(1) Existing law, known as the Green Chemistry program, requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations to establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals or chemical ingredients in consumer products that may be considered as being chemicals of concern. Existing law requires the regulations to include criteria by which chemicals and their alternatives may be evaluated by the department, as provided. Existing law requires the department, following the completion of an alternatives analysis, to provide a regulatory response that may include, but is not limited to, not requiring any action and restricting or prohibiting the use of the chemical of concern in the consumer product.

This bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, prohibit a person from distributing, selling, or offering for sale a covered product, as defined, that contains intentionally added PFAS, as defined, unless the department has issued a regulatory response for the covered product pursuant to the Green Chemistry program or the prohibition is preempted by federal law. The bill would authorize a manufacturer of a covered product to petition the department to evaluate a covered product and would require the department to evaluate and provide a regulatory response for a covered product under the Green Chemistry program, as specified.

This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt regulations to carry out these provisions. The bill would require the department to analyze and comment on the presence of PFAS in industrial processes and products, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to identify and categorize commercially active PFAS present in products distributed in California, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to report on other issues relating to products containing PFAS and emissive compounds.

(2) Existing law requires the department, on or before January 1, 2029, to adopt regulations to enforce specified covered perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) restrictions, which include prohibitions on the distribution, sale, or offering for sale of certain products that contain specified levels of PFAS. Existing law requires the department, on and after July 1, 2030, to enforce and ensure compliance with those provisions and regulations, as provided. Existing law requires manufacturers of these products, on or before July 1, 2029, to register with the department, to pay a registration fee to the department, and to provide a statement of compliance certifying compliance with the applicable prohibitions on the use of PFAS to the department, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to test products and to rely on third-party testing to determine compliance with prohibitions on the use of PFAS, as specified. Existing law requires the department to issue a notice of violation for a product in violation of the prohibitions on the use of PFAS, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to assess an administrative penalty for a violation of these prohibitions and authorizes the department to seek an injunction to restrain a person or entity from violating these prohibitions, as specified.

This bill would require the department to use this existing authority to enforce the prohibition on products that would be prohibited by the provisions in paragraph (1).

(3) Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and all appropriate state agencies, to adopt regulations to establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals or chemical ingredients in consumer products that may be considered as being a chemical of concern, as specified. Pursuant to that authority, the department adopted regulations known as the Safer Consumer Products Regulations.

This bill would authorize, but not require, that those regulations evaluate uses of PFAS in products that would be prohibited by the provisions in paragraph (1).