Industry seeks one-year delay to PFAS product-reporting deadline; agency urges caution

Chair Heintzeman presented House File 4257 to extend the statutory reporting deadline for PFAS in products by one year, citing implementation issues with the MPCA's PRISM reporting system. "This bill is not about rolling back regulation," the chair said; "this is about giving PCA a little more time to get the reporting database right."

Tom Johnson, director of government relations and external affairs for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said the agency has addressed many issues and is adding guidance and resources, but that "at so at this moment, the agency does not feel that a year extension is necessary," and warned a one-year delay could complicate timelines for implementing other parts of Amara's law.

Industry witnesses urged delay. Martha Marapiz, general counsel for the Complex Products Manufacturers Coalition, told the committee that the PRISM tool must handle large, complex submissions and that many companies need more than five months to assemble reporting required under the 2023 law. Andrew Morley of the Minnesota Chamber said "Prism is still not ready to process the sheer amount of incoming data," citing duplicate data from diverse suppliers and unresolved confidential-business-information questions.

Public-health and environmental witnesses urged keeping the deadline. Heidi Adelsman of the Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment described health harms she associates with PFAS exposure and said, "The sooner Amara's law is fully enacted, the sooner industry will get it done."

MPCA officials described technical fixes, trade-secret protections built into the system, and plans for tutorials and guidance. Committee members discussed trade-secret timelines, legacy products with missing supplier data, resource needs at MPCA, and whether a one-year statutory delay was necessary. After testimony and member discussion the committee laid HF4257 over for possible inclusion in a future bill.