H 4870

HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4870
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  ________________________________________
  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 5, 2026.
    The committee on Public Health, to whom was referred the joint
petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2450) of Kate Hogan, Natalie
M. Blais and others for legislation to protect public health from PFAS,
reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4870)
ought to pass.
  For the committee,
  MARJORIE C. DECKER.
  FILED ON: 12/9/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4870
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _______________
  In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
  (2025-2026)
  _______________
     An Act to protect Massachusetts public health from PFAS.
  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
     of the same, as follows:
1SECTION 1. Chapter 10 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
2 section 35SSS the following section:-
3Section 35TTT. (a) As used in this section, the following words, unless the context
4 clearly requires otherwise, shall have the following meanings:-
5“Ambient air”, that portion of the atmosphere, external to buildings, to which the general
6 public has access.
7“Board of health”, any body politic or political subdivision of the commonwealth that
8 acts as a board of health, public health commission or a health department for a municipality,
9 region or district, including, but not limited to, municipal boards of health, regional health
10 districts established pursuant to G.L. c. 111, § 27B and boards of health that share services
11 pursuant to G.L. c. 40, § 4A or other legally constituted governmental unit within the
12 Commonwealth having the usual powers and duties of the board of health of a city or town.
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13“Commissioner”, the commissioner of the department of environmental protection
14“Department”, the department of environmental protection
15“Fund”, the PFAS Remediation Trust Fund established in this section.
16“Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS”, as defined and regulated by the
17 department or identified, on the basis of a health assessment conducted pursuant to the
18 department’s drinking water regulations, as posing an unacceptable health risk to consumers.
19“Regional system”, any system established by mutual agreement of two or more
20 municipalities or a county in which all municipalities of said county have an agreement where
21 such a system provides drinking water or wastewater services, or both, through shared facilities,
22 sources or distribution networks.
23(b)(1) There shall be a PFAS Remediation Trust Fund. Expenditures from the fund shall
24 be made by the department, without further appropriation and consistent with this section, the
25 terms of settlements, judgments, and awards made in connection with claims arising from the
26 manufacture, marketing or sale of PFAS and PFAS-containing products, and consistent with the
27 terms of other allocations and monies transferred to this fund, as applicable. The commissioner
28 shall administer the fund, shall prioritize expenditures to communities with vulnerable
29 environmental justice populations, and may make expenditures from the fund to develop and
30 implement a multilingual outreach and education program pursuant to section 29 of chapter 21A
31 of the General Laws.
32(2) The fund shall be expended to mitigate the impacts of PFAS contamination in the
33 commonwealth, including PFAS contamination in drinking water, groundwater, soil, sediment,
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34 surface water, wastewater, sludge or sludge products, landfills, and other media as appropriate.
35 Such mitigation may include, but is not limited to, projects to assist counties, municipalities, or
36 other public entities with a direct impact on public water supplies, private well owners, and
37 public water systems with the cost of PFAS treatment and remediation, including but not limited
38 to remediation projects, treatment, and mitigation. The commissioner shall make necessary
39 expenditures from this account for the shared administrative costs of the operations and
40 programs of the department related to the fund. The commissioner shall further direct that
41 monies from the fund shall be expended to provide services in an amount reasonably related to
42 such administrative costs. No expenditure shall be made from the fund that would cause the fund
43 to be in deficit at the close of a fiscal year. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to
44 further appropriation and monies remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not
45 revert to the General Fund but shall instead be available for expenditure during subsequent fiscal
46 years. Any fiscal year-end balance in the fund shall be excluded from the calculation of the
47 consolidated net surplus pursuant to section 5C of chapter 29 of the General Laws.
48(3) There shall be credited to the fund: (i) amounts recovered by the commonwealth and
49 credited thereto in connection with claims arising from the manufacture and associated
50 processes, distribution, marketing, or sale of PFAS and other PFAS-containing products; (ii)
51 transfers from other funds authorized by the general court and so designated; (iii) funds from
52 public or private sources, including, but not limited to, gifts, grants, donations, rebates,
53 settlements, judgments, awards, and other allocations received by the commonwealth designated
54 to the fund; and (iv) any interest earned on such amounts.
55(c) The commissioner may award and administer grants from the fund, without further
56 appropriation, consistent with the purposes of the fund described in this section. Further, subject
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57 to this section, grants may be made, without limitation, to: (i) municipalities and counties for
58 municipal and county use, including, but not limited to, establishing connections to regional
59 systems and funds necessary to address the reasonable administrative costs of the municipality;
60 (ii) boards of health for use in assisting private well users; (iii) community water systems for use
61 on an existing system or to expand a system to assist additional water users; (iv) non-transient
62 non-community water systems; and (v) transient non-community water systems.
