On July 29, 2024, the Massachusetts House and Senate passed Senate Bill 2902 (“SB 2902”) https://legiscan.com/MA/text/S2902/id/3015477which focuses on the “reduction of certain toxic chemicals in firefighter personal protective equipment (“PPE”).”
SB 2902 defines “firefighting personal protective equipment” broadly to include clothing and wearable items, jackets, pants, footwear, gloves, helmets and respiratory equipment and restricts intentionally added PFAS in these items.
SB 2902, in Section 245, originally required manufacturers of PPE containing PFAS to provide written notice to the purchaser of PPE that the PPE contains PFAS, the reason the PPE contains PFAS and the specific PFAS chemicals within the product.
The revisions to SB 2902 struck Section 245 and replaced it with a blanket prohibition which states that “a manufacturer or other person who sells firefighting personal protective equipment…shall NOT manufacture, knowingly sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale or distribute for use in the commonwealth any firefighting personal protective equipment containing intentionally added PFAS.”
The Act is to take effect on January 1, 2027. The Act passed the Legislature and has been sent to the Governor for signature. As of August 8, 2024 the Governor has not yet signed the Bill.
Green Sprouts – If signed by the Governor, Massachusetts would join with other states in outright banning PFAS in personal protective equipment, and join a growing trend of states that have chosen to eliminate the additive use of PFAS in PPE.
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For More Information:
If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact Lindsay Ann Brown, Lori A. Mills, Brad A. Molotsky, David Amerikaner, any of the attorneys in our PFAS Group or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.