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AB-872 • 2026

Environmental health: product safety: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Environmental health: product safety: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Taxes
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Blanca Rubio
Last action
2026-02-02
Official status
From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not provide specific dates for when products already in stores will be affected, leaving this detail uncertain.

Environmental Health: Product Safety Rules for PFAS

This law sets rules to stop the sale of products with certain harmful chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) unless they are needed for safety reasons.

What This Bill Does

  • Bans selling or offering for sale products that contain intentionally added PFAS starting January 1, 2028, if the Department of Toxic Substances Control has not determined it is necessary to use them in those products.
  • Requires the department to list on its website which uses of PFAS are allowed and when these allowances will end.
  • Allows manufacturers to ask the department to check their products for PFAS safety and get a regulatory response about whether they can be sold.
  • Gives the department power to test products, fine violators, and stop them from breaking the rules.
  • Requires the department to study how PFAS are used in industry and report on issues related to these chemicals.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Manufacturers of products that might contain PFAS
  • People who sell or distribute products with PFAS

Terms To Know

PFAS
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are chemicals used in many products but can be harmful to health.
Department of Toxic Substances Control
The state agency that enforces rules about dangerous materials like PFAS.

Limits and Unknowns

  • It is not clear how the bill will affect products already in stores when it starts.
  • Some uses of PFAS might still be allowed if they are necessary and safe.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-02 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

  2. 2026-01-31 California Legislative Information

    Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution.

  3. 2025-04-21 California Legislative Information

    Re-referred to Com. on E.S & T.M.

  4. 2025-04-10 California Legislative Information

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on E.S & T.M. Read second time and amended.

  5. 2025-03-25 California Legislative Information

    Re-referred to Com. on E.S & T.M.

  6. 2025-03-24 California Legislative Information

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on E.S & T.M. Read second time and amended.

  7. 2025-03-24 California Legislative Information

    Referred to Com. on E.S & T.M.

  8. 2025-02-20 California Legislative Information

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.

  9. 2025-02-19 California Legislative Information

    Read first time. To print.

Official Summary Text

AB 872, as amended, Blanca Rubio.
Environmental health: product safety: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
(1)
Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control, on or before January 1, 2029, to adopt regulations to enforce specified covered perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) restrictions, which include prohibitions on the distribution, sale, or offering for sale of certain products that contain specified levels of PFAS. Existing law requires the department, on and after July 1, 2030, to enforce and ensure compliance with those provisions and regulations, as provided. Existing law requires manufacturers of these products, on or before July 1, 2029, to register with the department, to pay a registration fee to the department, and to provide a statement of compliance certifying compliance with the applicable prohibitions on the use of PFAS to the department, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to test products and to rely
on third-party testing to determine compliance with prohibitions on the use of PFAS, as specified. Existing law requires the department to issue a notice of violation for a product in violation of the prohibitions on the use of PFAS, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to assess an administrative penalty for a violation of these prohibitions and authorizes the department to seek an injunction to restrain a person or entity from violating these prohibitions, as specified.
(1) Existing law, known as the Green Chemistry program, requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations to establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals or chemical ingredients in consumer products that may be considered as being chemicals of concern. Existing law requires the regulations to include criteria by which chemicals
and their alternatives may be evaluated by the department, as provided. Existing law requires the department, following the completion of an alternatives analysis, to provide a regulatory response that may include, but is not limited to, not requiring any action and restricting or prohibiting the use of the chemical of concern in the consumer product.
This bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, prohibit a person from distributing, selling, or offering for sale a covered product, as defined, that contains intentionally added PFAS, as defined, unless the department has
made a determination that the use of PFAS in the product is a currently unavoidable use
issued a regulatory response for the covered product pursuant to the Green Chemistry program
or the
prohibition is preempted by federal law.
The bill would specify the criteria and procedures for determining whether the use of PFAS in a product is a currently unavoidable
use, for renewing that determination, and for revoking that determination. The bill would require the department to maintain on its internet website a list of each determination of currently unavoidable use, when each determination expires, and the products and uses that are exempt from the prohibition.
The bill would authorize a manufacturer of a covered product to petition the department to evaluate a covered product and would require the department to evaluate and provide a regulatory response for a covered product
under the Green Chemistry program, as specified.
This bill would require these prohibitions on covered products to be enforced by the department pursuant to the existing authority described above, including, but not limited to, the
authority relating to registration, product testing, and administrative penalties.
This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt regulations to carry out these provisions. The bill would require the department to analyze and comment on the presence of PFAS in industrial processes and products, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to identify and categorize commercially active PFAS present in products distributed in California, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to report on other issues relating to products containing PFAS and emissive compounds.
(2) Existing law requires the department, on or before January 1, 2029, to adopt regulations to enforce specified covered perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) restrictions,
which include prohibitions on the distribution, sale, or offering for sale of certain products that contain specified levels of PFAS. Existing law requires the department, on and after July 1, 2030, to enforce and ensure compliance with those provisions and regulations, as provided. Existing law requires manufacturers of these products, on or before July 1, 2029, to register with the department, to pay a registration fee to the department, and to provide a statement of compliance certifying compliance with the applicable prohibitions on the use of PFAS to the department, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to test products and to rely on third-party testing to determine compliance with prohibitions on the use of PFAS, as specified. Existing law requires the department to issue a notice of violation for a product in violation of the prohibitions on the use of PFAS, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to assess an administrative penalty for a violation of these prohibitions and
authorizes the department to seek an injunction to restrain a person or entity from violating these prohibitions, as specified.
This bill would require the department to use this existing authority to enforce the prohibition on products that would be prohibited by the provisions in paragraph (1).
(2)
(3)
Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and all appropriate state agencies, to adopt regulations to establish a process to
identify and prioritize chemicals or chemical ingredients in consumer products that may be considered as being a chemical of concern, as specified. Pursuant to that authority, the department adopted regulations known as the Safer Consumer Products Regulations.
This bill would authorize, but not require, that those regulations evaluate uses of PFAS in products that would be prohibited by the provisions in paragraph (1).

Current Bill Text

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