63(d) The department shall adopt regulations, rules, or policies for the use of monies in the
64 fund, and shall include conditions in grant documents to require that that applicants disclose any
65 funds recovered from liable third parties or other sources to cover any costs eligible to be
66 reimbursed by said grant programs and to deduct said recovered funds from the total costs in the
67 grant application. The department shall also require any person awarded a grant for cost
68 reimbursement to report the recovery of any such costs in the future and to reimburse the fund by
69 reimbursing such recovered costs to the department. The department shall further adopt
70 regulations, rules, or policies establishing criteria to ensure that an applicant shall not be eligible
71 for grants for any project or portion of a project to the extent the negligence of the applicant
72 caused the contamination that resulted in the exceedance of applicable state or federal standards
73 for PFAS in drinking water, groundwater, soil, and other environmental media.
74(e) If the department provides a grant related to costs for a project for which a third party
75 might otherwise be liable, the right to recover payment from such third party, excluding public
76 sector fire departments for the use of Class B firefighting foam in emergency responses, shall be
77 subrogated to the department to the extent of such grant. Any money recovered by the
78 department from such third parties shall be deposited in the fund. Notwithstanding any other
79 general or special law to the contrary, the superior court shall have jurisdiction for subrogation
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80 claims brought pursuant to this chapter, and civil actions brought by the attorney general for
81 subrogated claims to recover costs pursuant to this chapter shall be commenced within five years
82 from the date the commonwealth is assigned the rights to recover all such costs or five years
83 from the date the commonwealth discovers that the person against whom the action is being
84 brought is a person liable pursuant to law, whichever is later.
85(f)(1) The department may consult with the department of public health to provide
86 funding from the fund for boards of health to establish rebate and grant programs for the
87 reimbursement of private well users and owners for the costs of private well water sampling,
88 installation, and operation and maintenance of PFAS treatment systems. Eligible spending for
89 rebate shall include, but is not limited to, sampling of private well water for those PFAS that are
90 regulated for public water systems by the department’s drinking water regulations and
91 installation of permanent treatment systems to remove PFAS from drinking water. Eligible
92 spending for grants shall include, but is not limited to, payment to vendors for PFAS water
93 testing and installation and maintenance of PFAS treatment systems, provided that such private
94 well users and owners can establish that their income was below the state median household
95 income rate in the year in which the costs were incurred and that such costs were incurred after
96 the effective date of this section.
97(2) Boards of health may elect to receive funding from the fund pursuant to any program
98 established pursuant to paragraph (1), and may apply for and receive grants from the fund
99 necessary to cover reasonable administrative costs related to implementation of said paragraph
100 (1). Boards of health that elect to participate shall amend their codes to require private well water
101 quality testing for PFAS for property sales and new construction consistent with model bylaws
102 and ordinances provided by the department through program guidance.
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103(3) Annually, not later than August 31, boards of health that elect to participate pursuant
104 to paragraph (2) shall submit a report to the department including information demonstrating
105 compliance during the preceding fiscal year with said paragraph (2) and other such information
106 as required by the department.
107(g) Annually, not later than October 1, the department shall file a report on the activity,
108 revenue and expenditures to and from the fund in the prior fiscal year with the clerks of the
109 house of representatives and the senate and the house and senate committees on ways and means,
110 and shall make the report available on the department’s website. The report shall include, but not
111 be limited to: (i) revenue credited to the fund; (ii) the amount of expenditure attributable to the
112 administrative costs of the department; (iii) an itemized list of expenditures from the fund; (iv)
113 rebate and grant expenditures to private well users and owners and municipal administrative
114 expenses of boards of health opting into such rebate and grant programs; and (v) data and a
115 report of how resources have been directed to environmental justice populations.
116SECTION 2. Chapter 21 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
117 section 43A the following section:-
118Section 43B. (a) The department of environmental protection shall amend each
119 groundwater discharge permit upon renewal with requirements for monitoring and reporting of
120 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances using United States Environmental Protection Agency
121 analytical methods as specified by the department.
122(b) The department of environmental protection shall amend its surface water discharge
123 permits issued to industrial permittees and groundwater discharge permits issued to industrial
124 permittees upon renewal with requirements to implement best management practices for
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125 discharges of PFAS, including, but not limited to: (i) product elimination or substitution when a
126 reasonable alternative to using PFAS is available in the industrial process; (ii) accidental
127 discharge minimization; and (iii) equipment decontamination or replacement where PFAS
128 products have historically been used. These industrial permittees shall include those that use or
129 previously used PFAS or PFAS products or those where best management practices are
130 warranted based on the department’s review of discharge monitoring unless the industrial
131 permittee can show that the PFAS in the discharge entered the facility through the local water
132 supply and not the manufacturing process.
