NACWA's clean water initiatives focus on liability, affordability, and infrastructure

As lawmakers return to Washington for the second session of the 119th Congress, the policy landscape is increasingly complex. The approaching midterm elections, razor-thin margins in the House of Representatives, and heightened partisanship across Capitol Hill are shaping a difficult environment for advancing major legislation. Even so, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) continues to engage lawmakers in a pragmatic, bipartisan manner to advance policies that protect public health and the environment, support local utilities, and deliver value for communities.

First, NACWA is working to preserve the integrity of the CERCLA’s longstanding “polluter pays” principle while protecting clean water utilities from unintended liability related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. EPA’s designation of certain PFAS compounds as hazardous substances has intensified national attention on cleanup responsibility and litigation exposure. NACWA strongly supports holding the manufacturers and users of PFAS accountable for remediation costs. At the same time, the NACWA is urging Congress to ensure that wastewater and stormwater utilities, who are “passive receivers” of PFAS that neither produced nor profited from the chemicals, are not swept into costly cleanup obligations that local ratepayers would ultimately bear.