Prohibit the use of intentionally added PFAS in various products

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
H. B. No. 743

2025-2026

Representatives Troy, Rogers

Cosponsors: Representatives Brennan,
Piccolantonio, Brownlee, Lett, McNally, Miller, J., Russo, Synenberg,
Upchurch

To
amend section 3745.015 and to enact sections 3745.81, 3745.82,
3745.83, 3745.84, 3745.85, 3745.86, and 3745.87 of the Revised Code

to
prohibit, with exceptions, the use of intentionally added PFAS in
various products.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
section 3745.015 be amended and sections 3745.81, 3745.82, 3745.83,
3745.84, 3745.85, 3745.86, and 3745.87 of the Revised Code be enacted
to read as follows:

Sec.
3745.015.
There
is hereby created in the state treasury the environmental protection
fund consisting of money credited to the fund under division (A)(3)
of section 3734.57

and
,

division
(E) of section 3714.07
,
and section 3745.86

of the Revised Code. The environmental protection agency shall use
money in the fund to pay the agency's costs associated with
administering and enforcing, or otherwise conducting activities
under, this chapter and Chapters 3704., 3734., 3746., 3747., 3748.,
3750., 3751., 3752., 3753., 5709., 6101., 6103., 6105., 6109., 6111.,
6112., 6113., 6115., 6117., and 6119. of the Revised Code, including
providing compliance assistance to small businesses.

Sec.
3745.81.
As
used in sections 3745.81 to 3745.87 of the Revised Code:

(A)
"Carpet or rug" means a fabric marketed or intended for use
as a floor covering.

(B)
"Cleaning product" means a finished product used for
general cleaning purposes, including any of the following:

(1)
A polish or floor maintenance product;

(2)
An air care product labeled for the intended use of enhancing or
conditioning the indoor environment by eliminating unpleasant odors
or freshening the air;

(3)
An automotive maintenance product labeled for the intended use of
maintaining the appearance of a motor vehicle.

"Cleaning
product" does not include automotive paint or paint repair
products.

(C)
"Cookware" means durable houseware items intended for
direct food contact and used to prepare, dispense, or store food,
foodstuffs, or beverages, including pots, pans, grills, baking
sheets, baking molds, trays, bowls, and cooking utensils;

(D)
"Cosmetic" has the same meaning as in section 3715.01 of
the Revised Code.

(E)
"Currently unavoidable use" means a use of PFAS that the
director of environmental protection has determined by rule to be
essential for health, safety, or the functioning of society, and for
which alternatives are not reasonably available.

(F)
"Fabric treatment" means a substance applied to fabric to
give the fabric one or more characteristics, including for stain or
water resistance.

(G)
"Feminine hygiene product" means a disposable or reusable
product to collect menstruation and vaginal discharge, including
tampons, pads, sponges, menstruation underwear, discs, applicators,
and menstruation cups.

(H)
"Intentionally added" means a PFAS deliberately added
during the manufacture of a product in which the continued presence
of the PFAS is desired or expected in the final product or one of the
product's components.

(I)
"Juvenile product" means a product designed or marketed for
use by children under twelve years of age, including a baby or
toddler foam pillow; bassinet; bedside sleeper; booster seat;
changing pad; child restraint system for use in a motor vehicle or
aircraft; co-sleeper; crib mattress; highchair; highchair pad; infant
bouncer; infant carrier; infant seat; infant sleep positioner; infant
swing; infant travel bed; infant walker; nap cot; nursing pad;
nursing pillow; play mat; playpen; play yard; polyurethane foam mat,
pad, or pillow; portable foam nap mat; portable infant sleeper;
portable hook-on chair; soft-sided portable crib; stroller; and
toddler mattress "Juvenile product" does not include an
electronic product, including:

(1)
Personal computers and any associated equipment;

(2)
Audio and video equipment;

(3)
Calculators;

(4)
Wireless phones;

(5)
Gaming consoles;

(6)
Handheld devices incorporating a video screen and any associated
peripheral device such as a mouse, keyboard, power supply unit, or
power cord.

(J)
"Manufacturer" means:

(1)
A person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, organization,
combination, or a joint venture that creates, produces, or assembles
a product or whose brand name is affixed to a product;

(2)
In the case of a product imported into the United States, an importer
or first domestic distributor of the product, provided that the
entity or person that created, produced, or assembled the product or
whose brand name is affixed to the product does not have an office or
employees in the United States.