133(c) The department of environmental protection shall include effluent limitations and
134 treatment requirements for PFAS in groundwater discharge permits upon renewal.
135SECTION 3. Chapter 21 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
136 section 67 the following sections:-
137Section 68. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context
138 clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
139“Department”, the department of environmental protection.
140“Sludge”, the solid, semi solid, and liquid residue that results from a process of
141 wastewater treatment or drinking water treatment, and does not include grit, screening, or grease
142 and oil removed at the headworks of a wastewater or drinking water facility.
143(b) The department shall promulgate regulations to implement a schedule for phasing out
144 the use, sale, or distribution, or offer for use, sale, or distribution of sludge without the
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145 department’s site-specific approval in the commonwealth, and shall not include the disposal or
146 placement of sludge at a solid waste landfill, hazardous waste landfill or sludge landfill.
147Section 69. (a) Not later than December 31, 2030, the department of environmental
148 protection shall submit a report to the chairs of the joint committee on public health and the joint
149 committee on environment and natural resources regarding its progress in establishing standards
150 to monitor PFAS in ambient air. This report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the
151 department’s capacity to establish these standards; (ii) the steps the department has taken or
152 plans to take to establish these standards; and; (iii) a projected timeline detailing when the
153 department expects to finish establishing standards to monitor PFAS in ambient air.
154SECTION 4. Chapter 21A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
155 section 28 the following section:-
156Section 29. (a) The department, in consultation with the department of public health, shall
157 develop and implement a multilingual public awareness campaign to promote the education of
158 Massachusetts residents, including environmental justice populations, of per- and
159 polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination across the commonwealth and potential health impacts
160 of PFAS exposure. The campaign shall include the development and distribution of educational
161 materials, drafted in plain language to the extent possible, the content of which shall include, but
162 not be limited to: (i) the potential health impacts of PFAS exposure; (ii) the routes of PFAS
163 exposure, including but not limited to, drinking water, groundwater, surface water, wastewater,
164 land application of biosolids, landfills, air, and fish tissue; (iii) consumer products that are known
165 to contain PFAS; (iv) PFAS in Class B firefighting foam; (v) a list of facilities that are known
166 and potential sources of PFAS and are required to prepare a toxics use reduction plan for PFAS
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167 within 10 miles of the environmental justice populations; (vi) assistance programs for PFAS
168 remediation; (vii) citizen involvement pursuant to G.L. c. 21I, § 18; and (viii) assistance
169 programs for PFAS remediation.
170(b) The educational materials shall be translated into the native languages spoken by the
171 impacted environmental justice populations based on the federal census definition of English
172 isolation. Such educational materials shall be made available to, but not be limited to: (i)
173 community centers; (ii) health care centers; (iii) schools, (iv) places of worship; (v) the
174 department of education; (vi) and the department of early education and care.
175(c) The department may contract or associate with public and private agencies and
176 organizations for the preparation of said educational materials on PFAS exposure, other pertinent
177 resource information on the matter of PFAS contamination and conducting educational
178 programs. The department may use funds from the Fund, as established in section 35TTT of
179 chapter 10 of the general laws, for such contracts.
180SECTION 5. Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
181 section 5S the following sections:-
182Section 5T. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context
183 clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
184“Agricultural products”, any vegetable, fruit, dairy, meat, fish, and poultry, and
185 agricultural inputs, such as, but not limited to, feed, water, fertilizer, pesticides, produced and
186 sold commercially in Massachusetts.
187“Department”, the department of public health
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188“Food package", a package or packaging component that is intended for the marketing,
189 protection or handling of a product intended for direct food contact or used to store food and
190 foodstuffs for sale.
191“Fully Fluorinated Carbon Atom", a carbon atom on which all the hydrogen substituents
192 have been replaced by fluorine.
193“Intentionally added”, PFAS that is added to a product, or enters the product from the
194 manufacturing or processing of that product; the addition of which is known or reasonably
195 ascertainable by the manufacturer. “Intentionally added” PFAS also includes any degradation by-
196 products of PFAS or the use of PFAS or PFAS precursors as a processing agent, mold release
197 agent, or the creation of PFAS via chemical reactions.
198"Known or reasonably ascertainable”, all information in a person's possession or control,
199 plus all information that a reasonable person similarly situated might be expected to possess,
200 control, or know.
201"Manufacturer", a person, firm, association, partnership, government entity, organization,
202 joint venture or corporation that applies a package to a product for distribution or sale.
203"Package", a container providing a means of marketing, protecting or handling a product
204 which shall include a unit package, an intermediate package, a package used for shipping or
205 transport and unsealed receptacles such as carrying cases, crates, cups, pails, rigid foil and other
206 trays, wrappers and wrapping films, bags and tubs.
