As foreshadowed in EPA’s most recent Unified Agenda, EPA has proposed to add four significant categories of exemptions to the TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule (Rule), citing burdensomeness of the existing Rule. Under the Proposed Rule, these new exemptions would include:
- a “de minimis” exemption for mixtures and articles
This exemption would apply to any person who “manufactured (including imported) the PFAS substance in a mixture or an article, below a 0.1% de minimis concentration.” This de minimis level is proposed as a universal threshold for all PFAS chemicals included under the existing Rule, whether or not they have been classified as a health hazard. Based on the proposed language, the exemption would apply to any chemical mixture, any discrete component of a finished product that meets the definition of an article (as set forth in the existing Rule), and any finished product that itself is a mixture or an article.
2. an exemption for imported articles
This proposed exemption would apply to anyone who imported a covered chemical substance as part of an article. Thus, even if imported articles contain PFAS concentrations above the de minimis threshold, they would be exempted from the reporting requirements under the proposed amendments to the Rule.
3. an exemption for byproducts, impurities, and non-isolated intermediates;
This proposed exemption would apply to byproducts that are PFAS if they are solely manufactured as a byproduct and not used for commercial purposes. As proposed, the exemption would not extend to component substances extracted from a byproduct if the extracted substances are reportable PFAS. Manufacturers of PFAS would still have to include information about any byproducts produced while manufacturing, processing, using, or disposing of reportable PFAS.
As for impurities, according to the proposed Rule, EPA now interprets information about impurities to be unnecessary to the goals of the TSCA PFAS reporting system. For non-isolated intermediates, which by definition stay in a closed system, EPA has concluded they pose no meaningful risk of human or environmental exposure and accordingly has determined, similar to impurities, that it has no need for such information.
4. an exemption for PFAS chemicals manufactured or imported in small quantities solely for research and development
This proposed exemption would be limited to PFAS manufactured (including imported) solely for R&D purposes. The exemption does not have a specific threshold limit other than by virtue of the regulatory definition of “small quantities solely for research and development” which means quantities that are “not greater than reasonably necessary for such purposes.”
Finally, EPA intends to propose a further change to the data submission period, which currently is set to begin in April 2026 and conclude in October 2026 – under the proposed changes, the starting date would be set at 60 days after the effective date of the final amended rule and the data reporting period would continue for three months after that. This proposal appears to recognize, without explicitly stating as much, that the revised final rule will likely not be issued before the scheduled April 2026 opening of the data reporting period.
EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed amendments through December 29, 2025. Among the specific requests for public comment, EPA is interested in hearing whether its proposed amendment to the data submission period is appropriate to accommodate the proposed changes to the existing Rule. In addition, although the proposed amendments do not alter the scope of reportable chemical substances under the existing Rule, EPA is seeking comment on whether it should also amend the scope of reportable chemicals under the existing Rule, as a possible means to lower the burden on entities who would be required to report.