Read the full article by Georgia M. Bolduc, Lisa A. Gilbreath, and Sara A. Murphy (Pierce Atwood LLP)
“The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is now accepting proposals from entities that wish to obtain currently unavoidable use (CUU) designations under the PFAS in Products statute.
This statute allows the DEP to exempt those products in which the use of PFAS is a CUU from the January 1, 2030 ban on the sale in Maine of any product containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). A CUU is defined in the statute as ‘a use of PFAS that the department has determined by rule under this section to be essential for the health, safety, or functioning of society and for which alternatives are not reasonably available.’
DEP currently interprets ‘reasonably available’ to mean a PFAS alternative that is readily available in sufficient quantity and at a comparable cost to the PFAS it is intended to replace and performs as well or better than the specific application of the PFAS in a product or product subcomponent.” …