During the first few months of the new U.S. EPA administration, PFAS actions slowed down while current plans and programs underwent a review. That’s not been the case in the states. In the first four months of 2025 alone, legislators proposed 191 PFAS-related bills. In this post, we uncover legislative priorities by examining the focus of their efforts.
The Top 4 Categories of PFAS Legislation
When reviewing the details, it’s important to understand that a single bill can address multiple categories. For example, it’s not unusual for a consumer-products related bill to cover everything from cleaning products to packaging to firefighting foam. Therefore, the numbers below will add up to more than the total number of bills proposed. To get details on the bills themselves, I recommend using the Safer States Bill Tracker, which includes links to the legislation.
As expected, water still received the lion’s share of the focus in the first part of 2025, with textiles, biosolids, and packaging following behind. Nevertheless, totals pertaining to each of these areas don’t necessarily provide a complete picture, so it’s worthwhile drilling into some of the details.
Water - Several states have proposed pre-emptive limits on PFAS in drinking water (in case the national primary drinking water limits are rolled back) or ordering their respective state agency to begin the process. Drinking water has received the most attention so far, but that doesn’t tell the complete story. Breaking down the data, here are a few highlights:
- 58 of the proposed bills pertained to drinking water; however, only 14 of these proposed drinking water limits.
- A small portion (9) were focused on wastewater, but of these, only 5 pertained to limits, usually directing the appropriate agency to define those limits.
- 11 bills focused on monitoring PFAS levels in either drinking water or wastewater, with no express limits.
- Most proposed drinking water bills (37) addressed costs. A significant portion were direct appropriations bills, with Minnesota accounting for nearly a third (11).
Textiles – Bans on PFAS in apparel are getting a lot of attention, but as the chart below shows, firefighting gear is currently many state lawmakers’ greatest concern. These bills span the gamut from bans to takebacks to disposal strategies and appropriations. Again, some bills covered more than one category of textiles; therefore, the chart below shows the number of bills in each category and not the total number of bills.
Biosolids –There is less overlap in the biosolids bills than in other categories, so this chart paints a clearer picture. More than half of the bills (11) either prohibit or set limits on land-applied biosolids. Four bills mandate testing, but do not prohibit the use of biosolids as a soil amendment. The rest are either appropriations or administrative/research-oriented bills.
Packaging – When assessing the numbers, it’s important to remember that packaging has already been receiving a great deal of attention for several cycles now. In fact, many of the first bills enacted are already in effect; some for more than a year. Even so, this category of legislation shows no sign of slowing down. In 2025, nine PFAS-related bills were specific to food packaging, while six addressed packaging in general. One bill focused on recyclability of products containing PFAS.
Looking ahead
In 2024, 19 PFAS-related bills were passed and signed into law. It will be interesting to see how PFAS legislation fares in 2025. We look forward to digging into the data in the months ahead and sharing our perspectives. In the meantime, if you have questions about how Pace® can help you remain in compliance with new or existing legislation, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
