Document Ne7MojnNXy4MKEE4DrmVXR9Dy

=- - Ref. Ares(2022)4298340 - 10/06/2022 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL ENVIRONMENT Directorate B - Circular Economy The Dit-ector Brnssel ENV.B.2L_J Mr Michael F. Roman 3M Chaiiman of the Board Chief Executive Officer 3M Science Applied to Life 3M Center, 220-14W-05 St Paul, MN 55144-1000 Dear Mr Roman, Thank you for your message of 19 April to Commissioner Sinkevicius. He asked me to reply on his behalf. The European Commission believes that PFAS are a concern, because of theii extreme persistence, theii occmTence and mobility in the enviionment and theii ability to bioaccumulate and to cause adverse effects. For these reasons, in its Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the Commission committed on phasing out the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the EU, unless theii use is essential1. On the regulatory side, as you probably ah-eady know, a group of national authorities started the process for restricting all uses of PFAS, except the essential ones, under the EU chemicals legislation (REACH)2. The REACH restriction process considers carefully each use of the substances under assessment, including the emissions, the availability of alternatives and the socio-economic impact of a potential ban. This will be the case also for the use of PFAS in semiconductors. As national authorities have initiated this restnct10n process, the Commission is an observer at this stage. I would then invite you to provide all the relevant info1mation concerning the use of PFAS in semiconductors in the public consultations foreseen during the process. The Annex XV dossier for restriction is expected to be submitted to the ECHA's Scientific Committees in Januaiy 2023. During the course of the year, there will be a 6-months public consultation on the Annex XV dossier, followed by a 2-months public consultation on the Socio-Economic Assessment Committee's draft opinion. 1 https://ec.ew-opa.eu/environment/strategy/chemicals -strategy en 2 https://www rivm.nl/en/pfas/pfas-restriction-proposal ! Commission europeenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIE - Tel. +32 22991111 Office: Tel. direct line +3 I expect that the Commission will receive the ECHAs opinion at the beginning of 2024 and at that point it will start drafting the legislation. Yours sincerely, (e-signed) Aurel CIOBANU-DORDEA 2