(K)
"Medical device" has the same meaning as "device"
as set forth in 21 U.S.C. 321.

(L)
"Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances" and "PFAS"
means the class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least
one fully fluorinated carbon atom.

(M)
"Product" means an item created, produced, assembled,
packaged, or otherwise prepared for sale to consumers, including a
product component sold or distributed for personal, residential,
commercial, or industrial use, including for use in making another
product.

(N)
"Product component" means an identifiable part of a
product, regardless of whether the manufacturer of the product is the
manufacturer of the component.

(O)
"Ski wax" means a lubricant applied to the bottom of a snow
runner, including a ski or snowboard, to improve grip or glide
properties, and includes associated tuning products.

(P)
"Textile furnishings" means a textile product made in whole
or part from a natural or synthetic fiber, yarn, or fabric that is
used as furniture or a decorative accessory.

(Q)
"Upholstered furniture" means furniture that is wholly or
partially stuffed with a filling material.

Sec.
3745.82.
(A)
The director of environmental protection shall adopt rules in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that require a
manufacturer to submit the following information to the director for
a product that contains an intentionally added PFAS:

(1)
A brief description of the product, including a universal product
code, stock keeping unit, or other numeric code assigned to the
product;

(2)
The purpose for which the PFAS is used in the product;

(3)
The amount of each PFAS in the product, identified by its chemical
abstracts service registry number and reported as an exact quantity
determined using commercially available analytical methods, or
reported as falling within a range approved for reporting purposes by
the director;

(4)
The name and address of the manufacturer, and the name, address, and
telephone number of a contact person for the manufacturer;

(5)
Any additional information requested by the director.

(B)
Not later than January 1, 2027, a manufacturer of a product for sale
in this state that contains an intentionally added PFAS shall submit
to the director the information required by rules adopted under this
section.

(C)(1)
After January 1, 2027, a manufacturer shall submit the information
required under rules adopted under this section anytime the
manufacturer intends to sell, offer for sale, or distribute for sale
in this state a new product that contains intentionally added PFAS.
The manufacturer shall submit such information to the director within
a time period specified in rules adopted under this section.

(2)
A manufacturer shall submit a revision of the information required to
be submitted under rules adopted under this section not later than
thirty days after a significant change to the information that the
manufacturer previously submitted or upon the request of the
director.

(D)
Upon approval from the director, a manufacturer may provide the
information required by this section to the director for a category
or type of product.

(E)
No manufacturer shall sell, offer for sale, or distribute for sale a
product that contains an intentionally added PFAS unless the
manufacturer has submitted to the director the information required
by rules adopted under this section by the time specified in this
section and rules adopted under it.

(F)
The director may waive the obligation of a manufacturer to submit all
or part of the information required by rules adopted under this
section if the director determines that substantially equivalent
information is publicly available. The director may grant a waiver to
a manufacturer or a group of manufacturers for multiple products or a
product category.

(G)
The director may extend any deadline for a manufacturer to submit the
information required by this section if the director determines that
more time is needed by the manufacturer to comply with the submission
requirements.

(H)
The director may enter into an agreement with one or more states or
political subdivisions of a state to collect and share information
otherwise required to be submitted by this section. The director may
accept such information as meeting the information submission
requirements of this section.

Sec.
3745.83.
(A)
If the director of environmental protection has reason to believe
that a product containing intentionally added PFAS is being offered
for sale in this state and the manufacturer of the product has not
complied with section 3745.82 of the Revised Code, the director may
direct the manufacturer of the product to, within thirty days,
provide testing results that demonstrate the amount, if any, of each
PFAS in the product.

(B)
If testing demonstrates that the product does not contain an
intentionally added PFAS, the manufacturer shall provide the director
with a certificate attesting that the product does not contain an
intentionally added PFAS. The manufacturer also shall submit the
testing results and any other relevant information requested by the
director.

(C)
If testing demonstrates that the product contains an intentionally
added PFAS, all of the following apply:

(1)
The manufacturer shall submit to the director, within thirty days,
the information required for the product pursuant to section 3745.82
of the Revised Code;

(2)
The manufacturer shall provide the director with the testing results;

(3)
The director may issue an order prohibiting the product from being
sold, offered for sale, or distributed for sale in this state. If the
director issues such an order, the manufacturer shall notify each
person that sells the product in this state that the sale of the
product is prohibited and provide the director with a list of the
names and addresses of the persons so notified.

