Last month, Maine governor Janet Mills approved an amendment to 38 MRSA §1614 establishing sales prohibitions as well as exemptions for certain products containing “intentionally added” perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The amendment also includes budgetary provisions to direct additional funds toward programs and agencies tasked with regulating the sale of these so-called “forever chemicals” in the state.
Titled “An Act to Amend the Laws Relating to the Prevention of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Pollution,” the amendment – titled Chapter 90 – would expand on the state’s 2021 ruling to “establish criteria for currently unavoidable uses of intentionally added PFAS in products and to implement the sales prohibitions and notification requirements for products containing intentionally added PFAS but determined to be a currently unavoidable use pursuant to the amended 38 M.R.S. 1614… It requires the Department of Environmental Protection, not later than January 1, 2025 and every year thereafter until December 31, 2029, to adopt a rule identifying at least one product category or use that may not be sold, offered for sale or distributed in this State if it contains intentionally added PFAS.”
Included in the amendment – which defines Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as “substances that include any member of the class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated atom – is prohibition of the sale of R-454B, a low-GWP replacement for R-410A containing HFO 1234yf, a refrigerant fitting the above description. Prohibition for the refrigerant, as well as “cooling, heating, ventilation, air conditioning or refrigeration equipment” containing PFAS would take effect on January 1, 2040. This is, in effect, an extension on that sector’s exemption of the rule, with prohibition on the sale of other PFAS-containing products taking effect every three years, starting in 2023. Those dates and product categories can be found below.
Source: https://www.maine.gov/dep/spills/topics/pfas/PFAS-products/index.html
The amendment also outlines product categories that are exempt from sale prohibition, a complete list of which is below.
It’s unclear to what extent state-based regulation like Chapter 90 could be adopted by other states, but the potential impact could be significant as many domestic unit manufacturers have chosen R-454B as their commercial HVAC refrigerant of choice following the moratorium on the manufacture and sale of new R-410A equipment beginning this year. We’ll keep tabs on this and other refrigerant regulations and provide updates when available.
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