OMB Approves EPA PFAS Reporting Final Rule

Yesterday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved a final rule for the EPA on “Changes to Reporting Requirements for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and to Supplier Notifications for Chemicals of Special Concern; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting”.  EPA sent the draft rule to OIRA on August 7^th, 2023.

According to the entry in the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda for this rulemaking:

“EPA is considering comments to its proposal to add per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) subject to reporting under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA) to the list of Lower Thresholds for Chemicals of Special Concern (chemicals of special concern). These PFAS already have a lower reporting threshold of 100 pounds. The addition of these PFAS to the list of chemicals of special concern will cause such PFAS to be subject to the same reporting requirements as other chemicals of special concern (i.e., it would eliminate the use of the de minimis exemption and the option to use Form A and would limit the use of range reporting for PFAS). Removing the availability of these burden-reduction reporting options will result in a more complete picture of the releases and waste management quantities for these PFAS. In addition, EPA proposed to remove the availability of the de minimis exemption for purposes of the Supplier Notification Requirements for all chemicals on the list of chemicals of special concern. This change will help ensure that purchasers of mixtures and trade name products containing such chemicals are informed of their presence in mixtures and products they purchase.”

While this is, generally speaking a PFAS regulatory change, the last two sentences above note that EPA is changing the de minimis reporting rules for all ‘chemicals on the list of chemicals of special concern’ (40 CFR 372.28).

We will probably see the publication of this final rule in the Federal Register next week.