On May 6, 2025, the State Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) finally adopted the Maine PFAS Final Rule. This trailblazing state rule sets the standard for phase-out of “forever chemicals” from consumer products — with one exception for a use found to be a Currently Unavoidable Use (CUU).
Maine implemented the first PFAS-in-Products statute in July 2021, followed by amendments in 2023 and April 2024, which pushed its reporting, exemptions, and ban deadlines.
In late December 2024, MDEP made public a draft rule (Chapter 90) comprising definitions, CUU criteria, sales prohibition details, and notice procedures.
The Maine Board of Environmental Protection (MBEP) heard the draft on April 7, 2025, after considering public comments (57 totaling 419 pages) and voted unanimously to adopt the rule with minor changes.
Finally, MDEP adopted on May 6th, 2025, Chapter 90: Products Containing Per‑ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, adopting LD 1537 (38 M.R.S. § 1614).
Chapter 90 controls new and unused consumer products on sale in Maine with intentionally added PFAS. It also covers fluorinated packaging on otherwise PFAS-free items except where excluded by section 4.
The definition specifies terms under product categories (household products, cosmetics, cookware, etc.) and determines that “intentionally added PFAS” includes functional PFAS breakdown by-products—but not incidental impurity.
Maine allows producers to apply for CUU status if PFAS is required for health, safety, or societal operations and a reasonable substitute is unavailable. Every industrial category/product category requires a separate CUU proposal. There are specific filing (18 to 36 months before the prohibition date) and notice to MDEP timelines, with product and chemical data in detail.
Prohibition schedule:
Exemptions include:
Manufacturers employing 100 persons or more are obligated to inform MDEP of any CUU-listed product before sale. Information needed includes the chemical identity of PFAS (e.g., CAS numbers), product description, volume sold, and purpose of necessary use. Submissions become public records unless marked proprietary.
By July 2025 (MBEP agenda), MDEP had approved eleven CUU proposals for Jan. 1, 2026, prohibited products. They included cleaning products, cookware, cosmetics packaging, and furniture. Cookware proposals have typically been rejected since alternatives like ceramics and non-PFAS polymers exist.
Maine is diverging from the federal PFAS regulation actively, particularly as the U.S. EPA has signaled reconsideration or diminishment of PFAS drinking-water standards.
Help is on the way—Maine’s systematic CUU process and phased bans are influencing national policy.
Maine now leads the nation in comprehensive regulation of PFAS in consumer products.
The regulation is in response to human health risks and environmental persistence of PFAS by requiring phase-outs and establishing a clear pathway for necessary-use exceptions.
It establishes transparency and accountability through public notice and comment procedures, in accord with international systems like the Montreal Protocol‘s necessary-use concept.
Maine’s Chapter 90 is a complete and bold approach to phasing out intentionally added PFAS in products. With already existing prohibitions on sales in 2023 and 2026 and outright prohibition in 2032 (or 2040 in some cases), organizations must act now—assessing current PFAS uses, researching alternatives, and submitting timely CUU proposals and notices. Exemptions do exist, but they are limited and come with reporting obligations. With changing federal policy and other states emulating Maine, Chapter 90 is a model of sensible chemical regulation that balances public safety interests and industry needs.
Contact Enviropass for PFAS-related questions.