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207"Packaging component", an individual assembled part of a package including, but not
208 limited to, any interior or exterior blocking, bracing, cushioning, weatherproofing, exterior
209 strapping, coatings, closures, inks and labels.
210"Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances" or “PFAS”, a class of fluorinated organic
211 chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
212(b) No manufacturer shall sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in
213 the commonwealth food packaging to which PFAS have been intentionally added in any amount.
214(c) The department, in consultation with department of environmental protection and the
215 department of agricultural resources, shall procure or otherwise employ an external research
216 organization, which has the capacity to study per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and the effect
217 PFAS has on agricultural products produced and sold in the commonwealth; provided, that the
218 research organization shall have: (1) extensive experience with a wide variety of agricultural
219 products and environmental matrices, including, but not limited to, plants and animals; (2) a
220 current QAPP (“Quality Assurance Project Plan”) through the United States Environmental
221 Protection Agency; (3) current sampling and chain of custody protocols; (4) experience handling
222 complex agricultural matrices; and (5) access to state-of-the art mass spectrometers. The study
223 shall include findings on the levels of PFAS found in: (1) in agricultural products sold in
224 Massachusetts stores; (2) locally sourced agricultural products; and (3) agricultural inputs
225 including, but not limited to, feed, water, fertilizer, and pesticides. The department shall make
226 said report publicly available with the department’s findings on the department’s website. The
227 commissioner shall file a progress report in writing of the findings, including food and
228 agricultural sources of contamination, within 365 days of the passage of this act; provided, that
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229 the report shall be filed with the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint
230 committee on environment and natural resources, the joint committee on public health, and the
231 joint committee on agriculture on or before August 31, 2027.
232Section 5U. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context
233 clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
234“Child passenger restraint”, a child passenger restraint under G.L. c. 90, § 7AA.
235“Children’s product”, consumer products, including its product components, intended,
236 made or marketed for use by children 12 years of age or under, including, but not limited to,: (i)
237 toys; (ii) children’s clothing; (iii) children's cosmetics and personal care products; (iv) children's
238 jewelry and novelty products; (v) children’s school supplies; (vi) children’s arts and crafts
239 supplies, including model making supplies (vii) children’s bedding, furniture, and furnishings;
240 (viii) child car seats; (ix) products to help a child with sucking or teething, or to facilitate sleep,
241 relaxation, or the feeding of a child; (x) artificial turf fields installed on school properties,
242 publicly owned properties, or intended for use by children under the age of 18; (xi) products that
243 meet any of the following conditions: represented in its packaging, display, or advertising as
244 appropriate for use by children, sold in conjunction with, attached to, or packaged together with
245 other products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children sold
246 in a retail store, catalogue, or online website, in which a person exclusively offers for sale
247 products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as of appropriate for use by children, or sold
248 in a discrete portion of a retail store, catalogue, or online website, in which a person offers for
249 sale products that are packaged, displayed, or advertised as appropriate for use by children;
250 provided, however, that “children’s product” shall not include: (i) medical devices or (ii)
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251 children’s electronic products, including, but not limited to, a personal computer, audio and
252 video equipment, calculator, wireless phone, game console, handheld device incorporating a
253 video screen, or associated peripheral such as a mouse, keyboard, power supply unit, or power
254 cord.
255“Consumer product,” any article that, to any significant extent, is distributed in
256 commerce for personal use or consumption by individuals; provided however, that “consumer
257 product” shall not include a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment regulated under a federal
258 motor vehicle safety standard, as defined in 49 United States Code, Section 30102(a)(10), and
259 any other motor vehicle, including an off-highway vehicle or specialty motor vehicle, such as an
260 all-terrain vehicle, side-by-side vehicle, farm equipment or personal assistive mobility device,
261 except that the exemption under this paragraph does not apply to any textile article or refrigerant
262 that is included in or as a component part of such products.
263“Cookware”, durable houseware items that are used in homes and restaurants to prepare,
264 dispense, or store food, foodstuffs or beverages, including, but not limited to, pots, pans, skillets,
265 grills, baking sheets, baking molds, trays, bowls and cooking utensils.
266“Current unavoidable uses”, a use of PFAS that the department has determined under this
267 section to be: (i) essential for health, safety or the functioning of society; (ii) necessary for the
268 proper operation and functionality of a product; and; (iii) for which safer chemical alternatives
269 are not reasonably available.
270“Department”, the department of public health.
271“Distributor”, any person, firm or corporation who takes title to goods, produced either
272 domestically or in a foreign country, purchased for resale or promotional purposes.
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273“Drug”, as defined by 21 U.S.C. 321(g)(1)
274“Fabric treatment”, a substance applied to fabric, carpets, rugs, shoes or textiles to impart
275 characteristics, including, but not limited to, stain resistance or water resistance.
