As issues around PFAS continue to receive heightened attention, state legislatures across the country are increasingly considering bills that could impact public clean water utilities—including restrictions or prohibitions on biosolids land application and other disposal options. While NACWA’s primary focus is on federal advocacy, we are actively tracking important state-level trends and have been asked by utility members in some instances to provide advocacy support at the state level where appropriate and helpful to ensure the interests of our members and the broader national clean water sector are represented.

Already this year, 11 bills in 8 states have been introduced that specifically address managing and monitoring PFAS in biosolids, raising potential concerns for clean water utilities. At the same time, 35 proposed bills across 11 states have been introduced to reduce PFAS at the source by limiting or eliminating PFAS in personal care products, food packaging, clothing, and other consumer goods. The new bills to reduce PFAS in consumer goods build upon significant new PFAS product bans that went into effect January 1 in several major state markets including California, New York, and Minnesota for categories including  apparel, textiles, cookware, and personal care products. NACWA strongly believes that the focus should be on upstream solutions, preventing PFAS from entering the waste stream in the first place, rather than placing costly burdens on clean water utilities and their ratepayers who had no role in introducing PFAS into the stream of commerce.

NACWA actively tracks state legislation that could impact clean water utilities and engages strategically as needed. Interested members are encouraged to check our current list of state bills that NACWA is actively tracking  – which includes proposals related to biosolids management, biosolids testing and transparency, and efforts to reduce PFAS within the chain of commerce. 

Please note that this list is not a comprehensive one – it is simply a list of the proposals that NACWA is aware of based on our tracking software and information from members. Given the rapid pace of state legislative and regulatory developments, we ask all NACWA members to please keep us informed of state PFAS proposals that could impact clean water utilities in your state - especially any proposed legislation that we do not already have on our list.

If your utility or state clean water association is aware of pending PFAS legislation or regulatory initiatives - particularly those affecting biosolids management, pretreatment programs, utility governance, PFAS source control, or other critical issues, please share that information with us. We will continue to update our tracking list as we receive new information.

NACWA continues to advocate for policies that support public clean water utilities nationwide. Please stay engaged and let us know how we can support your efforts. If you come across state legislative or regulatory proposals that could impact clean water utilities, please contact Danielle Cloutier, NACWA’s Director or Legislative Affairs, or any other member of the Government Affairs team.