CA Bill Requiring Review of Food-Contact Materials Containing PFASs Passes Assembly

A California bill that would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to regulate all PFASs in food-contact substances under the Green Chemistry program and ban products containing certain polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) has been approved by the state assembly by a vote of 44-28. (For background information the Green Chemistry program, see the PackagingLaw.com article, California’s Green Chemistry Initiative: Impact and Update.)

More specifically, AB-958 would:

1. Prohibit the manufacture, sale, or distribution of any product that contains PFASs with eight or more carbon atoms.
2. Require DTSC to revise its 2015–17 Priority Product Work Plan to include food-contact substances containing PFASs for consideration and evaluation as a potential priority product under the state’s Green Chemistry program.
3. Require DTSC, on or before January 1, 2019, to identify food-contact substances containing PFASs as draft priority products.
4. Require DTSC, on or before January 1, 2020, to begin the adoption of regulations, in accordance with Green Chemistry statutes, for the identified food-contact substances.

The bill originally sought to ban food packaging that contained any fluorinated chemical but was modified prior to passage in the assembly.  The bill is currently under review by the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.