Firefighters: personal protective equipment.

Assembly Members Haney and Harabedian, with Ahrens and Papan, advance a measure to overhaul California’s firefighter personal protective equipment rules by targeting PFAS and other hazardous substances and anchoring state standards to established NFPA performance benchmarks. The core change revises how firefighter PPE is regulated, expanding the scope beyond garments to include auxiliary PPE and tying future equipment to a baseline of recognized, performance-based standards.

At the heart of the proposal is a modification of the PPE safety framework to require California-specific performance standards for firefighting PPE that use NFPA guidelines as a floor, covering both firefighting personal protective garments and auxiliary equipment such as self-contained breathing apparatus, hearing protection, protective communication devices, and fall-protection products. The bill also requires manufacturers to certify that their products meet the new standards and are free of specified hazardous substances, including PFAS and flame-retardants.

The measure preserves and strengthens an advisory committee mechanism that aligns California safety orders with NFPA PPE standards, accompanied by regular five-year reviews of revisions to NFPA standards. By 2028, the board must consider modifying the PPE safety order to address NFPA performance standards that are not relevant to actual equipment use and that drive the inclusion of hazardous substances. The bill outlines a four-part approach: (1) develop California-specific standards grounded in scientific research and drawing on NFPA-adjacent equipment guidelines as a floor; (2) require certification that future PPE is free of designated hazardous substances; (3) implement a later timeline for auxiliary PPE relative to firefighting garments; and (4) phase out in-use PPE through attrition within up to 10 years after modification. A progress report is due by mid-2026, with the reporting requirement set to lapse by mid-2030.

Contextual findings in the bill frame PFAS as toxic and carcinogenic and note updates to NFPA PPE standards, along with existing state actions restricting PFAS in firefighting foam. The regulatory changes are designed to integrate with the existing division and board framework, with no new direct appropriation specified. Implementation would rely on DOSH oversight and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, affecting fire departments’ procurement and compliance processes and shaping PPE market requirements through the certification and substantiation of hazardous-substance-free products.