The Maine State Chamber of Commerce is asking lawmakers to scrap a January deadline for manufacturers to begin reporting which products contain the "forever chemicals" known as PFAS.
In the summer of 2021, Maine became the first state in the nation to adopt a law that bans PFAS from most consumer products starting in 2030. That same law requires manufacturers to begin reporting "intentionally added PFAS" to state environmental regulators starting this January.
But state lawmakers are considering potential changes to the law in response to concerns raised by businesses — particularly whether to once again push back the start date for product reporting.
On Monday, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce held a virtual press conference with several businesses and organizations to make their case to scrap the requirement altogether.
Chamber president and CEO Patrick Woodcock called the upcoming notification requirement a "serious threat to all Maine businesses." Woodcock said many businesses will be unable to obtain information from suppliers around the globe for, in some cases, thousands of parts.
"This notification section is unworkable," Woodcock said. "We think that that section should be stricken from the statute and that we should have some protections for key Maine industries that are critical to the Maine economy but also have some oversight from the federal government."
Instead, Woodcock said the Chamber supports a risk-based system that works to remove PFAS from products that have the highest potential to contaminate water, land or human bodies.
"Maine can be a leader in reducing PFAS in our environment but we also need to make this workable for Maine businesses," Woodcock said.
Short for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, PFAS are a class of chemicals that have been used for decades to in products such as nonstick cookware, stain-repellent fabrics and waterproof fabrics. They are also commonly used in firefighting foam and many high-tech components used in medicine and engineering.
But the durable chemical bonds that make PFAS so useful in products also mean they do not break down easily in the environment or the body, hence the nickname "forever chemicals." And a growing body of scientific evidence has linked some types of PFAS to serious health problems, such as cancer, kidney malfunction and low birth weight.
Maine has been among the handful of states moving most aggressively to regulate PFAS ever since contamination beganshowing up on farm fields and drinking water sources. Much of that contamination has been tied to fertilizing farm fields with sludge that contained waste and wastewater from manufacturing plants that used PFAS.
Defend Our Health, a Maine-based organization that is heavily involved in policy discussions on PFAS, called the push to eliminate notification and exempt major manufacturers "dangerous and unjustifiable."
"The science shows that since PFAS are so extremely persistent in the environment that no use is safe," Mike Belliveau, founder and president of Defend Our Health, wrote in an email response to questions. "Every use of PFAS results in serious irreversible environmental contamination during manufacture, use and/or disposal. The chemicals pose a triple whammy - they don’t break down in the environment, they are very mobile - moving rapidly through ground water and long distance in air, and many are highly toxic. That’s why PFAS must be phased out in an orderly manner.
Belliveau added that his organization would consider "limited targeted exemptions for PFAS uses that are essential for ensuring the safety of equipment used in advanced manufacturing" but that "blanket exemptions are unwarranted."
Both Defend Our Health and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce have been involved in stakeholder discussions with members of the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee. Those discussions had been aimed at finding a compromise on potential changes to the 2021 law, although Monday's discussion showed the sides remain far apart on key issues.
Woodcock was joined by representatives from Westbrook-based IDEXX Laboratories, the Maine Marine Trades Association and the Bangor airplane repair and maintenance company C&L Aviation.
Stacey Keefer, executive director of the marine group whose members include boat builders, said Maine is such a small state that many parts manufacturers won't likely comply with a manufacturer's request for information on PFAS in their products. She said it makes sense larger states, such as California, or the federal government to take the lead on requiring PFAS reporting from the global supply chain. But Keefer said Maine could still make progress by focusing on areas with the highest exposure risk.
"There are probably way more people in this state who are wearing waterproof mascara on a daily basis that contains PFAS, right against their skin and body, than there are people who are coming into contact with a head gasket on a marine engine on a daily or yearly basis," Keefer said.
