SB4153: Forever Chemical Regulation and Accountability Act of 2026

• Phases out all nonessential PFAS uses within 10 years of enactment and prohibits manufacturers and users from releasing any detectable quantity of PFAS into the environment beginning 10 years after enactment

• Establishes accelerated phaseout timelines for consumer products: carpets, food packaging, and juvenile products within 1 year; cosmetics, indoor furniture, and most apparel within 2 years; outdoor furniture within 4 years; outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions within 5 years

• Creates an essential use designation process requiring petitioners to prove PFAS uses are critical for health, safety, or societal functioning with no safer alternatives available; Administrator makes final determinations within 270 days based on best available science

• Requires the EPA Administrator to enter a 10-year agreement with the National Academies within 60 days to review scientific evidence on essential PFAS uses, with an initial report due 1 year after enactment and subsequent reports every 2 years

• Mandates annual reporting by PFAS manufacturers and users beginning 18 months after final rule publication, including detailed information on volumes, uses, environmental releases, worker exposures, and disposal methods

• Directs federal agencies to eliminate procurement of products known to contain PFAS to the maximum extent practicable beginning on enactment, with authority to pause procurement of products not confirmed PFAS-free

• Amends CERCLA statute of limitations and repose provisions for substances designated as hazardous on or after August 1, 2022, allowing the commencement date to be the later of designation or when plaintiffs knew of injury causation

• Creates bankruptcy protections for PFAS and persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) chemical claims by exempting actions against nondebtor entities from automatic stay provisions, applying to pending and future bankruptcy cases

• Permits continued PFAS use for research and development supporting policy goals, including transfers of remaining stocks to research consortiums, National Laboratories, and universities for destruction, detection, and remediation research