/>iUnder Minnesota’s PFAS in products law, manufacturers of products containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) must report those products to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) by January 1, 2026, unless the MPCA extends that deadline. The MPCA has proposed a rule to implement this PFAS reporting requirement, and in connection with that rulemaking the agency announced on July 23, 2025 that it will delay the reporting deadline by six months. With the delay, reports will not be due until July 1, 2026.
Meanwhile, a Minnesota administrative law judge (ALJ) is currently reviewing the MPCA’s proposed PFAS reporting rule. That ALJ will issue a report on the legal sufficiency of the proposed rule by August 29, 2025, and this report will determine whether the proposed rule can proceed to finalization. All affected stakeholders should remain alert for developments on this proposed rule that we expect to come shortly.
Background and Extension Rationale
Minnesota’s sweeping PFAS in products law (Minn. St. § 116.943) – the most comprehensive of all of the U.S. state PFAS in products laws to date – requires manufacturers of all products containing intentionally added PFAS to submit a report to MPCA by January 1, 2026, unless the agency extends that deadline. As explained in our previous alert, earlier this year, the MPCA proposed a rule to implement the statutory PFAS reporting requirement. The proposed rule specifies the parties responsible for reporting; information that must be reported; due diligence requirements; procedures for updating reports; processes for waiver, manufacturer-specific extensions, and trade secret data requests; reporting exemptions; and reporting fees.
The MPCA’s proposed rule has since been subject to public comment and a public hearing before an ALJ. One common theme in these public consultations is that stakeholders repeatedly requested that the MPCA extend the January 1, 2026 due date for initial reports. Consistent with these requests, the MPCA stated in a June 23, 2025 response to comments document that “The agency has decided outside of the rulemaking process to issue an extension to the initial due date to ensure program success. The MPCA will be providing more information on the extension of the January 1, 2026 reporting deadline in the near future.” On July 23, 2025, the MPCA followed up with an email announcement explaining that this extension will last for six months, moving the reporting due date to July 1, 2026.
In the email announcement, the MPCA stated that this extension is to give manufacturers more time to (1) establish agreements with suppliers to report on their behalf as allowed in the proposed rule and (2) become familiar with a new reporting platform that will be available in the fall of 2025. The MPCA also reasoned that the extended deadline “will result in more complete and higher-quality information to inform PFAS pollution prevention efforts.”
Under the MPCA’s proposed rule, the reporting requirement includes an annual update obligation starting in 2027 to report new products containing intentionally added PFAS that would enter the Minnesota market after the initial 2026 reporting deadline. The six-month extension appears to be limited to the initial reporting due date.
Rulemaking Next Steps
Per Minn. St. § 14.15, the ALJ who conducted the hearing on the MPCA’s proposed PFAS reporting rule must issue a report on the legal sufficiency of that proposed rule within 30 days of the close of the rulemaking record, unless the state’s chief ALJ extends that deadline. The ALJ report will determine whether the proposed rule can proceed to finalization or if there are legal deficiencies with the proposal that the MPCA must address. On July 18, 2025, the chief ALJ issued an order extending that deadline for the ALJ report on the MPCA’s proposed rule by 30 days to August 29, 2025. The order cites the “extensive public comments addressing highly technical issues concerning the production and distribution of untold products for which reporting is required” as a justification for the extension.
MPCA’s extension to the reporting deadline, along with the chief ALJ’s extension to the due date for the ALJ report, reflects the importance and effectiveness of engaging in agency rulemaking processes through submission of public comments. All affected stakeholders should take note of the MPCA’s proposed PFAS reporting rule as the rulemaking proceeds, taking into account the extended reporting deadline.