276“Fully fluorinated carbon atom”, a carbon atom on which all the hydrogen substituents
277 have been replaced by fluorine.
278“Intentionally added”, PFAS that is added to a product, or enters the product from the
279 manufacturing or processing of that product; the addition of which is known or reasonably
280 ascertainable by the manufacturer. “Intentionally added” PFAS also includes any degradation by-
281 products of PFAS or the use of PFAS or PFAS precursors as a processing agent, mold release
282 agent, or the creation of PFAS via chemical reactions.
283"Known or reasonably ascertainable”, all information in a person's possession or control,
284 plus all information that a reasonable person similarly situated might be expected to possess,
285 control, or know.
286“Manufacturer”, any person, firm or corporation that manufactures a product whose
287 brand name is affixed to the product. In the case of a product imported into the United States,
288 “manufacturer” includes the importer or first domestic distributor of the product if the person
289 that manufactured or assembled or whose brand name is affixed to the product does not have a
290 presence in the United States.
291“Medical device”, a device as defined by 21 U.S.C 321(h)
292“Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS”, a class of fluorinated organic
293 chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
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294“Personal care products”, articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on,
295 introduced into or otherwise applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting
296 attractiveness or altering the appearance. Personal care products shall include products such as
297 skin moisturizers, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail polishes, eye and facial makeup preparations,
298 shampoos, permanent waves, hair colors, toothpastes, sunscreen, hair spray, shaving cream and
299 deodorants, as well as any material intended for use as a component of a cosmetic product.
300 Personal care products shall also include, but not be limited to, menstrual products such as
301 sanitary napkins, menstrual underwear, tampons and underwear liners. Personal care products
302 shall not include a product that requires a prescription for distribution or dispensation.
303“Priority product,” any child passenger restraint, children’s product, cookware,
304 fabric treatment, personal care products, rugs and carpets, textile, textile furnishings, or
305 upholstered furniture.
306“Product component”, a component of a consumer product, including the product’s
307 ingredients or a part of the product, regardless of whether the manufacturer of the consumer
308 product is the manufacturer of the component.
309“Product label”, a display of written, printed or graphic material that appears on, or is
310 affixed to, the exterior of a product, or its exterior container or wrapper that is visible to a
311 consumer, if the product has an exterior container or wrapper.
312“Retailer”, any person, firm or corporation to whom a consumer product is delivered or
313 sold, if such delivery or sale is for purposes of sale or distribution in commerce to purchasers
314 who buy such product for purposes other than resale.
315“Rugs and carpets”, fabric used to or marketed to cover floors.
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316“Textile”, any item made in whole or part from a natural or synthetic fiber, yarn, or
317 fabric. Textile includes but is not limited to leather, cotton, silk, jute, hemp, wool, viscose, nylon,
318 and polyester.
319“Textile furnishings”, textile goods of a type customarily used in households and
320 businesses, including but not limited to draperies, floor coverings, furnishings, bedding, towels,
321 and tablecloths.
322“Upholstered furniture'', as defined in G.L. c. 94, § 270.
323“Wholesaler,” any person, firm or corporation to whom a consumer product is delivered
324 or sold, if such delivery or sale is for purposes of sale or distribution in commerce to purchasers
325 who buy such product for purposes of resale.
326(b) (1) No manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler or retailer shall offer for sale, sell or
327 distribute in the commonwealth any priority products to which PFAS have been intentionally
328 added on or after January 1, 2029.
329(2) The prohibitions of this subsection shall not apply to the sale or resale of used
330 products;
331(c)(1) No manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler or retailer shall offer for sale, sell or
332 distribute in the commonwealth any consumer product that the department has identified for
333 restriction, including but not limited to priority products, to which PFAS have been intentionally
334 added, unless the department, in consultation with the department of environmental protection
335 and the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, has determined that the use of PFAS in the consumer
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336 product is a currently unavoidable use and grants a temporary exemption at intervals of no more
337 than 4 years.
338(2) The department may assess a fee to cover the department’s reasonable costs and to
339 support the purposes outlined in this section payable by a manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler
340 or retailer upon submission of an unavoidable use exemption request under section (c) paragraph
341 (5). Fees collected under this paragraph shall be deposited into the PFAS Public Health Trust
342 Fund established under section (i) to be administered by the department for the purposes outlined
343 in this section.
344(3) In the event that the department makes such a determination and grants an
345 unavoidable use exemption, the department may require the manufacturer, distributor,
346 wholesaler or retailer to label the product or products in a form and manner determined by the
347 department.
