The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today an extension of the period for reporting data pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on the manufacture of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Specifically, EPA issued an interim final rule providing that the period for PFAS reporting to EPA under TSCA will now begin on April 13, 2026, nine months after the originally planned start date of July 11, 2025. The PFAS reporting end date (i.e., the end of the period to submit PFAS data) has also been extended — to October 13, 2026 for most regulated entities. For entities that qualify as small manufacturers reporting exclusively as article importers, the reporting end date is extended further to April 13, 2027.
EPA promulgated the interim final rule under Section 8(a)(7) of TSCA. The rule's reporting requirements apply to entities that manufactured or imported PFAS or imported articles containing PFAS in any year between 2011 to 2022.
Originally, EPA promulgated its TSCA PFAS reporting rule in October 2023, which — if left unaltered — would have opened the period for reporting PFAS data on July 11, 2025. However, software-development concerns might have driven EPA's extension. EPA's public announcement stated that the extension "will allow EPA to further develop and test the software being used to collect the data from manufacturers, thereby providing critical feedback to EPA, including what additional guidance would be useful for the reporting community."
The extension follows a recent May 2025 filing from a coalition of chemical companies to EPA stating that EPA should have included typical TSCA reporting exemptions in the PFAS reporting rule (e.g., exemptions for byproducts, impurities, articles, research and development materials, and a production volume threshold). Accordingly, the coalition — which submitted the filing to EPA under TSCA Section 21 — asked that EPA revise the reporting rule to exclude imported articles, R&D materials, impurities, byproducts, non-isolated intermediates, and PFAS manufactured in quantities of less than 2,500 pounds. The coalition also requested that EPA remove the requirement to submit all existing information concerning the environmental and health effects of each chemical substance and instead allow robust summaries.
The extension also follows a recent announcement by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin concerning PFAS-related actions being planned by EPA, in which he stated that EPA intends to "[i]mplement section 8(a)(7) to smartly collect necessary information, as Congress envisioned and consistent with TSCA, without overburdening small businesses and article importers." Indeed, today's press release announcing the reporting extension stated that, "while the delay to the start of the submission period is effective[] immediately," EPA will accept public comments on the reporting period change for 30 days and is "considering a separate action to reopen other aspects of this rule for public comment."
The Environmental Practice Group at Arnold & Porter is closely monitoring this rule and general PFAS developments in the U.S. and abroad. Clients should contact any of the authors of this post for further insights and assistance with the PFAS reporting process.
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