PFAS & Beyond

In spring of 2022, we got hit with a curveball at California Outdoor Recreation Partnership. W.L. Gore notified us through our friends at the Outdoor Industry Association of a bill quickly moving through the California State Assembly that would deeply impact our textile manufacturers and retailer members. Within two weeks of hearing about the bill, Jeff Turner from our Board of Directors came to me and told me that if this bill passed as is it would force Kokatat, a dry-suit manufacturer out of Arcata, to either shut down or move out of California. As Kokatat is one of the last manufacturers in our industry to still manufacture within California, let alone the United States, we knew that we had to act fast on this bill. The bill was AB 1817, Product safety: textile articles: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-19 San Francisco) and it called for the complete ban and elimination of PFAs in textile products (clothes, backpacks) by January 1, 2024. As Assemblymember Ting is Chair of the Budget Committee, we knew the bill would pass with ease through the California State Assembly and there was no point in fighting for amendments on the floor. The bill passed out of the first house on May 23, 2022 but had an amended enactment date of January 1, 2025. We also wanted to be kind to humankind when dealing with this legislation as there is evidence that PFAS causes cancer and it has also been found in 15 million people’s water supply in Los Angeles County alone. While our industry is working to remove PFAS from Durable Water Repellent (DWR) coatings, we knew we needed time to work with our supply chain timeline.

This is when we sprung into action at California Outdoor Recreation Partnership (CORP). We created a small subcommittee advocacy group for the bill for lobby meetings, which included members of our Board of Directors: Jeff Turner of Kokatat, Danica Carey of Seirus Innovation, Kenji Haroutunian of Big Gear Show, and Scott Ammons of REI as well as Marc Berejka of REI and myself, Lexie Gritlefeld on behalf of CORP. We met with members of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee to urge for an amendment for “Extreme and Extended Use Products.” We ended up meeting with Maria Morales from Assemblymember Ting’s Office as well as the sponsor organizations: Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, and Clean Water Action to explain why the amendment was necessary in order for our industry to meet our supply chain timeline appropriately. We told the author and sponsors that we would be in full support of the bill and want to be kind to humankind, but just need a little bit more time for a subset of products.

By early August, we heard back that our requested amendments had been accepted by Assemblymember Ting. The amendments included as follows:

SEC. 2. Chapter 13.5 (commencing with Section 108970) is added to Part 3 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 13.5. Textile Articles
108970. For purposes of this article, the following terms have the following definitions:

(c) “Outdoor apparel” means clothing items intended primarily for outdoor activities, including, but not limited to, hiking, camping, skiing, climbing, bicycling, and fishing.
(d) “Outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions” means outdoor apparel that are extreme and extended use products designed for outdoor sports experts for applications that provide protection against extended exposure to extreme rain conditions or against extended immersion in water or wet conditions, such as from snow, in order to protect the health and safety of the user and that are not marketed for general consumer use. Examples of extreme and extended use products include outerwear for offshore fishing, offshore sailing, whitewater kayaking, and mountaineering.

108971. (a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), commencing January 1, 2025, no person shall manufacture, distribute, sell, or offer for sale in the state any new, not previously used, textile articles that contain regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions until January 1, 2028. However, commencing January 1, 2025, no person shall distribute, sell, or offer for sale in the state any new, not previously used, outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions that contain regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS unless it is accompanied by a legible and easily discernible disclosure with the statement “Made with PFAS chemicals,” including for online listings of products for sale.

AB 1817 passed on the California State Senate floor on August 30, 2022. In September, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. contacted us and asked if we would submit a letter of support to Governor Newsom’s Office and we submitted a letter in full support of AB 1817. Governor Newsom signed AB 1817 on September 29, 2022.

Following the Governor’s signature, our industry held two webinars on California’s incoming PFAS law as well as an Outdoor Industry PFAS Workshop in partnership with the Green Science Policy Institute in Berkeley. Attendees at the PFAS Workshop included representatives from: AFIRM, BIFMA, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, CA DTSC, CalEPA, California Outdoor Recreation Partnership, Cattermole Consulting, Columbia Sportswear Company, Copeland Consulting, COTOPAXI, Futurescapes Consulting, LLC, Global PFAS Science Panel, Green Science Policy Institute, Hohenstein/OEKO-TEX, KEEN Footwear, Marmot/Newell, Materevolve, Mountainsmith, NEMO Equipment, Inc., Nike, OEHHA, Orvis, Patagonia, Peak Design, Safer Made, Washington State Department of Ecology, Worksafe, and ZDHC. *Representatives from Bluesign and Outdoor Research were unable to attend at the last minute due to travel interferences. Overall the day was productive and we saw a lot of overlap amongst companies with hurdles to overcome, but the outlook is positive with a cohesive effort to get the outdoor industry out of using PFAS as DWR coatings.

Arlene Blum leading the PFAS Workshop in Berkeley, California on November 30, 2022.

Webinars

California Outdoor Recreation Partnership x Green Science Policy Institute Webinar – PFAS: Challenges & Alternatives in Outdoor Products
California Outdoor Recreation Partnership and Green Science Policy Institute Present PFAS: Challenges and Alternatives in Outdoor Products, an informative webinar on preventing the use of PFAS in outdoor products. Learn how this new legislation impacts your business.

Agenda:

Lexie Gritlefeld, California Outdoor Recreation Partnership Welcome and Introductions

Arlene Blum, Green Science Policy Institute PFAS 101: Introduction to Forever Chemicals

Lauren Hood & Kirk Richardson, Keen How we removed PFAS from 101 places in our shoes

Jeff Turner, Kokatat & CORP Board of Directors Challenges with supply chain & the phase out of PFAS in outdoor gear

Marty Mulvihill, Safer Made Alternatives & innovations for outdoor products without PFAS

Assemblymember Phil Ting, AB 1817 Legislation: History & Compliance

Lexie & Marty Q&A on moving away from PFAS

Lydia Jahl, Green Science Policy Institute Next steps

OIA PRESENTS WEBINAR – PFAS: NAVIGATING THE FUTURE OF POLICY, COMPLIANCE, AND PHASE-OUT
You can watch Outdoor Industry Association’s PFAS Webinar here.

For more resources on moving away from PFAS, please visit Green Science Policy Institute’s website here.