348(4) The prohibitions of this subsection shall not apply to (1) the sale or resale of used
349 consumer products, or product components; (2) a product for which federal law governs the
350 presence of PFAS in the product in a manner that preempts state authority; (3) A prescription
351 drug or medical device; or (4) the packaging associated with any of the items specified in
352 paragraph (c)
353(5) Consumer products or product categories in which the use of PFAS is a currently
354 unavoidable use, as determined by the department, may be exempted for a fee to cover the
355 department’s reasonable costs and to support the purposes outlined in this section. Fees collected
356 under this paragraph shall be deposited into the PFAS Public Health Trust Fund established
357 under section (i) to be administered by the department for the purposes outlined in this section.
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358(6) Annually, not later than December 31, the department shall file a report on the
359 manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers or retailers submitting unavoidable use exemption
360 requests with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on
361 public health, and shall make the report available on the department’s website. The report shall
362 include, but not be limited to: (i) the full name of the manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler or
363 retailer applying for an unavoidable use exemption; (ii) if the department granted the
364 manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler or retailer an exemption or not; (iii) the department's
365 reasoning for granting the exemption; and (iv) the length of the exemption.
366(d)(1) The department shall, in consultation with the department of environmental
367 protection and the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, prepare a study of significant PFAS uses in
368 consumer products and product categories not subject to this section using publicly available
369 information, within 4 years of the passage of this law, and shall update the study every 3 years
370 thereafter. The study shall consider whether: (i) safer alternatives to PFAS are reasonably
371 available; (ii) the function provided by PFAS in the product is necessary for the product to
372 perform its primary function as determined by the department; (iii) the use of PFAS in the
373 product is essential for health or safety. The report shall recommend additional consumer
374 products and product categories to be considered for restriction under this section. The
375 department's recommendations shall prioritize the restriction of consumer products and product
376 categories that, in the department’s judgement, in consultation with the department of
377 environmental protection and the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, are most likely to contaminate
378 or harm the state's environment and natural resources if they contain intentionally added PFAS.
379(2) The department shall adopt regulations to implement this section. The department
380 shall adopt regulations to establish additional consumer products and product categories
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381 identified through the report pursuant to paragraph (1) to be considered priority products for
382 restriction covered by this section. The department shall consult with Toxics Use Reduction
383 Institute and the department of environmental protection when identifying additional priority
384 product categories and consumer products to which PFAS have been intentionally added for
385 restriction.
386(e) The attorney general shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of this section
387 pursuant to G.L. c. 93A, § 4.
388(f)(1) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of
389 public health shall establish, on or before June 1, 2028, a publicly accessible reporting platform
390 to collect information about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or “PFAS”, and consumer
391 products or product components containing PFAS being sold, offered for sale, distributed or
392 offered for promotional purposes in, or imported into, the state. The department may consult
393 with Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse and may collaborate with other states with prohibitions
394 on PFAS to establish such a platform.
395(2) On or before June 1, 2028, and on or before June 1 of each year thereafter, a
396 manufacturer of PFAS or of a priority product, additional consumer products identified for
397 restriction by the department or product component containing intentionally added PFAS that is
398 sold, offered for sale, distributed or offered for promotional purposes in, or imported into, the
399 state shall register the PFAS or the consumer product or product component containing
400 intentionally added PFAS on the publicly accessible reporting platform created pursuant to
401 paragraph (1), along with all of the following information, as applicable: (i) the name and type of
402 consumer product or product component containing intentionally added PFAS; (ii) the universal
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403 product code, or “UPC,” of the consumer product or product component containing intentionally
404 added PFAS; (iii) the specific names of all PFAS compounds in the priority consumer product or
405 product component containing intentionally added PFAS and the Chemical Abstracts Service
406 Registry Number, also known as a “CAS Registry Number” or “CAS RN,” of each PFAS
407 compound; (iv) the amount of the consumer product or the product component or the numbers of
408 consumer products or product components sold, delivered or imported into the state; (v) the
409 name and address of the manufacturer, and the name, address and phone number of the contact
410 person for the manufacturer; and (vi) any additional information established by the department as
411 necessary to implement the requirements of this section.
412(3) A manufacturer may supply the information required in paragraph (2) for a category
413 or type of consumer product rather than for each individual product.
414(4) In a manner determined by the department, a manufacturer shall update and revise the
415 information required under paragraph (2) whenever there is a significant change in the
416 information or when requested to do so by the department.
417(5) The department may establish by regulation and assess a fee payable by a
418 manufacturer upon submission of the notification required under paragraph (2) to cover the
419 department’s reasonable costs in developing and administering this section and to support the
420 purposes outlined in this section collected under this paragraph shall be deposited into the PFAS
421 Public Health Trust Fund established under section (i) to be administered by the department for
422 the purposes outlined in this section.
423(6) Any information submitted to, or developed by, the department in furtherance of this
424 section, except for the specific information required to be disclosed in subsection (f)(2) of this
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425 section shall not be a public record and shall be exempt from disclosure under clause twenty-
426 sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 and section 10 of chapter 66 of the General Laws.
