Comments to EPA on the PFAS Reporting Rule

Under the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, EPA must finalize conduct a rulemaking to require reporting of PFAS data for uses in the United States. In response to the proposed rule, Auto Innovators submitted comments to EPA raising significant concerns with the proposed rule that would require articles-based reporting for over 1,500 defined and other non-defined PFAS substances.  Auto Innovators focused on the cost, burden and duplication that would result under this rulemaking, provided update estimates for cost and resources, and recommended that the agency follow previous precedence to exclude articles.  However, Auto Innovators also recognized that the IMDS material tracking system could be an option for reporting articles-based automotive data to EPA, but EPA would have to accept this data as meeting the definition of “reasonably ascertainable” data, as well as exclude PFAS without CAS numbers or quantities under de minimis thresholds.  Auto Innovators also submitted comments on this rule to OMB, in late July 2021, focused on EPA’s information collection request.