On September 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cut industry a significant break by postponing the reporting period for the one-time reporting rule for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by eight months. Originally, the TSCA Rule established a reporting period that would begin on November 12, 2024, and, for most companies,1 end on May 8, 2025. These deadlines have now been pushed out to July 11, 2025, and January 11, 2026, respectively.
Because the Agency believes the rule is not controversial, this change has been announced as a direct final rule that will become effective within 60 days of publication. If the EPA receives adverse comments within the 30-day comment period, then it will withdraw the direct final rule. To provide for this possibility, the EPA has simultaneously published a proposed rule specifying the same change to reporting deadlines
According to EPA, the postponement is due to budget constraints, as a result of which the software that will be used to collect the PFAS data under the rule will not be ready by November 2024.
The TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule creates a potentially time-consuming and onerous reporting obligation for any company that has manufactured or imported any of the defined PFAS chemicals, including those incorporated within mixtures and articles. The announced delay should provide impacted businesses more time to develop a strategy for complying with the rule, such as information-gathering procedures. While the delay will provide some relief to affected businesses, given the extensive nature of the review, companies should move forward with efforts to prepare for the reporting requirements. Furthermore, the EPA may view the submissions with a more critical lens, since the postponement of the reporting deadlines stands to give companies more time to perform the due diligence necessary to develop a fulsome and comprehensive report.
1 Small manufacturers, whose only reportable activity is from article importation, have an additional six months to report. That means that under this rule these entities have a reporting period from July 11, 2025, through July 11, 2026.