The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on May 12, 2025, an interim final rule that would extend the dates of the reporting period for data submitted on the manufacture of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Under the interim final rule, the data submission period would begin April 13, 2026, and end October 13, 2026. Small manufacturers reporting exclusively as article importers would have until April 13, 2027, to report. According to EPA, the extension will allow it to develop and test further the software being used to collect data from manufacturers, “thereby providing critical feedback to EPA, including what additional guidance would be useful for the reporting community.” A pre-publication version of the interim final rule, which is scheduled to be published on May 13, 2025, has been posted. Publication of the interim final rule in the Federal Register will begin a 30-day comment period.

According to the interim final rule, the current reporting start date of July 11, 2025, does not allow EPA time to conduct industry beta testing of the Central Data Exchange (CDX) application and incorporate feedback prior to the start of the submission period. EPA states that “[w]ithout a period of industry beta testing as previously planned, the current reporting timeline is no longer tenable, and maintaining that timeline would require entities to submit data before EPA has sufficiently verified that the technological capacity is in place to accept that data. This would negatively impact EPA’s ability to collect, organize, and make the collected data available to the public, which is the underlying objective of the regulation as well as the Congressional direction that required its promulgation.”

According to the interim final rule, EPA is separately considering reopening certain aspects of the rule to public comment. EPA states that the delayed reporting date ensures that it has adequate time to consider the public comments and propose and issue any final modifications to the rule before the submission period begins. EPA notes that at this time, however, it “is not reopening or reconsidering any provisions of the underlying reporting rule other than the submission period dates.” As reported in our May 4, 2025, blog item, on May 2, 2025, a coalition of chemical companies submitted a TSCA Section 21 petition seeking “the typical TSCA 8(a) reporting exemptions (e.g., by-products, impurities, articles, [research and development (R&D)] materials, and a production volume threshold)” that apply in other TSCA Section 8(a) reporting rules.” EPA’s April 28, 2025, announcement outlining upcoming Agency actions to address PFAS includes implementing TSCA Section 8(a)(7) “to smartly collect necessary information, as Congress envisioned and consistent with TSCA, without overburdening small businesses and article importers.” More information on EPA’s reporting rule is available in our October 3, 2023, memorandum.

Commentary

It has been widely speculated that the Trump Administration would delay the PFAS reporting requirements and/or substantively amend the rule to relieve the reporting burden. This forthcoming Federal Register notice answers the first question and states that EPA is considering “reopening certain aspects of the rule to public comment.” While it remains unclear what EPA may be considering revising, should EPA reopen the rule for comment more broadly, it is certain EPA will get an earful during the comment period on what EPA should do to right side the rule.