ME SP 610 significantly amends Maine’s existing PFAS in Consumer Products Law. Enacted in 2021, the original law among other things (A) required manufacturers of products sold in Maine with intentionally added PFAS to report specified information to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) effective January 1, 2023; and (B) beginning January 1, 2030, banned the sale and distribution in Maine of products containing intentionally added PFAS.

The amended law, which the governor has now signed into law, affects several of these provisions. First, it repeals the reporting requirement for most manufacturers. Under the amended law, only manufacturers whose product is banned because it contains intentionally added PFAS and for which DEP has determined that the use of PFAS in that product is a currently unavoidable use must now comply with the reporting requirement.

The amended law also delays the effective date of Maine’s comprehensive ban on the sale and distribution of consumer products containing intentionally added PFAS from January 1, 2030, to January 1, 2032, and creates shorter ban deadlines for the sale of several specific products. Of interest to the mattress industry, effective January 1, 2026, the amended law bans the sale and distribution of upholstered furniture, juvenile products and textile articles containing intentionally added PFAS.  Although neither the amended law nor the original law explicitly includes adult mattresses in their lists of covered products, the definitions of these 3 terms are broad enough that all mattresses (both children’s and adult) are likely covered by this ban. For example, “upholstered furniture” means an article of furniture designed for sitting, resting or reclining and that contains any filling material, “juvenile product” would apply at least to crib and toddler mattresses and “textile article” includes “beddings.”

Under both laws, a product may be exempt from a ban if DEP determines by rule that the use of PFAS is “currently unavoidable”. The above bans also apply to products sold in a fluorinated container regardless of whether the product itself contains intentionally added PFAS.

Even with its amendments, Maine’s law is among the strictest PFAS bans in the nation.