427(g)(1) A manufacturer of consumer products registered under paragraph (2) of subsection
428 (f) shall send an electronic notification to distributors and wholesalers of the consumer product
429 that the consumer product contains PFAS.
430(2) A distributor or wholesaler who receives a notification pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
431 send an electronic notification to retailers of the consumer product that the consumer product
432 contains PFAS.
433(3) The department shall adopt regulations to implement this subsection.
434(4) The attorney general shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of this
435 subsection under G.L. c. 93A, § 4.
436(h)(1) A manufacturer of any priority products that are sold, offered for sale, distributed
437 or offered for promotional purposes in, or imported into, the state shall establish an audit
438 program to test for the presence of unintentionally added PFAS using analytical methods
439 approved by the department in consultation with the department of environmental protection and
440 the Toxics Use Reduction Institute.
441(2) The department shall establish by regulation and assess a fee payable by a
442 manufacturer under paragraph (1) to cover the department’s reasonable costs in testing a
443 consumer product for the presence of unintentionally added PFAS at the request of a
444 manufacturer. Fees collected under this paragraph shall be deposited into the PFAS Public
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445 Health Trust Fund established under section (i) to be administered by the department for the
446 purposes outlined in this section.
447(i)(1) There shall be a PFAS Public Health Trust Fund. Expenditures from the fund shall
448 be made by the department, without further appropriation and consistent with this section, and
449 consistent with the terms of other allocations and monies transferred to this fund, as applicable.
450 The commissioner shall administer the fund for purposes outlined in this section and may make
451 expenditures from the fund to develop and implement a multilingual outreach and education
452 campaign pursuant to section 29 of chapter 21A of the General Laws.
453(2) The fund shall be expended to support the education of Massachusetts residents of
454 PFAS contamination across the commonwealth and the potential health impacts of PFAS
455 exposure, to mitigate the impacts of PFAS in consumer products in the commonwealth, and to
456 support the development of PFAS-free alternatives by the Toxic Use Reduction Institute. The
457 commissioner shall make necessary expenditures from this account for the shared administrative
458 costs of the operations and programs of the department related to the fund, including but not
459 limited to the unavoidable use exemption process under section (c) paragraph (5) and the testing
460 a consumer product for the presence of unintentionally added PFAS. The commissioner shall
461 further direct that monies from the fund shall be expended to provide services in an amount
462 reasonably related to such administrative costs. No expenditure shall be made from the fund that
463 would cause the fund to be in deficit at the close of a fiscal year. Amounts credited to the fund
464 shall not be subject to further appropriation and monies remaining in the fund at the end of the
465 fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund, but shall instead be available for expenditure
466 during subsequent fiscal years. Any fiscal year-end balance in the fund shall be excluded from
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467 the calculation of the consolidated net surplus pursuant to section 5C of chapter 29 of the
468 General Laws.
469(3) There shall be credited to the fund: (i) fees payable by a manufacturer, distributor,
470 wholesaler or retailer upon submission of an unavoidable use exemption request under section
471 (c) paragraph (5); (ii) transfers from other funds authorized by the general court and so
472 designated; (iii) funds from public or private sources, including, but not limited to, gifts, grants,
473 donations, rebates, settlements, judgments, awards, and other allocations received by the
474 commonwealth designated to the fund; and (iv) any interest earned on such amounts.
475SECTION 6. Chapter 22D of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
476 section 6 the following section:-
477Section 7. (a) The following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise,
478 have the following meanings:
479“Department”, department of fire services
480“Intentionally added”, PFAS that is added to a product, or enters the product from the
481 manufacturing or processing of that product; and the addition of PFAS is known or reasonably
482 ascertainable by the manufacturer. “Intentionally added” PFAS also includes any degradation by-
483 products of PFAS or the use of PFAS or PFAS precursors as a processing agent, mold release
484 agent, or the creation of PFAS via chemical reactions.
485"Known or reasonably ascertainable”, all information in a person's possession or control,
486 plus all information that a reasonable person similarly situated might be expected to possess,
487 control, or know.
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488"Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances" or “PFAS”, a class of fluorinated organic
489 chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
490(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no person, local
491 government or state agency shall use a Class B firefighting foam that contains intentionally
492 added PFAS in any amount for training, testing, or emergency response purposes.
493(c) Any person, unit of local government, fire department, or state agency that discharges
494 or releases Class B firefighting foam that contains intentionally added PFAS must notify the
495 department of environmental protection’s emergency response line as soon as possible but no
496 later than within 24 hours of the discharge or release.
