Water Pollution Fee: PFAS Discharges Taxed

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As a reminder, introduced by Law No. 2025-188 of February 27, 2025, a levy requires any person operating certain Installations Classified for Environmental Protection (ICPEs) subject to authorization, whose activity results in the discharge into the natural environment, directly or indirectly via a wastewater collection network, of at least 100 grams of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), to pay a levy proportional to the quantity of PFAS discharged.

The terms of application of this levy have been revised by the 2026 Finance Act (Law No. 2026-103 of February 19, 2026).

In its initial drafting, the levy did not target all industrial operators that parliamentarians wished to see subject to it.

This new version makes it possible to:

• target all industrial operators discharging PFAS into the natural environment, whether this discharge is direct or passes through a wastewater collection network;
• take into account the presence of PFAS in certain waters supplying industrial operators, for which they are not responsible for their presence at the outlet of their facilities;
• take into account any treatments implemented by industrial operators to reduce the concentration of PFAS in their aqueous discharges.

Who is affected by the PFAS levy?

In its new version, this PFAS levy is no longer a component of the non-domestic pollution levy, which only concerns industrial operators not connected to the public collection network.

Thus, it now applies to certain classified installations operating under an authorization regime, discharging more than 100 grams of PFAS per year directly into the natural environment or via a collection network.

What is the amount of the levy?

The fee rate is calculated according to the following formula:

NB: Quantities are expressed in grams and are calculated over a calendar year.

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 in the fee calculation is subject to a reduction based on the performance of the treatment processes used.

How to determine the quantity of PFAS to be taken into account?

To determine the quantity of PFAS discharged, the obligations incumbent upon the liable party depend on the discharge level.

Conclusion

Industrial operators subject to this fee will have to declare annually to the water agency the data necessary for calculating the fee (quantity discharged, quantity sampled, treatment performance, etc.).

This declaration must be made before the 1^st April of each year following the calendar year of liability via an online service.

This fee will take effect in 2026, and the first declaration will need to be made before the 1^st April 2027 (subject to the publication of the texts specified below).

However, we are awaiting several decrees or orders that will define the application parameters for this fee. These texts must define:

• the list of PFAS included in the calculation;
• the threshold for triggering the obligation for self-monitoring;
•  the applicable reduction level in case of PFAS treatment;
•  the procedures for measuring PFAS concentration in discharged water

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