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On February 18, 2026, the New Mexico legislature passed House Joint Memorial 3, requesting that the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board (NMEIB) and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) provide a report on the implementation of the 2025 Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Protection Act and recommendations to improve consumer protections from PFAS. Passed less than a week before NMEIB's February 23, 2026, hearing on NMED's proposed rule implementing the Act, House Joint Memorial 3 states that:
- The Act exempts certain products containing intentionally added PFAS from the phaseout and prohibition "based on limited scientific literature regarding chemical degradation, environmental mobility and persistence, potential human exposure pathways and possible health impacts, but does not exempt such products from other aspects of the" NMEIB's authority;
- The Act requires manufacturers of products containing intentionally added PFAS to label such products in English and Spanish, including products exempted from the phaseout and prohibition; and
- "Additional health and environmental studies are needed to understand more fully the toxicological profiles, exposure risks and public health implications of fluoropolymers."
House Joint Memorial 3 requests NMED to develop a report on the public health, environmental, and economic risks of the exemptions codified in the Act and to provide recommendations to the legislature "regarding whether such exemptions, such as the exemption for fluoropolymers, should be continued, modified or removed." It also requests NMED to present preliminary findings to the appropriate interim legislative committees on or before December 1, 2026, and the final report to the Governor and legislature on or before August 1, 2027.
As reported in our April 11, 2025, memorandum, the Act includes prohibition and reporting requirements for products containing intentionally added PFAS. Unlike Maine and Minnesota, the Act includes an exemption for products that contain "fluoropolymers consisting of polymeric substances for which the backbone of the polymer is either a per- or polyfluorinated carbon-only backbone or a perfluorinated polyether backbone that is a solid at standard temperature and pressure." NMED's proposed rule implementing the Act would require consumer-facing labels for almost all products containing intentionally added PFAS, including products containing fluoropolymers. NMED has revised the proposed rule to add exemptions to the labeling requirements for products registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), veterinary products, and medical devices, drugs, and the packaging of medical devices and drugs regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Based on the list of technical experts for the NMEIB hearing, the hearing will not wrap up quickly, leaving NMEIB with conflicting information to sort through.
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