497(d) The restrictions in subsection (b) of this section do not apply to any manufacture,
498 sale, or distribution of class B firefighting foam where the inclusion of PFAS chemicals are
499 required by federal law, including but not - limited to the requirements of 14 C.F.R. 139.317, as
500 that section existed as of January 1, 2025. In the event that applicable federal regulations change
501 after January 1, 2025, to allow the use of alternative firefighting agents that do not contain PFAS
502 chemicals, the restrictions set forth in subsection (b) shall apply.
503(e) The department shall assist the department of public health’s Occupational Health
504 Surveillance Program in collecting data on occupational exposure to PFAS, including, but not
505 limited to, firefighters.
506SECTION 7. Section 12 of chapter 61A of the General Laws is hereby amended by
507 inserting after the second paragraph the following paragraph:-
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508No conveyance tax under this section shall be assessed on land that is removed from
509 agricultural or horticultural use due to regulatory action regarding the actual or suspected
510 presence of PFAS in soil, water, or agricultural products derived from such land. For the
511 purposes of this paragraph, “PFAS” shall mean a class of fluorinated organic compounds
512 containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom. The commissioner of agricultural
513 resources, in consultation with the commissioner of revenue and the commissioner of
514 environmental protection, may promulgate regulations to enforce this paragraph.
515SECTION 8. Section 13 of chapter 61A of the General Laws is hereby amended by
516 adding the following subsection:-
517(e) No roll-back tax imposed by this section shall be assessed on land that no longer
518 meets the definition of land actively devoted to agricultural, horticultural or agricultural and
519 horticultural use due to regulatory action regarding the actual or suspected presence of PFAS in
520 soil, water, or agricultural products derived from such land. For the purposes of this subsection,
521 “PFAS” shall mean a class of fluorinated organic compounds containing at least one fully
522 fluorinated carbon atom. The commissioner of agricultural resources, in consultation with the
523 commissioner of revenue and the commissioner of environmental protection, may promulgate
524 regulations to enforce this subsection.
525SECTION 9. The department of public health, in consultation with department of
526 environmental protection and the department of agricultural resources, shall procure or otherwise
527 employ an external research organization, which has the capacity to study per- and
528 polyfluoroalkyl substances and the effect PFAS has on agricultural products produced and sold
529 in the commonwealth; provided, that the research organization shall have: (1) extensive
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530 experience with a wide variety of agricultural products and environmental matrices, including, 2
531 of 2 but not limited to, plants and animals; (2) a current QAPP (“Quality Assurance Project
532 Plan”) through the United States Environmental Protection Agency; (3) current sampling and
533 chain of custody protocols; (4) experience handling complex agricultural matrices; and (5) access
534 to state of-the art mass spectrometers. The study shall include findings on the levels of PFAS
535 found in: (1) in agricultural products sold in Massachusetts stores; (2) locally sourced
536 agricultural products; and (3) agricultural inputs including, but not limited to, feed, water,
537 fertilizer, and pesticides. The department shall make said report publicly available with the
538 department’s findings on the department’s website. The commissioner shall file a progress report
539 in writing of the findings, including food and agricultural sources of contamination, within 365
540 days of the passage of this act; provided, that the report shall be filed with the house and senate
541 committees on ways and means, the joint committee on environment and natural resources, the
542 joint committee on public health, and the joint committee on agriculture on or before August 31,
543 2025.
544SECTION 10. Subsection (c) of said section 43B of said chapter 21 shall take effect two
545 years after United States Environmental Protection Agency Method 1633 is available to the
546 public.
547SECTION 11. Section 3 shall take effect January 1, 2030.
548SECTION 12. Subsection (b) of section 5T of said chapter 111 shall take effect January
549 1, 2028.
550SECTION 13. Subsection (b) of said section 5U of said chapter 111 shall take effect
551 January 1, 2029.
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552SECTION 14. Subsection (c) of said section 5U of said chapter 111 shall take effect
553 January 1, 2035.
554SECTION 15. Additional product categories added under subsection (d) of said section
555 5U of said chapter 111 shall take effect three years after the product category has been added for
556 restriction by the department.
557SECTION 16. Paragraph (1) of said subsection (g) of said section 5U of said chapter 111
558 shall take effect June 1, 2030.
559SECTION 17. Subsection (h) of said section 5U of said chapter 111 shall take effect
560 January 1, 2030.
561SECTION 18. Subsection (i) of said section 5U of said chapter 111 shall take effect
562 January 1, 2035.
563SECTION 19. Section 245 of said chapter 111 shall take effect on the 180th day
564 following enactment.
565SECTION 20. Section 246 of said chapter 111 shall take effect January 1, 2028.
566SECTION 21. Section 3 shall take effect on the 180th day following enactment.
567SECTION 22. Section 7 shall take effect January 1, 2029.
568SECTION 23. Section 12 shall take effect no later than 180 days after passage of this act.
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