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🔎 Key takeaways
- The PFAS levy now targets certain Installations Classified for Environmental Protection (ICPEs) subject to authorization discharging more than 100 g/year, either directly or via a wastewater network.
- The 2026 Finance Act expands the scope of the measure and takes into account PFAS present in abstracted water as well as any abatement treatments implemented.
- The amount depends on the mass discharged, with a possible reduction depending on treatment performance.
- The first declaration is expected before April 1, 2027, subject to implementing decrees.
As a reminder, introduced by Law No. 2025-188 of February 27, 2025, a fee requires any person operating certain classified installations for environmental protection (ICPE) subject to authorization, whose activity results in the discharge into the natural environment—directly or indirectly through a wastewater collection network—of at least 100 grams of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), to pay a fee proportional to the quantity of PFAS discharged.
The application procedures for this fee were revised by the 2026 Finance Act (Law No. 2026-103 of February 19, 2026).
In its initial version, the fee did not cover all the industrial operators that lawmakers intended to subject to it.
This new version makes it possible to:
- target all industrial operators discharging PFAS into the natural environment, whether the discharge is direct or passes through a wastewater collection network;
- account for the presence of PFAS in certain water supplies used by industrial operators for which they are not responsible for their presence at the outlet of their facilities;
- account for any treatment systems implemented by industrial operators to reduce the concentration of PFAS in their aqueous discharges.
Who is subject to the PFAS fee?
In its new version, this PFAS fee is no longer a component of the fee for non-domestic pollution, which only concerns industrial operators not connected to the public collection network.
Consequently, it now applies to certain installations classified under the authorization regime that discharge more than 100 grams of PFAS per year directly into the natural environment or via a collection network.
This applies to operators of installations classified under the authorization regime for the following categories:
- Textiles, leather, and hides sector
- 2330: Dyeing, printing, finishing, coating, bleaching, and washing of textile materials
- 2345: Use of solvents for dry cleaning and the treatment of textiles or clothing
- 2350: Tanneries, taweries...
- 2351: Dyeing and pigmentation of hides
- Materials, minerals, and metals sector
- 2567: Galvanizing, tinning of metals, or metallic coating of any material by a process other than chemical or electrolytic.
- Chemical, parachemical, and rubber sector
- 2660: Industrial manufacturing or regeneration of polymers
- 2661: Polymer processing
- Waste sector
- 2760: Waste storage facility
- 2790: Hazardous waste treatment facility
- 2791: Non-hazardous waste treatment facility
- 2795: Cleaning of drums, containers, and tanks used for transporting food products, hazardous materials, or hazardous waste
- IED activities
- 3120: Oil and gas refining
- 3230: Coke production
- 3260: Surface treatment
- 3410: Manufacturing of organic chemicals
- 3420: Manufacturing of inorganic chemicals
- 3440: Manufacturing of plant protection products or biocides
- 3450: Manufacturing of pharmaceutical products
- 3510: Hazardous waste treatment
- 3531: Disposal of non-hazardous waste
- 3532: Recovery of non-hazardous waste
- 3540: Waste storage facility
- 3560: Underground storage of hazardous waste
- 3610: Manufacturing of pulp, paper, cardboard, and wood panels
- 3620: Pre-treatment or dyeing of textiles
- 3630: Tanning of hides and skins
- 3670: Surface treatment of materials, objects, or products using organic solvents
- Storage of chemical products
- 4713: Fluorine
Want to learn more? Check out our article breaking down the regulations related to PFAS.
What is the amount of the fee?
The fee rate is calculated using the following formula:
Note1: Masses are expressed in grams and are calculated over a calendar year
Note2 : 28 PFAS substances must be taken into account in the calculation. The list is specified in Article D. 213-48-11 of the Environmental Code.
When PFAS are discharged via a wastewater collection network and are treated by a private wastewater treatment plant, the quantity of PFAS taken into account for the fee calculation is subject to a reduction based on the performance of the treatment processes used.
This reduction is 80%. For substances other than trifluoroacetic acid, activated carbon adsorption, ion exchange resin, or reverse osmosis technology is used.
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How do you determine the mass of PFAS to be taken into account?
To determine the mass of PFAS discharged, the obligations incumbent upon the taxpayer depend on the level of discharge.
Conclusion
Industrial operators subject to this fee must annually declare the data required for the fee calculation (mass discharged, mass extracted, treatment performance, etc.) to the water agency.
This declaration must be made before April 1st of each year following the calendar year of assessment via an online service.
This fee comes into effect in 2026, and the first declaration must be made before April 1st 2027.