New Jersey PFAS Bill Clears Legislature And Now Heads To Governor For Action

Senate Bill 1042 Greenstein (D14) and Assembly Bill 1421 Haider (D37) “Protecting Against Forever Chemicals Act,” which establish requirements, prohibitions, and programs for regulation of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), were released by the Senate and Assembly and now head to Governor Murphy for action. Senate Bill 1042 passed in Senate by a vote of 37-0. Senate Bill 1042 was substituted for Assembly Bill 1421 and passed in Assembly 57-2-13, Senate Bill 1042 now heads to Governor Murphy for action, and since it was voted on this month the governor must take public action and cannot pocket veto the bill.
 
Both S-1042 and A-1421 have evolved over the last four years from the Massachusetts/Minnesota model all-encompassing PFAS ban bills, to legislation that focuses only on banning certain PFAS chemicals in carpeting,  cosmetics, fabric treatments, and food containers.  The legislation requires labeling-only for certain cookware. CCNJ’s advocacy on behalf of our membership was instrumental in advancing changes that made these bills more practical and compliance-ready, avoiding unnecessary burdens on member companies. Although concerns remain regarding the PFAS definition in S-1042, the bill represents a substantial improvement from where it began and is more favorable overall. We were able to include in the legislation exemptions for medications and medical devices, FIRA regulated products, among other exemptions.
 
CCNJ successfully secured a clearer and more workable definition of “intentionally added” in the bill, along with other amendments that significantly improved compliance for directly regulated industries. In addition, the cookware labeling provisions were revised to make compliance more practical and reasonable.
 
Both bills hit a bump in the road towards the end, as the NJDEP expressed concerns about being named as the enforcement agency. The prime sponsor, Senator Linda Greenstein, was able to change the regulating agency to the Division of Consumer Affairs, in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. In addition, the provision to recommend banning additional PFAS technologies to the NJ Legislature was stripped out of the bill.  
 
We want to thank all our members for their assistance, advice, involvement, and technical analysis  provided to us throughout this process.
 
For more information, please contact Dennis Hart or Ed Waters.