Maine environmental regulators have granted requests from some manufacturers seeking more time to comply with the state's new reporting requirements for PFAS in their products.
Many companies have pushed back on the upcoming Jan. 1 deadline to comply with the law, which requires manufacturers to report intentionally added PFAS chemicals in their products to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
The Maine State Chamber of Commerce says the requests are "intended to give companies more time to fully understand the reporting requirements and to develop systems to comply."
The department said at a meeting on Thursday that it had granted some of those requests for a six-month extension. The DEP's Kerri Malinowski Farris said some other companies, which are higher up on the supply chain, have been denied.
"So if you are close to the point of origin, for that manufacturing process, we suspect that you are uniquely positioned to provide that information to the department," Malinowski Farris said.
Malinowski Farris said those manufacturers who have been denied an extension must report chemicals by the beginning of the year, even though the department's final rules likely won't be finalized until months later.
The new law also prohibits the sale of carpets, rugs, and fabric treatments with intentionally added PFAS beginning Jan. 1.
Sales of any product with intentionally added PFAS will be banned by 2030, unless the product is "essential for health, safety or the functioning of society" without reasonable alternatives.
