Water Coalition Against PFAS Extends Support For Bipartisan Introduction of Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act
WASHINGTON – The Water Coalition Against PFAS, a coalition of drinking water and wastewater sector organizations, supports today’s reintroduction of the Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act. This bipartisan legislation would provide statutory liability protections for water utilities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), ensuring that polluters, not the public, pay for PFAS cleanup.
The Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act of 2025 is sponsored by Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) and Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) and is identical to bipartisan legislation introduced in the 118th Congress by now-Senator John Curtis (R-Utah).
“The PFAS CERCLA hazardous substance designations threaten the ability of the water sector to deliver affordable water services,” said Adam Krantz, CEO of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA). “We need a true ‘polluter pays’ model that holds those responsible for PFAS contamination accountable. Given the ubiquity of PFAS after decades of use – and their ongoing release into our waterways from industrial sites, commercial uses, and household products – broad CERCLA designations instead threaten the financial stability of water utilities all across the U.S. NACWA thanks Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez and Rep. Maloy for working in a bipartisan fashion to shield communities from these misplaced burdens and shift liability back to PFAS producers and profiteers. We look forward to continuing to support Congressional efforts that prioritize source control and ensure polluters pay.”
“Everyone should agree that polluters should bear the cost of cleaning up their damage to the environment, particularly in the case of ubiquitous substances like PFAS,” said AMWA CEO Tom Dobbins. “But through a loophole in CERCLA, these polluters can pass off the costs of environmental cleanups to passive receivers like water systems, which only possessed the contaminants because they had to remove them from their source waters. The ‘Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act’ will ensure that the real polluters – and not innocent water system ratepayers – ultimately foot the bill for the environmental remediation of PFAS.”
“The Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act will ensure that polluters are held responsible for cleaning up the PFAS they introduced into the environment, rather than water utilities and their ratepayers,” said AWWA CEO David LaFrance. “Introducing this legislation is an important first step toward protecting local communities from having to shoulder the significant financial burden of cleaning up PFAS contamination they did not cause. AWWA looks forward to working with Reps. Gluesenkamp Perez and Maloy to advance this bill, and we urge Congress to support it."
“On behalf of the 30,000 rural and small system members of the National Rural Water Association (NRWA), we enthusiastically support the enactment of The Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act” said NRWA CEO Matthew Holmes. “The vast majority of public water systems impacted by PFAS are small and face more challenges complying with federal regulations and operating complex water treatment systems. NRWA shares the goal of eliminating all concentrations of PFAS from the public’s drinking water and environment. However, regulation, civil enforcement, and liability under the Superfund Law (CERCLA) are not the appropriate federal remedies for addressing this problem for local governments. Small and rural communities are not responsible for introducing PFAS into the environment or the public’s drinking water. NRWA applauds Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s and Celeste Maloy’s leadership and the introduction of this critically important piece of legislation, which will hold those entities most responsible for PFAS contamination accountable.”
"The Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act is a crucial step in ensuring that water and wastewater utilities — and, ultimately, the communities and ratepayers they serve — are not unfairly burdened with the costs of PFAS contamination cleanup, said Ralph Exton, Executive Director of the Water Environment Federation. These utilities are involuntary receivers of PFAS and did not create or profit from PFAS. However, without congressional action, they could be forced to bear immense financial and operational challenges. WEF strongly supports this bipartisan legislation, which upholds the ‘producer pays’ principle and places accountability where it belongs: on those responsible for introducing PFAS into the environment. We commend Reps. Gluesenkamp Perez and Maloy for their leadership and urge Congress to act swiftly in passing this vital bill.”