SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1042

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 1, 2025

      The Senate Environment and Energy Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 1042.

      As amended and reported, this bill would prohibit the sale of certain products containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), require greater transparency in the labeling of cookware products containing PFAS, establish a source reduction program concerning the proper management of PFAS, and appropriate money for PFAS-related research.  As defined in the bill, “PFAS” means substances that include any member of the class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.

      Specifically, the bill would prohibit, beginning two years after the bill’s effective date, the sale, offer for sale, or distribution of cosmetics, carpets, fabric treatment, and food packaging that contain intentionally added PFAS.  In addition, the bill would require, beginning two years after the bill’s effective date, manufacturers of cookware sold in the State that contains intentionally added PFAS in the handle of the product or in any product surface that comes into contact with food, foodstuffs, or beverages to list the presence of PFAS on the product label.  Beginning two years after the bill’s effective date, the sale, offer for sale, and distribution of cookware that contains PFAS would be prohibited unless the cookware product and the manufacturer of the cookware has complied with the bill’s cookware labeling requirements.

      The bill would also require the DEP to recommend to the Legislature consumer products, in addition to those prohibited from being sold, offered for sale, or distributed pursuant to the bill, by category or use that should not be sold, offered for sale, or distributed for sale in this State if they contain intentionally added PFAS.  Under the bill, the DEP would have the authority to audit or investigate a manufacturer of a product covered under the bill to assess the manufacturer's compliance with bill’s provisions.  The bill would provide that any proprietary information or trade secrets included in any written notification, certification, or any other record submitted to the DEP pursuant to the bill would be required to be kept confidential from the general public pursuant to P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), commonly known as the open public records act.

      The bill would require the DEP to establish, no later than one year after the bill’s effective date, a source reduction program to reduce the presence of PFAS in the State’s air, water, and soil by encouraging the proper management of materials that contain PFAS and the use of safer alternatives.  The program would be required to include certain items enumerated in subsection a. of section 12 of the bill.  The bill would also require the DEP to conduct PFAS-related research and comprehensive monitoring and testing of the presence and impact of PFAS on the environmental media within the State, including air, water, biota, sediment, and soil.  The DEP’s research would be required to include certain items enumerated in subsection b. of section 13 of the bill.  No later than two years after the bill’s effective date, and annually thereafter, the DEP would be required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature summarizing their research findings and activities and providing recommendations for programs, policies, and legislation to address the presence of PFAS in the State.

      Finally, the bill would appropriate $5 million to the DEP for the purposes of implementing the source reduction program, conducting PFAS-related research, and monitoring and testing environmental media, such as air, water, and soil, for PFAS pursuant to the bill.

      This bill was prefiled for introduction in the 2024-2025 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments to the bill:

      (1) clarify that the term “intentionally added PFAS” does not include unavoidable trace quantities of PFAS;

      (2) add an exemption for cosmetic and cookware products that contain intentionally added PFAS only in the electronic or internal components of the product, and add a definition of “internal component”;

      (3) clarify the exemption provided by the bill for cookware that is physically unable to comply with the bill’s labeling requirements;

      (4) authorize the DEP to study only consumer products, when considering additional product categories to recommend prohibiting to reduce PFAS contamination, and add a definition of “consumer product”;

      (5) clarify that the bill authorizes the DEP to audit only those manufacturers that manufacture products covered under the bill, not all manufacturers;

      (6) clarify that the DEP is authorized to study PFAS in groundwater, surface water, sediment, and biosolids, in the course of its study carried out pursuant to section 13 of the bill; and

      (7) provide that half of the $5 million appropriation would be used for the DEP’s source reduction program and half would be used for the PFAS study.