*This article was updated on Dec. 15, 2021 to include the MPCA deadline extension to Jan. 21, 2022 for comments on the plan.

On Nov. 16, 2021, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) released a Draft PFAS Monitoring Plan. This plan would require certain MPCA Air Program permit holders to report per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) emissions. The MPCA is seeking comments on the plan through Jan. 21, 2022, and plans to implement it beginning in early 2022.

The MPCA Air Program will use its general authority to improve air quality, and both statutory and regulatory authority, to authorize emissions reporting and testing under Minn. Stat. § 116.07, subd. 9; the performance test requirements outlined in Minn. R. ch. 7017; and the emissions inventory requirements outlined in Minn. R. ch. 7019 to require (1) emission inventory reporting and (2) stack testing.

Facilities within specific industries, as identified by their NAICS codes, will be asked to report — on the 2022 air emission inventory — emissions of the 50 PFAS Target Analytes from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Other Test Method 45 (OTM-45). The PFAS monitoring will be requested during the next regularly scheduled stack test that occurs after the air program begins implementation of the plan.

Facilities will be notified of the requested testing via a letter sent to the facility after the plan has been finalized. These facilities will be asked to begin reporting all PFAS emissions on the 2022 air emission inventory via the Consolidated Emissions Data Repository (CEDR) e-Services application. The first reports would be due April 1, 2023.