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House rejects bill requiring PFAS labeling on newly purchased firefighter bunker gear
Summary
After debate over cost and scope, the House defeated Senate Bill 163, which would have required labeling for PFAS content on firefighting gear purchased after a specified date.
The South Dakota House voted down Senate Bill 163 on March 5, 2025. The measure would have required that firefighting turnout gear purchased on or after July 1, 2027, include labeling indicating the presence of PFAS (per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
Representative Cole, the bill sponsor, said PFAS exposure is linked to elevated cancer rates among firefighters and that the measure would add a labeling line to gear tags to "encourage the industry to move toward PFAS‑free gear." Cole moved the effective date to 2027 to give manufacturers time to comply.
Opponents — including Representative Van Diepen, Representative Bathke and others — argued the requirement would impose additional costs on small, volunteer departments and questioned why labeling would apply only to firefighting gear while other PFAS‑containing safety equipment (for example, some ballistic body armor) is not labeled. Van Diepen said many small departments run on limited budgets and could be forced to pay more for labeled gear.
Floor debate explored tradeoffs between firefighter health and procurement costs. Cole said the law would not require special tags beyond the information already present on gear labels and that the labeling would be a modest addition intended to spur industry change.
The final tally was 13 ayes and 57 nays; the measure failed to receive a majority and was declared lost. The vote highlights continuing legislative tension between public‑health concerns about PFAS exposure and cost and procurement considerations for volunteer and municipal fire departments.
