EPA proposes exceptions to chemical reporting requirements in perpetuity

The Trump administration is proposing to ease requirements for companies to report their uses of “forever chemicals.”

These chemicals, many of which are toxic, have been used in a wide range of consumer and other applications, including making items that are non-stick, water and stain resistant.

Although they are officially called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, they have become known as “forever chemicals” because they can take hundreds or thousands of years to break down in the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday that it is moving to exempt some companies that manufacture or import these chemicals from reporting requirements.

Specifically, if PFAS make up 0.1 percent or less of an ingredient or mixture, the company that manufactures them will be exempt from the reporting requirements.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a written statement that the change his agency is proposing would reduce industry costs.

“This Biden-era rule would have imposed crushing regulatory burdens and nearly $1 billion in enforcement costs on American companies,” Zeldin said.

“Today’s proposal is grounded in common sense and the law, allowing us to collect the information we need to help fight PFAS pollution without imposing ridiculous requirements on manufacturers, especially the small businesses that drive our nation’s economy,” he added.

The Biden administration imposed strict rules in perpetuity for reporting chemicals in 2023, arguing that the public deserves to know whether they may be exposed to these toxic substances.

PFAS can be harmful even in small amounts. For example, the country’s drinking water standards are set to ban PFAS at levels as low as four parts per trillion, the equivalent of a few drops in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Exposure to these substances is linked to kidney, prostate, and testicular cancer, as well as fertility and immune system problems.