“In the West, and particularly in Utah, we understand deeply the value of clean water to our communities, our economy, and our way of life,” said Rep. Curtis. “This bill prevents the burden of industrial irresponsibility to fall on the shoulders of Utah's families and ratepayers. It’s about ensuring that those who profit from these chemicals bear the cost of their impact, not the Utahns who rely on the integrity of their water supply.”

“PFAS chemicals have harmful effects on our health and children’s development – and water utilities are on the front line of the treatment and disposal of these substances,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “This bipartisan legislation will help ensure policies to hold PFAS polluters accountable aren’t having unintended consequences on water utilities and ratepayers, especially in small and rural communities.”

“Water and wastewater customers in Utah are very grateful to Congressman Curtis’s leadership in protecting all ratepayers from paying the costs of cleaning up our water supplies from PFAs. Water districts are committed to providing clean water to our customers that meet or exceed the safe drinking water standards however the costs of clean up should be borne by the polluters who introduced PFAS substances into our water supplies. The victims should not have to pay for the contamination caused by others.” – Gene Shawcroft, General Manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District 

“The Water Coalition Against PFAS applauds Reps. Curtis and Gluesenkamp Perez for introducing H.R. 7944, the Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act. Drinking water and wastewater systems are already investing billions of dollars to address PFAS. This legislation would prevent polluters from adding to this burden by unjustly attributing their own cleanup liability, as well as untold millions in legal fees, to water and wastewater customers throughout the country. H.R. 7944 will hold PFAS manufacturers responsible for their fair share of environmental remediation costs. Providing this liability protection to water and wastewater systems will allow these systems to focus resources on providing safe, clean water. We are proud to support the Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act and look forward to working with Reps. Curtis and Gluesenkamp Perez to address this critical issue.” – Water Coalition Against PFAS

In 2022, the EPA formally announced plans to designate two of the most common Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) — Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) — as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). If finalized, this designation could put drinking water utilities at risk of incurring cleanup liability when they take necessary steps to remove and dispose of PFAS deposited into water supplies by upstream polluting industries. In addition, wastewater and stormwater utilities could also be put at risk as they receive PFAS chemicals through the raw influent that arrives at the treatment plan or through municipal stormwater runoff.

While EPA has announced an “enforcement discretion” policy that intends to focus on polluters that are responsible for the contamination and have profited from PFAS, such a policy will be insufficient to ensure that drinking water and clean water ratepayers will be permanently protected from CERCLA legal defense costs and cleanup liability for PFAS.

For bill text, click here.

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