On May 5, 2021, Vermont entered the final stages of enacting one of the most aggressive pieces of legislation related to PFAS in the country. The PFAS legislation in Vermont (S 20) was approved by the state House 145-0. Since the legislation was previously approved by the Vermont Senate, the only steps remaining before the bill is enacted into law are minor amendments to the legislation and approval and signature by the governor. A similar version of the bill was proposed in years past; however, unlike the 2021 bill, it was contentiously debate before failing to pass.

What Does the PFAS Legislation In Vermont Do?

The PFAS legislation in Vermont would impose several significant restrictions with respect to PFAS, including:

1. Impose restrictions on the use, manufacture, sale, and distribution of class B firefighting foam containing PFAS, unless such foams are required by federal law (the bill also prohibits the use of PFAS firefighting foam for training exercises);

2. Impose restrictions on the production, sale, and distribution of food packaging to which PFAS have been intentionally added;

3. Impose restrictions on the manufacture, sale, and distribution of residential rugs and carpets to which PFAS have been intentionally added, as well as the use of after-market treatment products that contain PFAS;

4. Ban the manufacture, sale and distribution of PFAS-containing ski wax, if the PFAS was intentionally added; and

5. Include three types of PFAS (PFHxS, PFHpA, PFNA) on the list of chemicals of high concern to children.

While many of the provisions mirror PFAS legislation in other states, the provisions related to carpets, rugs, and ski wax would be the first of their kind in the United States. Earlier versions of the bill included PFAS as a class of chemicals (which would include several thousand PFAS) to the chemicals of high concern to children; however, the current bill includes just the three types of PFAS that Vermont already regulates in its drinking water.

Implications To Businesses From The PFAS Legislation In Vermont

It is of the utmost importance for businesses along the whole supply chain to evaluate their PFAS risk. Public health and environmental groups urge legislators to regulate these compounds. One major point of contention among members of various industries is whether to regulate PFAS as a class or as individual compounds.  While each PFAS compound has a unique chemical makeup and impacts the environment and the human body in different ways, some groups argue PFAS should be regulated together as a class because they interact with each other in the body, thereby resulting in a collective impact. Other groups argue that the individual compounds are too diverse and that regulating them as a class would be over restrictive for some chemicals and not restrictive enough for others.

Companies should remain informed so they do not get caught off guard. Regulators at both the state and federal level are setting drinking water standards and notice requirements of varying stringency. For any manufacturers, especially those who sell goods interstate, it is important to understand how those various standards will impact them, whether PFAS is regulated as individual compounds or as a class. Conducting regular self-audits for possible exposure to PFAS risk and potential regulatory violations can result in long term savings for companies and should be commonplace in their own risk assessment.