HARDI Comments on Maine DEP PFAS Prohibition Draft Language

HARDI has submitted comments in support of the proposed Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulation amendments for Title 38, Section 1614.

Maine DEP has requested feedback for concept draft language that would enact the Maine legislation from the 2024 session (L.D. 1530). L.D. 1530 was recently passed by legislators and signed by the Governor. L.D. 1530 and the drafted language enacts a PFAS prohibition that contains specific timelines and exemptions for when the PFAS prohibition would affect specific products, including an HVACR (heating ventilation air-conditioning refrigeration) exemption. The HVACR exemption would delay the prohibition until 2040 for HVACR products.

HARDI supports the HVACR industry receiving an exemption from PFAS prohibitions, specifically full exemptions like New Hampshire enacted in their legislation this year. Nevertheless, HARDI does support the 2040 exemption for HVACR products. HARDI recognizes that not all PFAS should be considered dangerous to human health. According to a systematic review by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the three factors that create a danger to long-term human health are "[p]ersistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances … that can subsist for decades in human tissues and the environment.” According to REACH, the European Union regulation for protecting human health, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) refrigerants do not meet the persistent, bioaccumulative, or toxicity factors necessary to make them dangerous PFAS.

Additionally, HARDI suggests that the language used in the "unavoidable use" section should consider the potential overlap between future refrigerant regulations and the use of refrigerants containing PFAS. HARDI recommends that the Maine DEP include state and federal regulations or codes as a valid unavoidable use category. This will ensure that if separate Maine or Federal regulations restrict alternative refrigerant options, the initially planned PFAS-containing refrigerant will qualify for the unavoidable use exemption. Thus, HARDI believes that the Maine DEP should include state and federal regulations or codes as a valid unavoidable use category.

HARDI supports Title 38 Section 1614 Amendments as presented and asks the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to update the draft language with this unavoidable use change when the regulation is proposed.

Going forward, the Maine DEP will review comments and draft the proposed language changes. Once the official proposal language is filed the agency will have a comment period once again. Maine DEP will review the new comments before deciding whether to amend, enact, or withdraw the amendments as proposed. HARDI will update the membership as this important PFAS regulation progresses.

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Contact Todd Titus, Director of State and Public Affairs, for more information or questions.