SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 1042

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 8, 2025

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 1042 (1R).

      As amended, 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 certain 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.  Under the bill, any cookware product with a product label that lists the presence of PFAS pursuant to another state or federal law would be deemed in compliance with the bill’s 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 the 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.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      (1)  revise the definition of “cookware”;

      (2)  exempt cookware that is intended for commercial use only from the bill’s provisions;

      (3)  clarify that the labeling requirements for cookware apply only to intentionally added PFAS in the handle of the product, or in any surface that touches food;

      (4)  provide that the labeling requirements for cookware may be satisfied by a product label that lists the presence of PFAS pursuant to another state or federal law; and

      (5)  exempt products that contain fluoropolymers from the scope of the DEP’s recommendations concerning additional consumer products that should be restricted, but allow the DEP to make a recommendation if it is based on the presence of a different PFAS in the same product.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that this bill would result in a State expenditure increase of up to $5.0 million in the first year of implementation and indeterminate cost increases thereafter for the Department of Environmental Protection to implement a PFAS source reduction program and conduct PFAS-related research, monitoring and testing.

      If the full $5.0 million appropriation is not expended in the first year, the residual amount will be spent in subsequent fiscal years until the full $5.0 million is exhausted.

      The OLS finds the department will incur annual costs to conduct enforcement activities and there will be State revenue increases from penalties collected for violations of the bill’s provisions.  The OLS notes these increases are indeterminate because it cannot predict the frequency of violations nor the ensuing enforcement actions and penalty collections.