Pennsylvania PFAS Bill, Juvenile Detention Scanners, and a New York Surge

Pennsylvania's bill restricting PFAS chemicals in firefighting gear is engrossed, having passed one chamber, and New York proposed rules for body imaging scanners in juvenile detention facilities. New York also logged 30 items on October 8, more than 15 times its trailing weekday average for this kind of day.

Why it matters: Pennsylvania fire and EMS companies, New York's juvenile justice agencies, and water utilities covered by a federal cybersecurity bill each have a new filing to read, and New York staff have 30 items from October 8 alone to track.

What moved

• In Commonwealth services, further providing for assistance to fire companies and EMS companies and for State Fire Commissioner and providing for protection against PFAS chemicals and for firefighting protective equipment; in grants to fire companies and emergency medical services companies, further providing for award of grants; and imposing penalties. (SB980), Pennsylvania. The bill restricts manufacturing of PFAS-containing Class B firefighting foam beginning July 1, 2027 for manufacturers and January 1, 2028 for users, requires labeling of firefighting protective equipment containing intentionally added PFAS, and sets civil penalties of $5,000 to $10,000 for violations; it also expands grant programs for fire and EMS companies. Status is engrossed, having passed one chamber; it awaits the other chamber.

• Use of Body Imaging Scanning Equipment, New York. The Commission of Correction published a notice of proposed rulemaking to add rules governing body imaging scanning equipment in secure juvenile detention facilities, specialized secure juvenile detention facilities, and Office of Children and Family Services facilities. The proposal defines when the equipment may be used to screen youth and visitors, requires staff training, prohibits scanning of pregnant individuals, and mandates alternative screening methods. The rule is at the proposed stage.

• Securing Our Critical Infrastructure Act (HB10671), federal. The bill would make permanent a security vulnerability warning program at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, targeting covered utilities, primarily water and wastewater systems serving up to 100,000 people, with automatic enrollment in cyber hygiene services and incident response support. Status is introduced; it awaits committee or floor action in the chamber of origin.

• 1301:3-7-02 Application for Initial Certification as a Backflow Technician, Ohio. The Department of Commerce amended certification requirements for backflow technicians, setting three certification classes by device type and location and requiring five years of relevant experience in plumbing, hydronic contracting, fire protection, or water purveyor work (or specified environmental certifications), plus a 24-hour course with hands-on testing. The summary states the rule was amended October 6, 2026.

By the numbers

• New York logged 30 items on October 8 (27 regulations, 3 court opinions), more than 15 times its trailing 30 day weekday average of about 2 for all types combined; the last day at or above this count was October 2 (data load day), and the highest single-day count for New York since tracking began, 1,951, was reached June 2 (data load day).
• Within that, New York's 27 regulations ran about 26 times its weekday average of about 1; the highest single-day count for New York regulations since tracking began, 111, was reached September 1 (data load day).
• Ohio logged 51 regulations against a weekday average of about 16, roughly three times the usual pace; the highest single-day count for Ohio regulations since tracking began, 1,317, was reached September 4 (data load day).
• Federally, 142 regulations entered the record against a weekday average of about 75, and 77 court opinions against a weekday average of about 57. Across all jurisdictions, 292 regulations entered the record against a trailing weekday average of about 186 (and about 165 across all days of the week, for context).
• Seven federal bills entered the record against a weekday average of about 2; the highest single-day count for federal bills since tracking began, 915, was reached July 3 (data load day).

Bill actions

Among tracked bills, two carried actions dated October 8. A Massachusetts bill, still listed as Introduced, saw the Senate concur. A New Jersey bill, also Introduced, was referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

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. Baselines are trailing 30 day daily averages for the same kind of day, weekdays against weekdays, 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 October 8, 2026. Bill records originate from LegiScan; court opinions from CourtListener, a Free Law Project service; federal regulations from the Federal Register.