Amendment ID: S2888-2

Amendment 2

PFAS in Firefighter Protective Equipment

Messrs. Moore, Brady, Oliveira, Pacheco, Payano, Timilty, Tarr, O'Connor and Montigny move that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section __ the following 4 sections:-

“SECTION __. Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 243. (a) The following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-

'Firefighting personal protective equipment' means any clothing designed, intended, or marketed to be worn by firefighting personnel in the performance of their duties, designed with the intent for the use in fire and rescue activities, including jackets, pants, shoes, gloves, helmets, and respiratory equipment.

'Local governments' includes any county, city, town, fire district, regional fire protection authority, or special purpose district that provides firefighting services.

'Manufacturer' includes any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, organization, joint venue, importer, or domestic distributor of firefighting agents or firefighting equipment. For the purposes of this definition, 'importer' means the owner of the product.

'Perfluoraolkyl and polyfluoraolkyl substances' or 'PFAS chemicals' means, for the purposes of firefighting agents and firefighting equipment, a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.

(b) A manufacturer or other person that sells firefighting personal protective equipment containing PFAS chemicals to any person, local government, or state agency shall provide written notice to the purchaser at the time of sale which shall state: (i) that the firefighting personal protective equipment contains PFAS chemicals; and (ii) the reason PFAS chemicals are added to the equipment.

The manufacturer or other person selling firefighting personal protective equipment and the purchaser of the equipment shall retain a copy of the notice required pursuant to this subsection on file for at least 3 years from the date of the purchase. Upon the request of the department, a person, manufacturer, or purchaser shall furnish the notice, or written copies, and associated sales documentation to the department within 60 days of such request.

SECTION __. Section 243 of chapter 111 of the General Laws, as added by section 1, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (b) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(b) A manufacturer or other person that sells firefighting personal protective equipment to any person, local government, or state agency shall not manufacture, knowingly sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in the commonwealth any firefighting personal protective equipment containing intentionally added PFAS chemicals.

SECTION __. Section 1 shall take effect on January 1, 2025.

SECTION __. Section 2 shall take effect on January 1, 2027.”