2021/22, California approved three bills to regulate PFAS in specific consumer products. These are:

AB 1200 (Chapter 503, 2021) in relation to the prohibition of plant-based food packaging if PFAS is either intentionally added for a functional or technical effect, or ≥ 100 ppm total organic fluorine (TOF), from January 2023 (SafeGuardS 140/21)
AB 652 (Chapter 500, 2021) in relation to the prohibition of juvenile products if PFAS is either intentionally added for a functional or technical effect, or ≥ 100 ppm TOF, from July 2023 (SafeGuardS 139/21)
AB 1817 (Chapter 762, 2022) in relation to the prohibition of textile articles if PFAS is either intentionally added for a functional or technical effect, or ≥ 100 ppm TOF, from January 1, 2025 (≥ 50 ppm from January 1, 2027, SafeGuardS 120/22)

On September 29, 2024, the governor of California signed AB 347 (Chapter 932) into law. The new law replaces Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 108075) to Part 3 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code (HSC) by introducing enforcement mechanisms for current and future PFAS prohibitions and labeling requirements.

According to the definitions in the new law, ‘Covered PFAS restriction’ and ‘Covered product’ have the following meaning:

‘Covered PFAS restriction’ means a restriction under the following:

Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 108945) on juvenile products
Chapter 13.5 (commencing with Section 108970) on textile articles and
Article 1 (commencing with Section 109000) of Chapter 15 on plant-based food packaging containing PFAS

‘Covered Product’ is defined as a juvenile product, textile article or food packaging in the above-stated respective chapters
‘DTSC’ means the Department of Toxic Substances Control

Highlights of AB 347 are summarized in Table 1.

Date			Highlights
By January 1, 2029			DTSC must adopt regulations to implement, interpret, enforce or make specific the new law and the covered PFAS restrictions DTSC must publish on its website a list of accepted methods for testing whether a covered product complies with the covered PFAS restrictions and appropriate third-party accreditations for laboratories
By July 1, 2029			Manufacturers of a covered product must register, pay the applicable registration fee, and provide the specified information to DTSC, including: Name and a description of each covered product Statement of compliance certifying that each covered product is compliant with the applicable covered PFAS restriction (DTSC may request technical documentation and test results to demonstrate compliance) Registration procedure and registration fee will be specified by legislation
From July 1, 2030			DTSC must enforce and ensure compliance with this new law

Table 1

The law furthermore includes provisions concerning notice of violation, penalties and the deposit of all collected penalties into the newly created ‘PFAS Enforcement Fund’.

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