New Jersey Moves Forward on Two Major PFAS Bills

The Assembly’s A5537, approved 76–0, grants fire departments an additional year past the existing January 1, 2027 cutoff for using Class B foams with intentionally added PFAS. The extension does not modify the containment, reporting, or storage requirements established in 2023; departments must still prevent releases to soil or water and retain documentation until the state identifies an authorized disposal method. Legislators indicated that many departments still have legacy foam supplies and have not fully transitioned to fluorine-free alternatives.

The Senate’s S1042, the “Protecting Against Forever Chemicals Act,” moves in a different direction. It would prohibit the sale of cosmetics, carpets, fabric treatments, and paper-based food packaging that contain intentionally added PFAS two years after enactment. Cookware containing PFAS on any food-contact surface would also require explicit labeling. The bill provides the Department of Environmental Protection with new enforcement tools and dedicates $5 million toward PFAS monitoring, public education, and source-reduction programs.

New Jersey’s proposals sit alongside a patchwork of PFAS-related laws across the country, each taking a different approach depending on local priorities:

• Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine have adopted broad PFAS product restrictions, including planned phaseouts across many consumer categories.
• California requires PFAS disclosure on cookware labels and has targeted specific uses such as juvenile products, textiles, and food packaging.
• Colorado and Washington have enacted prohibitions on PFAS-containing paper-based food packaging and placed limits on firefighting foam, especially for training scenarios.
• Illinois, Vermont, and New York have addressed defined categories—carpets, rugs, firefighting gear, and packaging—rather than sweeping product bans.

Several states restrict PFAS-based firefighting foam differently: some prohibit it only for training, others set phase-out dates, and some provide exemptions for refineries or high-hazard industrial facilities.