The United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has announced it will again be extending the data submission period for the Toxic Substances Control Act ("TSCA") Section 8(a)(7) reporting requirement for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS"). According to aninterim final rulepublished by the agency in the Federal Register onMay 13, 2025, the data submission period will now begin onApril 13, 2026, rather than July 11, 2025 (the date previously slated for the beginning of the data submission period). The end of the reporting period has also been extended by nine months, from January 11, 2026, toOctober 13, 2026, for most reporting entities. As with the agency's first extension of the reporting period announced in September 2024, EPA has indicated that this extension is necessary to ensure that its online data collection platform, which remains under development, is fully functional and vetted before the submission period opens.
As previewed byEPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in his April 2025 announcementin which he called for implementing TSCA Section 8(a)(7) "without overburdening small businesses and article importers," the interim final rule extends the reporting period by an additional six months (untilApril 13, 2027) for small businesses that are reporting exclusively as article importers.
Theinterim final ruledoes not include any substantive changes to the PFAS reporting requirements — only to the reporting timeframe and deadlines. However, the agency noted in its summary of theinterim final rulethat it "is separately considering reopening certain aspects of the [TSCA Section 8(a)(7)] rule to public comment" and that the "delayed reporting date ensures that EPA has adequate time to consider the[se] public comments and propose and finalize any modifications to the rule before the submission period begins."
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