The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has adopted a final rule implementing the reporting provisions of the state’s PFAS in products law, Minn. St. § 116.943. That law, and the resulting rule, impose a first-of-its-kind reporting requirement applicable to all products containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The final rule largely tracks the proposed rule released earlier this year, but with some refinements. Initial reports are due July 1, 2026, and then new products entering the Minnesota market after this initial deadline must be reported as part of an annual reporting cycle. The rule also permits companies to request one 90-day extension to the initial reporting deadline or request a reporting waiver in certain situations. All potentially impacted companies should therefore begin preparing now to meet the new reporting obligations.
Background
As described in our previous alert on the proposed rule, Minnesota’s PFAS in products law imposes a reporting requirement on manufacturers of products sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state that contain intentionally added PFAS. The law contains only minimal exemptions from this reporting requirement, including for used products. Minnesota’s law also restricted intentionally added PFAS in certain categories of consumer products starting January 1, 2025, and then restricts intentionally added PFAS in all products starting January 1, 2032, unless the MPCA determines that a product subject to the 2032 ban is a currently unavoidable use of PFAS.
The current rulemaking is on the reporting provisions of the statute, though a separate rulemaking on currently unavoidable uses of PFAS is expected to be proposed in the future. The statute includes an initial reporting deadline of January 1, 2026; however, as we described here, the MPCA has delayed that initial deadline by 6 months to July 1, 2026.
Changes Between the Proposed and Final Rule
As explained in the order adopting this reporting rule and in an MPCA letter, the changes between the proposed and finalized versions of the reporting rule were to correct defects with the proposed rule as found by a Minnesota administrative law judge. Those defects were relatively minor and do not impact the core reporting elements, including the requirement to report PFAS at the product component level. However, notable changes between the proposed and finalized versions include:
- Requirements for providing an annual recertification and for voluntarily updating reports have been removed.
- The requirement to, after the initial reporting deadline, report new products before selling those products has been removed. Instead, companies must report new products by February 1 of the following year.
- The MPCA’s proposed “manufacturer” definition was removed, since the statute already defines the term.
- Reporting fees were reduced, including lowering the initial report fee from $1,000 to $800 and eliminating report update fees.
As mentioned above, the changes between the proposed and finalized versions of the rule do not impact the core reporting elements. Companies must submit the following information under the rule:
- A product description that includes (1) a brief description of the product or a description of the category or type of product, and (2) one of four types of numeric codes assigned to the product (e.g., brick or universal product codes, stock keeping units, numeric code used on labels, “none” if there is no such code);
- PFAS used in the product or its components as identified by (1) the chemical name; (2) CAS Number (or, if no CAS Number exists, another chemical identifying number); and (3) the PFAS concentration at the homogenous material level under the pre-set concentrations listed in the proposed rule (or by total organic fluorine, if the amount of the PFAS is not known);
- The function that each PFAS provides to the product or its components; and
- Manufacturer identifying information, including identification of authorized representatives submitting the report.
Next Steps: Begin Due Diligence and Consider Requests for Extensions or Waivers
The MPCA’s reporting PFAS in products webpage indicates that the agency is soft-launching the reporting platform this month with a select group of manufacturers and anticipates opening the platform to all manufacturers in January 2026. The rule also contains a due diligence section specifying that that “A manufacturer or group of manufacturers must request detailed disclosure of [reportable information] from their supply chain until all required information is known.”
Furthermore, the rule permits manufacturers, either on their own or through a group, to request one 90-day extension of the reporting deadline or to request a reporting waiver if substantially equivalent information is publicly available. Companies must submit these requests at least 30 days before the reporting due date. All potentially impacted companies should therefore begin due diligence and consider preparing an extension or reporting waiver request.