Sec.
3745.84.
(A)
Beginning January 1, 2028, no manufacturer shall sell, offer for
sale, or distribute for sale in this state any of the following
products if that product contains an intentionally added PFAS:

(1)
Carpets or rugs;

(2)
Cleaning products;

(3)
Cookware;

(4)
Cosmetics;

(5)
Dental floss;

(6)
Fabric treatments;

(7)
Juvenile products;

(8)
Feminine hygiene products;

(9)
Textile furnishings;

(10)
Ski wax;

(11)
Upholstered furniture.

(B)
Beginning January 1, 2033, no manufacturer shall sell, offer for
sale, or distribute for sale a product containing an intentionally
added PFAS unless the product is exempt under section 3745.85 of the
Revised Code or the director of environmental protection has adopted
a rule under section 3745.86 of the Revised Code providing that the
use of PFAS in that product is a currently unavoidable use.

(C)
Until January 1, 2033, the director may adopt rules in accordance
with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to prohibit a manufacturer from
selling a product not listed in division (A) of this section that
contains an intentionally added PFAS. In adopting rules under this
division, the director shall do both of the following:

(1)
Establish an effective date for each such prohibition. No such
effective date shall be earlier than January 1, 2028.

(2)
Prioritize prohibitions of products containing intentionally added
PFAS that are most likely to harm humans or contaminate the
environment.

(D)
The director may notify a person that sells a product prohibited
under sections 3745.82 to 3745.84 of the Revised Code that the
product is prohibited in this state.

Sec.
3745.85.
(A)
Sections 3745.82 to 3745.84 of the Revised Code do not apply to any
of the following:

(1)
A product for which federal law governs the presence of PFAS in the
product in a manner that preempts state authority;

(2)
Used products offered for sale or resale;

(3)
Firefighting foam authorized for use in this state under section
3737.52 of the Revised;

(4)
A pesticide regulated by or under the jurisdiction of the "Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act," 7 U.S.C. 136, et
seq.

(B)
Section 3745.83 and 3745.84 do not apply to medical devices or drugs
that are regulated by the United States food and drug administration,
including prosthetic and orthotic devices.

Sec.
3745.86.
(A)
The director of environmental protection shall adopt rules in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to do all of the
following:

(1)
Exempt from the reporting requirements established under section
3745.82 of the Revised Code any product that contains an
intentionally added PFAS that is exempt under section 3745.85 of the
Revised Code or that has been designated as having a currently
unavoidable use by the director under this section;

(2)
Create a series of ranges for the amount of a PFAS in a product that
contains an intentionally added PFAS for reporting purposes;

(3)
Identify currently unavoidable uses of PFAS that are essential for
health, safety, or the functioning of society and for which
alternatives are not reasonably available.

(B)
The director may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the
Revised Code to carry out sections 3745.81 to 3745.87 of the Revised
Code, including rules that do the following:

(1)
Prohibit products that contain an intentionally added PFAS by
category or use;

(2)
Establish a fee payable by a manufacturer to the director upon
submission of the information required under rules adopted in section
3745.82 of the Revised Code. Proceeds from the fee shall be deposited
in the environmental protection fund created under section 3745.015
of the Revised Code.

(C)
Prior to adopting a rule under division (B)(1) of this section
regarding a pesticide that is not exempt under section 3745.85 of the
Revised Code or any fertilizer, agricultural liming material, or
plant or soil amendment that contains an intentionally added PFAS,
the director shall consult with the director of agriculture.

Sec.
3745.87.
Any
manufacturer that violates sections 3745.81 to 3745.86 of the Revised
Code or a rule adopted or order issued under those sections shall pay
a civil penalty of not more than fifteen thousand dollars for each
violation, to be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the
general revenue fund. Each day that a violation continues constitutes
a separate offense. The attorney general, upon written request by the
director of environmental protection, shall bring an action for such
a penalty against any manufacturer that violates sections 3745.81 to
3745.86 of the Revised Code. Such an action is a civil action,
governed by the Rules of Civil Procedure and other rules of practice
and procedure applicable to civil actions.

Any
civil penalties imposed under this section do not limit a
manufacturer's liability in other causes of action.

Section
2.
That
existing section 3745.015 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.