Senate Health Committee advances PFAS restrictions, perinatal mental‑health requirements and additions to essential health benefits; several bills referred to ­

The Senate Committee on Health advanced a group of health‑policy measures on a busy agenda that ranged from a proposed class‑wide phaseout of PFAS chemicals to requirements for perinatal mental‑health screening and a process to update California's essential health benefits.

Senators and dozens of witnesses spent extended time over the three most contested bills: SB 682 (a class‑based approach to intentionally added PFAS in products), SB 626 (perinatal mental‑health screening, reporting and coverage), and SB 32 (developing time‑and‑distance standards for labor and delivery services). After testimony and amendment exchanges, committee members moved each measure forward to the fiscal committees or appropriations, where cost and implementation questions will be reviewed.

Why it matters: Committee action does not itself create statewide law, but advancing bills through policy committees is a key procedural step that lets authors negotiate cost and technical fixes in appropriations and fiscal hearings. The measures on PFAS, perinatal mental health and essential health benefits all touch large, statewide systems: consumer product supply chains, maternal health care delivery and the benefits covered by commercial plans sold in California.

PFAS regulation (SB 682)

Senator Ben Allen, the bill's author, described SB 682 as “a comprehensive and science based approach to phasing out unnecessary uses of PFAS that is intentionally added to products.” He told the committee the bill would prohibit the sale or distribution of products with intentionally added PFAS beginning on set timelines unless the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) grants an unavoidable‑use exemption based on three criteria: no safer alternative, a needed function, and that the product is necessary for public health, safety or societal functioning. The bill includes longer timelines and separate treatment for complex industrial uses such as certain semiconductors and fluorinated gases.

Dr. Anna Reed, identified as director of PFAS science and policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, urged a "class‑based" approach and said exposure is widespread and harmful. "All PFAS are extremely persistent or transform into extremely persistent PFAS, lasting for hundreds to thousands of years," she told the committee. Dr. Max (a professor at USC testifying as an individual researcher) summarized epidemiologic findings linking PFAS exposure to multiple health outcomes and urged measures to reduce future avoidable use.

Supporters included municipal and water agencies and environmental and…