HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday signed a law that ends the sale of a type of firefighting foam made with PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, starting July 1, 2027, and bars fire departments from using it starting Jan. 1, 2028.
State Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming, a sponsor of the foam provisions, said in a joint release posted by Sen. Lisa Boscola’s office that firefighters can face significantly higher PFAS exposure than other emergency responders. “It will undoubtedly protect firefighters moving forward, while also safeguarding our ground and surface water from contamination,” he said.
PennEnvironment, a group that helped draft the bill, says PFAS exposure has been linked to kidney and liver disease, immune system suppression, birth defects and cancer.
The ban covers Class B foam, used on flammable-liquid fires, when PFAS are put in on purpose. It does not apply where federal law requires PFAS in the foam, including airport rules, or at airports, chemical plants, oil refineries, fuel terminals and storage sites, and power plants that run mainly on natural gas.
The law, Act 98 of 2026, began as Senate Bill 804, introduced in June 2025 by Boscola, D-Northampton, to phase out a plastic additive in IV bags. The House put the foam rules in Tuesday, taken from a separate bill by Yaw and Sen. Nick Miller, D-Lehigh. The House passed the final version 203-0 and the Senate 49-1 on Wednesday.
PFAS have turned up in drinking water across Pennsylvania, including in Emmaus, often because of firefighting foam, PennEnvironment says. In January 2025, Miller and Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh, announced more than $11.7 million in state PENNVEST money for a PFAS treatment system there.
A House version, co-sponsored by Reps. Zachary Mako, R-Lehigh/Northampton, and Jeanne McNeill, D-Lehigh, passed the House 202-0 in July 2025 but never got a Senate vote.
The Department of Environmental Protection will investigate complaints. The attorney general can seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 after that.
Fire company grants will be able to pay to dispose of old foam and buy PFAS-free replacements, and the state fire commissioner must help departments switch. The law sets no grant amount. The cap on state equipment loans to fire companies rises from $25,000 to $100,000. The law sets up no testing or cleanup of PFAS already in water or soil.
Protective gear is labeled, not banned: makers must mark any product with intentionally added PFAS, a rule that takes effect 180 days after signing, in April. Most of the law takes effect 60 days after signing, on Dec. 21. The sales and use bans start on the later dates above.
The IV bag provisions, sponsored by Boscola and Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh, bar the plastic additive DEHP from IV bags starting Jan. 1, 2030, or 2032 for makers that give customers notice, and from IV tubing in 2035. DEHP is a phthalate, not a PFAS.
