MCTA UPDATE

The legislation, the result of several year’s worth of work by the PFAS Interagency Task Force, defines PFAS as any product that “contains at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon atom.”

The legislation is defined by its docket number, and has not yet been assigned a bill number.

MCTA has not yet completed a thorough review of the legislation, but a few quick highlights:

• HD 3324 states : No manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, or retailer shall offer for sale, sell, or distribute in the commonwealth any products to which PFAS has been intentionally added. The term “product” as defined in the legislation includes children’s’ products, consumer products, cookware, fabric treatments, personal care products, product components, or products labels. The Legislation also bans any “avoidable” use, but creates an exemption for unavoidable uses. That exemption must be granted by MassDEP and will be granted only in three year intervals;
• HD 3324 states “No manufacturer shall sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in the Commonwealth food packaging to which PFAS has been added for any purpose;”
• The legislation calls for MassDEP to amend its groundwater discharge permits with requirements for quarterly monitoring and reporting of PFAS;
• The legislation calls for MassDEP to amend both the surface and groundwater discharge permits to industrial permittees with requirements to implement best management practices for discharges of PFAS, including, but not limited to (i) product elimination or substitution when a reasonable alternative to PFAS is available in the industrial process; (ii) accidental discharge minimization; and (iii) equipment decontamination where PFAS-containing products have historically been used.
• The bill establishes a PFAS Remediation Trust Fund which would be populated by the commonwealth’s claims arising from the manufacture, marketing and sale of PFAS-containing aqueous film-forming form and other sources.

This above is an abbreviated synopsis of key parts of the proposed legislation. This is also the first step in the legislative process. Environmental advocates will push for a more comprehensive bill and immediate action. Industry must be prepared to present its own position on the bill and how it impacts industry in Massachusetts. HD3324 is just the first step.

During the upcoming week, I will be bring members up to speed and provide a more thorough evaluation of the impact of this package.

Please contact Katherine Robertson at katherine@masscta.org or by phone at 508-572-9113 if you want to weigh in or if you have any questions.