House bill proposes delay in PFAS ban for some ATVs, other sport vehicles

When the Legislature passed “Amara’s Law” in 2023 to ban intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in consumer products, it specified a shorter timeline for banning PFAS in “juvenile” products.

In fact, that deadline has already come about, and since Jan. 1, 2025, it’s been illegal in Minnesota to sell PFAS-containing juvenile products that are designed or marketed for use by infants and children under age 12.

Rep. Josh Heintzeman (R-Nisswa) says that tight timeline did not give manufacturers enough time to find replacements for these products.

He sponsors HF81, which would exempt off-highway vehicles, snowmobiles and electric-assisted bicycles from the definition of “juvenile product” in Minnesota law, thus extending until Jan. 1, 2032, for these items to become PFAS free.

The House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill on a 7-5 party-line vote Tuesday and sent it to the House floor.

Off-road recreational ATV and motorcycle groups testified in favor of the proposed legislation.

The 2023 law had many “unintended consequences” that need to be addressed, said Chris Conroy, chair of the ATV Association of Minnesota Safety Committee.

Because powersport dealers in Minnesota cannot now sell their smaller machines designed to fit juvenile riders, he said people are either going to out-of-state dealers or buying adult-sized machines for their children and adolescent riders which is very unsafe.

“We need to give kids the opportunity to learn how to ride and operate ATVs and learn how to navigate terrain on appropriately sized machines,” he said.

[MORE: Letters for and against the bill]

Representatives from environmental groups and the Pollution Control Agency spoke against the bill.

The blame for not having legally available juvenile motorcycles is not due to the 2023 law, said Avonna Starck, state director of Clean Water Action, but due to manufacturers not seeking out ways to replace PFAS in the components used in their manufacture.

“This is not a failure of the law, but of industry’s refusal to prepare,” she said. “Trade associations, the Chamber [of Commerce] and manufacturers knew this was happening and did nothing to prepare or swap out the PFAS components.”

Kirk Koudelka, assistant commissioner for land policy and strategic initiatives at the Pollution Control Agency, said the proposal would go beyond extending deadlines for removing PFAS from products.

“[The bill] would allow manufacturers to introduce PFAS to new items moving forward, thus going in the wrong direction instead of going away from reducing PFAS usage,” he said.

The 2023 law addressing PFAS chemicals was named in honor of Amara Strande, who died at age 20 during the session, but spent her last weeks advocating for a ban on the “forever chemicals” that have been associated with a broad range of health problems.