The U.S. States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding 172 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the toxic chemicals list that are subject to reporting in the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and the Pollution Prevention Act.  The U.S. EPA took final rule action on the PFAS additions on May 18, 2020.

The list of 172 PFAS chemicals are being added by the EPA to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).  The TRI tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. Facilities in different industry sectors are required to annually report how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment. 

PFAS chemicals, known as “forever chemicals” are persistent and bioaccumulate. Persistent means they do not break down in the environment and bioaccumulate refers to the process of building up over time in the blood and organs.

The U.S. EPA is taking this step to implement an important PFAS requirement of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). As this action was taken to conform the TRI regulations to a Congressional legislative mandate, this rule became effective immediately. Per the NDAA requirements, the PFAS additions became effective as of January 1, 2020. Reporting forms for these PFAS will be due to EPA by July 1, 2021, for calendar year 2020 data. EPA expects to release these data by July 31, 2021.

Merit Laboratories is a leading national PFAS environmental laboratory, analyzing drinking water, soil, wastewater, groundwater, and other sample matrices.