PFAS Apparel Ban, California Apprenticeships, Nuclear Exemption on a Quiet Day

New Jersey enacted a ban on PFAS in certain apparel and diaper products, California moved a Department of Industrial Relations apprenticeship bill through both chambers, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted an exemption for construction work on the Pioneer Units 1 and 2 project. The collection day added 223 items across 23 states and federal agencies.

Why it matters: Apparel makers, California's labor and human resources agencies, Rhode Island's Medicaid administrators, and the Pioneer Units 1 and 2 project each have a new filing to track, from a compliance deadline to a construction exemption.

What moved

• Prohibits sale, manufacture, and distribution of certain apparel and diaper products containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. (S1281), New Jersey. The bill prohibits sale, manufacture, and distribution of apparel, including clothing, footwear, diapers, and swimwear, containing intentionally added PFAS, effective two years after enactment; it exempts military clothing and motorcycle or off-highway protective gear. Violations are unlawful practices under the state's consumer fraud act, with penalties up to $10,000 for a first offense and $20,000 for later offenses. Status: Passed (enacted); approved as P.L.2026, c.76.

• Department of Industrial Relations: apprenticeship pilot program. (SB1227), California. The bill establishes an apprenticeship pilot program at the Department of Industrial Relations to address vacancy rates the bill says exceed 25 percent, requiring DIR and the California Department of Human Resources to partner with employee bargaining units on program design under the state's merit principle and apprenticeship labor standards laws. Status: Enrolled, passed both chambers; next it awaits the governor.

• Medicaid for Elders and Adults with Disabilities: Community Medicaid, Rhode Island. The Executive Office of Health and Human Services proposed an amendment to Community Medicaid eligibility or coverage rules. The public comment period runs through September 26. Status: proposed.

• SMR, LLC; Palisades SMR, LLC; Pioneer Units 1 and 2; Exemption, federal (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). The exemption permits Holtec International, through its Palisades SMR subsidiary, to build permanent support-of-excavation walls for the Pioneer Units 1 and 2 project before obtaining a limited work authorization. Status: agency notice.

National coverage of energy permitting reform ran about twice its trailing pace on August 28; the NRC exemption above is among the day's federal filings on that subject.

By the numbers

• Federal regulations totaled 76, against a weekday average of about 41, a level not seen since August 15. The highest single-day count for federal regulations since tracking began remains 1,303, set June 15, a data-load day.
• Federal court opinions totaled 69, close to a weekday average of about 67.
• No federal bills entered the record, versus a weekday average of about three or four; bill collection arrives in batches, so this reflects when bills were collected, not when they were introduced.
• California logged 40 items, 37 court opinions and 3 bills, against a weekday average of about 32 for the state.
• Nevada's courts logged 5 opinions, the highest count for the state since tracking began, against a trailing weekday average of under one.
• Across all jurisdictions, 223 items entered the record: 145 federal and 78 spread across 23 states, combined.

Bill actions

Among tracked bills, one action entered the record: California's educator apprenticeship measure (AB1904) reached Enrolled status, with the last action reading "Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0.)."

Methodology

"Collected" means the date OmniLegislation's pipeline processed a record, not the date it originated. Counts are deduplicated processed records from OmniLegislation's own pipeline, and item descriptions come from the pipeline's own summaries of each record. Weekday and weekend averages are trailing 30 day daily averages for the same kind of day, excluding known data-load days; highest single-day counts are measured since tracking began on April 5, 2026, and include load days, which are labelled. Bill actions cover tracked bills only. This report covers August 28, 2026. Bill records originate from LegiScan; court opinions from CourtListener, a Free Law Project service; federal regulations from the Federal Register.