Proposed Revisions to the TSCA PFAS Reporting Requirements

On November 10, 2025, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) released proposed changes to the scope of Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that require manufacturers and importers of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that enter commerce to report information on the use and production of said compounds. The proposed revisions would result in significant reductions in reporting obligations for those businesses subject to the rule through the introduction of several notable exemptions. They align with U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s April 28, 2025 announcement that he intended to collect necessary information without overburdening small businesses and article importers. In addition to the introduction of these exemptions, the revisions would also extend the reporting timeline to start 60 days after the effective date of the final rule and to conclude three months prior to the closing of the reporting portal.

History of the Rule

Section 8(a)(7) is a one-time reporting rule that requires businesses to report on the manufacture and import activities of specific PFAS, detailing their PFAS activities since January 1, 2011. Details to be reported include chemical identity, production volumes, usage categories, manufacturing byproducts, disposal methods, worker exposure, and potential environmental and/or health hazards. Most importantly, this is a one-time reporting requirement separate from the typical four-year TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) cycle.

The rule was first finalized on October 11, 2023, and does not currently include any exemptions to the reporting requirements or any de minimis threshold below which reporting is not required. The original rule contained an information collection period for one year following the rule’s effective date, followed by a six-month reporting period (with a six-month extension for small manufacturers whose reporting obligations are exclusively from article import). Since the original promulgation of this rule, there has been a series of efforts to delay the reporting period. The most recent was an interim final rule published on May 13, 2025, that adjusted the reporting window for most manufacturers to April 13, 2026, through October 13, 2026. The recently proposed changes would further delay the reporting period.

Proposed Changes

The most recently proposed changes to the Section 8(a)(7) rule include several exemptions to the rule that would greatly reduce the reporting burden for those industries potentially affected by the rule. Proposed reporting exemptions include:

De Minimis Threshold

The proposed rule includes an exemption for any PFAS present at a concentration below 0.1% in any manufactured or imported substance, regardless of the overall production or use of the substance. Although this exemption is available to both manufacturers and importers of substances or mixtures containing PFAS, importers will likely be exempt from reporting per the proposed exemption for imported articles. This is a helpful exemption because there is a low likelihood that companies would have known about the existence of such low levels of PFAS.

Imported Articles

As the rule currently stands, all imported items containing PFAS are required to be reported no matter how they make their way into commerce. The proposed changes include an exemption for any PFAS imported as part of an article. An article is defined in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 704.3 as a manufactured item:

(1) which is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture,

(2) which has end use function(s) dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use, and

(3) which has either no change of chemical composition during its end use or only those changes of composition which have no commercial purpose separate from that of the article, and that result from a chemical reaction that occurs upon end use of other chemical substances, mixtures, or articles; except that fluids and particles are not considered articles regardless of shape or design.”

Certain Byproducts, Impurities, and Non-isolated Intermediates

Manufactured PFAS that result as a byproduct, impurity, or  non-isolated intermediates would be exempt under the proposed changes to the Section 8(a)(7) rule as long as the product is not manufactured for a commercial purpose. U.S. EPA has proposed this exemption in an effort to closer align the reporting requirements of the TSCA PFAS reporting program with existing TSCA CDR reporting requirements that include similar exemptions. U.S. EPA is proposing to narrow reporting to only those PFAS that are manufactured for a commercial advantage.

Byproducts are defined as a substance produced without a separate commercial intent during the production of another substance; impurities are defined as a substance that is unintentionally present with another substance; and non-isolated intermediates include substances used in a chemical reaction to intentionally manufacture another substance that is “not intentionally removed from the equipment in which it is manufactured.”, per the definitions found in 40 CFR 704.3.

Research and Development Chemicals

The proposed revisions also include an exemption for PFAS manufactured and imported in small quantities for Research and Development (R&D) purposes. However, the threshold for small quantities is not currently defined but it can reasonably be assumed that the same definition for TSCA’s new chemicals program can be applicable here as well, which is an amount “no greater than reasonably necessary” for R&D reasons.

Key Takeaways

The proposed exemptions to Section 8(a)(7) of the TSCA would greatly minimize the regulatory burden for many businesses that would be subject to the extensive PFAS reporting requirements originally established in 2021. Although the proposed revisions include exemptions from reporting obligations, it’s a good idea to prepare for your reporting obligations as if the potential exemptions will not be finalized.

Regardless of the potential exemption status of substances that contain reportable concentrations of PFAS that are either manufactured or imported, the proposed revisions will provide additional time for companies to perform further investigation and obtain all the necessary data to fulfill reporting requirements and potential exemption claims. ALL4 has extensive experience helping companies comply with chemical reporting requirements. If you would like more information or have any questions about the potential exemptions from the TSCA PFAS reporting rule, reach out to Molly Palmer (mpalmer@all4inc.com) or Thomas Timms (ttimms@all4inc.com).