The National Rural Water Association (NRWA) shares the goal of eliminating PFAS from America’s drinking water and environment. Our membership of over 30,000 small and rural water systems are committed to protecting public health and providing the essential services necessary for economic vitality in rural America. On behalf of our membership, NRWA made substantial comments to the EPA about the proposed ruling before they released the final regulation.
NRWA applauds EPA for providing utilities with time and flexibility to comply with the new PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, but we recognize that the requirements will have disproportionate impacts on small, disadvantaged, and rural communities that lack the financial and managerial capacity to make upgrades. Federal funding dedicated to rural communities must serve as a lifeline, providing essential support for the development, improvement, and maintenance of vital infrastructure. In addition, trusted third-party technical assistance providers, such as NRWA, should be deployed to ensure rural communities in every state receive equitable access to available funding and technical assistance.
In true Rural Water fashion, our leadership took a proactive approach to address the impacts of PFAS by pursuing litigation against manufacturers of PFAS. In 2018, NRWA partnered with Napoli Shkolnik PLLC to create the PFAS Cost Recovery Program in an effort to ensure our members would have the funding resources necessary to address these forever chemicals. We are proud that the “polluter pays” principle is being upheld and highlighted by the recent settlements in the Multi-District Litigation where major companies, including 3M and Dupont, have announced historic settlement amounts for water systems totaling over $13 billion. This funding will play a major role in helping systems comply with this new regulation.
NRWA stands ready to expand our strategic partnership with EPA to help small and disadvantaged communities meet the requirements of this new rule and continue to provide safe and affordable water services for their customers.
To view EPA’s announcement and learn about details of the final rule, click here.