MMA.ORGWhereas, per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of chemicals (used widely due to their water-resistant, stain-resistant, heat-resistant, and non-stick properties) that persist in the environment and have been found in water, air, soil, fish and a variety of food products, and in the blood of people and animals in Massachusetts and across the world; and
Whereas, scientific studies indicate that some negative health effects ranging from reproductive and hormonal effects to increased risk of certain cancers may occur after exposure to PFAS chemicals, and that certain people have higher exposures to PFAS due to their occupations or where they live; and
Whereas, there is nearly no known safe level of exposure to several heavily researched PFAS in drinking water, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA); perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS); perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS); perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA); hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA, or GenX Chemicals); perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS); perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA); and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA); and
Whereas, local governments and water systems in the Commonwealth have been held responsible for cleaning up PFAS contamination which they passively received from environmental polluters and the manufacturing and use of these chemicals in various industries; and
Whereas, more than 500,000 private well owners and users in Massachusetts depend on wells for drinking water daily and face uncertainty regarding potential personal liability for contamination, costs of clean up and acquiring alternative water supplies, or a reduction in property value due to PFAS pollution; and
Whereas, existing state regulatory requirements to remove PFAS from public drinking water supplies from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) — and more stringent, upcoming federal regulatory requirements from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — will require significant upfront and future financial investments from municipalities and water districts to comply; and
Whereas, a 2024 analysis by Black & Veatch and Corona Environmental revealed the U.S. EPA’s National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for just six PFAS chemicals will likely require up to $48.3 billion of capital investment in the next five years nationwide and has an estimated national cost of up to $3.5 billion annually, the latter estimate twice as high as that put forward by the Agency; and
Whereas, ongoing and upcoming lawsuits and settlements with the manufacturers and producers of PFAS chemicals will not be sufficient to cover the costs of long-term remediation of widespread, continuing contamination; and
Whereas, existing state and federal grants and loans to assist municipal governments and public water systems are insufficient given the ubiquity of pollution across the Commonwealth; and
Whereas, existing and further regulations on PFAS chemicals, while absolutely necessary to protect public health and the environment (a mission shared by local governments, water systems, and their dedicated staff), will become unfunded mandates without further state and federal support; and
Whereas, municipalities have many other costly, unaddressed water infrastructure needs beyond managing PFAS contamination, which will also be essential to address in conjunction with required work on emerging contaminants such as PFAS;
Therefore, it is hereby resolved that the members of the Massachusetts Municipal Association support the following essential policy positions to support a local-state-federal partnership to address PFAS contamination, fund remediation, and protect public health:
In the Area of Polluter Responsibility:
• Local, state, and federal governments and their agencies should call for the discontinuation of the manufacturing and use of PFAS chemicals in all feasible applications and help to support and spur development of well-tested, safer alternatives to address PFAS pollution at the source;
• Local, state, and federal governments and their agencies should utilize all available policy mechanisms and enforcement opportunities to hold polluters accountable, rather than municipal governments and their water systems, for the degradation of natural resources;
• The state and federal governments and their agencies should provide statutory liability protection for municipalities amid developing regulatory efforts, including, but not limited to, the potential for the U.S. EPA to designate certain PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), given any enforcement discretion policy exempting municipalities could be revoked in the future; and
In The Area of Municipal Aid:
• The state’s fiscal 2026 capital plan should include additional funding, not limited to loans, for water infrastructure projects including basic drinking water capital and water contamination mitigation;
• The state and federal governments and their agencies should further support the development of new financial opportunities for municipal governments and public water districts as water infrastructure project design, construction, and operating costs rise — and demand for such projects increases — ahead of the enforcement deadline of the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for six PFAS chemicals;
• The state should partner with and provide retroactive support, financial and otherwise, for communities who undertook significant remediation and treatment costs prior to the finalization of stricter national standards who must now readjust their designs, treatments, and strategies to the more stringent requirements;
• The Governor and the Legislature should pursue federal funds and future state bonding authorizations for water and related environmental infrastructure so that communities can leverage these funds to address critical local needs;
• The Governor and the Legislature should approve a multi-year environmental bond bill to fund municipal drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure improvements to not only address PFAS, but also the approximate $15.2 billion needed for Massachusetts to maintain compliance with existing Safe Drinking Water Act Regulations over the next 20 years; and
In The Area of State and Municipal Policy:
• The Legislature should grant explicit authority to cities and towns to establish drinking water, stormwater and sewer infrastructure banks to build, repair, and maintain water-related infrastructure systems to support these necessary investments related to PFAS and other timely projects;
• The Legislature should pass legislation requiring the Executive Branch and the Legislature to provide a fiscal note as part of any proposal in order to clearly explain the benefits and costs imposed on municipal government and local taxpayers as a result of further regulations beyond the federal standards for PFAS;
• The Legislature should support and the Governor should enact legislation to carry forward the recommendations of the PFAS Interagency Task Force, including but not limited to creating a PFAS Remediation Trust Fund to support municipal governments in efforts to test and clean up PFAS contamination; prohibiting the sale of consumer products with intentionally added PFAS; further regulating industrial entities who continue to be responsible for PFAS pollution in Massachusetts waterways; providing safer firefighting foams to local fire departments; and funding the collection of Aqueous Film-Forming Foam;
• The state should provide for education and training of local boards of health responsible for the regulation of private wells, as well as support the development of a framework and accompanying funding structure to test and decontaminate private water sources that is not burdensome to local governments;
• The state should assist local governments and their residents and customers as they consider options for remediation, ongoing treatment, the provision of safer drinking water alternatives, and overall resiliency, including potential establishment, expansion, and connection of municipal service areas and regional water authorities;
• The state should provide routine oversight of MassDEP-certified laboratories that perform PFAS testing to ensure they have sufficient capacity to support municipal water utilities with true, accurate data and maintain that such data and test results are comparable to other laboratories; and
• The state should conduct a robust public education and outreach campaign to raise awareness of PFAS contamination and assist municipalities in these shared efforts to build a common understanding of the threats PFAS poses to public health and the environment, the actions being taken to address PFAS pollution, and maintain public trust and confidence in public drinking water supplies as public awareness grows.
It is further resolved that a copy of this resolution shall be provided to the Governor, the Members of the Massachusetts General Court, and the Members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation.