EPA Proposes Significant Exemptions to the TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule

On November 10, 2025, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a proposed rule adding six new exemptions to the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) reporting regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”). The proposed changes are largely intended to reduce reporting obligations, exempting from reporting finished goods imports (referred to as “imported articles” under TSCA), de minimis uses of PFAS, and certain PFAS considered manufacturing byproducts or chemical impurities.

The proposed changes will proceed to public comment and could become effective as soon as early 2026. The reporting window is expected to be available to regulated entities in the middle of 2026, opening 60 days after the effective date of the final rule and closing after three months.

In addition to the proposed exemptions, EPA has published updates to the TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule website, a Frequently Asked Questions document, an Instructions for Reporting document, and a press release discussing the proposed rule that may assist businesses in understanding the scope of and rationale for these new exemptions.

EPA’s Six Proposed Exemptions

EPA is proposing six specific exemptions to the TSCA PFAS reporting rule, with the goal of providing “both regulatory relief and greater regulatory certainty to regulated parties, resulting in a net reduction in cost while retaining the majority of PFAS manufacture reporting requirements.”  The six currently proposed exemptions are as follows:

1. Imported Articles. EPA intends to exempt imported articles from reporting, noting that “importing PFAS in articles between 2011-2022 is an activity about which manufacturers are unlikely to have known or reasonably ascertainable information.”
2. De Minimis Exemption of 0.1%. Reporting would not be required for PFAS in mixtures or products at concentrations of 0.1% or lower.  This low-concentration exemption would apply regardless of the total production volume of the mixture or article. 
3. Certain Byproducts. Byproducts are chemical substances produced during the manufacture, processing, use, or disposal of another chemical substance.  EPA is proposing to exempt “any byproduct not used for commercial purposes.”
4. Certain Impurities. Impurities are chemical substances unintentionally present within another chemical substance.  EPA would not require reporting as to PFAS impurities, which have “no distinct commercial purpose apart from the substance, mixture, or article in which they are contained.” 
5. Research and Development (“R&D”). EPA proposes to exclude reporting related to PFAS manufactured or imported when done so only for R&D purposes.  
6. Non-Isolated Intermediates. EPA proposes an exemption for non-isolated intermediates because these substances usually remain in a closed system and therefore “do not result in meaningful human or environmental exposure.”

No exemptions specifically for small manufacturers are contemplated, although some of these proposed exemptions may apply to many small manufacturers.

What Aspects of the Reporting Rule Remain the Same?

EPA has left many of the key aspects of the TSCA PFAS reporting rule unchanged, including the following:

• Due Diligence Standard: A reporting entity is still expected to report information that is known to the entity or reasonably ascertainable by the entity.
• Definition of PFAS:
  • The broad definition of PFAS under the rule remains the same: “Any chemical substance or mixture containing a chemical substance that structurally contains at least one of the following three sub-structures:
    1. R-(CF2)-CF(R′)R″, where both the CF2 and CF moieties are saturated carbons;
    2. R-CF2OCF2-R′, where R and R′ can either be F, O, or saturated carbons;
    3. CF3C(CF3)R′R″, where R′ and R″ can either be F or saturated carbons.”
• Lookback Period: The relevant reporting lookback period remains the 11 years between January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2022.
• Confidential Business Information & Joint Submissions: Requirements for claiming confidential business information, as well as options to complete joint submissions with suppliers or vendors, remain the same.
• Data Required for Submission:  Where reporting is required under EPA’s proposed rule, the information required to be reported remains the same.  (See BCLP’s Insight on the original TSCA PFAS reporting rule for further details on the substantive reporting requirements.)  The following information must be reported:
  • Company and facility information;
  • Chemical-specific information, including chemical identity and molecular structure;
  • Information on industrial processing and use (what industries use the reported chemical and for what purposes);
  • Information on consumer and commercial use (who uses the reported chemical downstream and for what purposes);
  • Quantities of each reported chemical manufactured, produced, or imported for each calendar year from 2011 to 2022;
  • "All existing information concerning the environmental and health effects” of the reported PFAS chemicals in the company’s possession or control, which is not limited to information published since 2011;
  • Information regarding worker exposure for the reported chemicals, including the number of individuals exposed, activities performed by the workers, and exposure scenarios and duration; and
  • Information regarding disposal of the reported PFAS chemicals, including amounts and disposal methods.

Next Steps for Reporting Entities

Public comments are due on the proposed rule 45 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register.  The rule would likely be finalized in early 2026, with the reporting window set to open 60 days after the effective date of the final rule and remaining open for three months.  This submission period may be shorter than the current reporting window, set to close on October 13, 2026, as EPA has indicated it believes that “reporters have had adequate time to consider how they intend to comply with the rule.” 

For more information on regulation, litigation, and compliance strategies involving PFAS chemicals, or if your business may be impacted by the proposed rule, please contact Erin Brooks, Christian Bromley, Nora Faris, John Kindschuh, or any other member of our PFAS Team at BCLP.