California Water Views

As announced via press release on November 10, 2025 and then officially in the Federal Register on November 13, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rolling back certain requirements related to reporting PFAS that were issued under President Biden’s EPA. The action aligns with the general approach EPA has taken under President Trump, which includes rolling back other PFAS regulatory action.

Background

The initial regulation, which was issued by EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), was finalized at the end of 2023, as we discussed here. As summarized on EPA’s website for these TSCA reporting requirements, both the Biden and Trump administrations pushed back the compliance deadlines from the initial regulation.

According to EPA’s press release, the edits in this proposed rule, which are the first substantive changes to the initial regulation, were “to make them more practical and implementable and reduce unnecessary, or potentially duplicative, reporting requirements for businesses.” The initial rule estimates that the changes will save roughly 10-11 million hours and therefore $786-$843 million, 9.3-9.9 hours of which and $703-$761 million of which will be saved by small businesses. [Note: the TSCA defines small manufacturers as those with (1) under $120 million in revenue and less than 100,000 pounds in production volume for a chemical substance or (2) revenues less than $12 million. It is unclear if that is how the rule is defining small businesses in terms of time and money saved.]

Changes in the Rule

The primary focus of the changes in the rule is the inclusion of exceptions to reporting. The proposed rule excepts the following categories:

• De Minimis Concentrations – concentrations under 0.1%.
  • The proposed rule focuses on the mismatch between the backward-facing requirements of the regulation and the fact that companies generally were not required to keep this information, which could especially cause issues for imports.
  • However, the rule notes that there is no production volume limitation, which means that this exception could allow for large volumes of PFAS as long as they are part of very large quantities of base products (g., it would allow for 100 pounds of PFAS on a product that is greater than 100,000 pounds).
• Imported Articles – PFAS imported as part of an article (a term defined in the TSCA).
  • The focus here again is on the mismatch between what was required to be provided at the time of receipt versus what would be required under this new rule.
  • However, given the international nature of the U.S. economy, this could exempt significant amounts of information.
• Byproducts, Impurities, Non-Isolated Intermediaries, etc. – chemical mixtures that fit the definitions in 40 CFR 720.30(h), which are generally focused on subsidiary aspects of the manufacturing process and those that are not provided to the public.
  • The focus here is on an expected lack of value/relevance in the information related to these products.
  • However, the practical impact of this exception on the overall quantification and evaluation of PFAS is unclear.
• Research and Development (R&D) Chemicals – PFAS manufactured or imported for R&D purposes.
  • The focus here again is that this information would provide minimal practical value.
  • However, there will be no limit to the quantity here that would be exempted (although regulations do limit the amount that could qualify for R&D as an amount “not greater than reasonably necessary for such purposes.”

The proposed rule also discusses clarifications and technical corrections.

Potential Other Changes – Requests for Comments

Although the changes proposed in this initial rule are limited in scope, EPA is also requesting comment on other related issues that could greatly expand the scope of the changes from the initial rule including:

• Raising the de minimis threshold to 1.0% (instead of 0.1%).
• Whether the National Defense Authorization Act (which edited the TSCA in 2020) should be read as excluding imports altogether (thus making an exception unnecessary and potentially impacting other regulations).
• Amending the scope of PFAS covered under this rule.
• Modifying any assumptions or cost savings calculations in its economic analysis.

Next Steps

Comments on the proposed rule must be received by December 29, 2025. They can be provided here and should include docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0549.

The reporting period would then start 60 days after the effective date of the final rule and then last for three months.