Worries fuel push to elevate water woes on policy agenda

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3 days ago

BOSTON (SHNS) – The Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources got its feet wet Tuesday, diving into testimony on bills dealing with water.
Water and water infrastructure generally do not grab the spotlight in the way that other policy areas like transportation, education and housing do, but lawmakers and advocates who testified before the committee stressed their major economic, public health and environmental implications.
Testimony Tuesday touched on issues related to PFAS, lead and other contaminants; water quality standards for private wells; drought management strategies; and the future of the networks of pipes that move water to and from homes.
'Massachusetts is facing a growing water infrastructure crisis. The pipes that deliver drinking water, the systems that treat wastewater and the stormwater infrastructure that protects our neighborhoods is decades or even centuries old. The U.S. EPA estimates that Massachusetts needs almost $37 billion in drinking water and clean water investment over the next 20 years. That is billion, not million,' Jennifer Peterson, executive director of the Massachusetts Water Works Association, told lawmakers.
Peterson pitched a bill (H 1022 / S 563) that would establish a program for upgrading and expanding water infrastructure and would call for $200 million in annual state funding. She said state assistance is critical since 'water infrastructure investment is a shared responsibility among rate payers, the state and the federal government.' Local ratepayers have been burdened by, in some cases, double-digit water rate increases in recent years and the Trump administration's fiscal 2026 budget proposes to reduce funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund by 90%, she said.
The bill, filed by Rep. Ted Philips of Sharon and Sen. John Cronin of Fitchburg, would dedicate $2 billion to expand the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's capacity with an emphasis on 'improving drinking water quality and increasing housing capacity,' designate $375 million for the HousingWorks infrastructure program, allocate $138 million for the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, and provide $78.5 million for the Commonwealth Sewer Rate Relief Fund, according to a summary from Cronin.
'The infrastructure is aging, and we really need to start investing in it. And there's not enough money on the local level, there just isn't. Certainly not with Proposition 2 1/2, that makes it crushing,' Paul Anderson, vice president of the Barnstable County Water Utilities Association, told the committee.
Sen. Becca Rausch, the Senate co-chair of the committee, pressed Peterson, Anderson and others on where the roughly $3 billion contemplated in the bill should come from.
'I'll be very frank, right, having done this role and for a number of years now … nobody ever wants to pay more taxes. So where would we get $3 billion for this?' she asked.
Peterson responded that the bill calls for a revival of the Water Infrastructure Advisory Committee that was created in a 2014 water law but has been mostly dormant since about 2018. She said that group would 'discuss where the new revenue sources would come from.' She said the conversation in previous years revolved around taxes on products that have a connection to water infrastructure.
'Back in 2012 when Representative [Carolyn] Dykema and Senator [James] Eldridge were leading the Water Infrastructure Finance Commission, toilet paper tax, pharmaceutical tax — things that had a nexus to water — were discussed, but there was never any consensus around how to move those forward,' she said.
Rep. Mike Connolly of Cambridge was joined by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan to support legislation (H 920) that would require the Department of Environmental Protection to create and administer a voucher program to cover the costs of PFAS filtration equipment for households in municipalities where PFAS levels exceed the maximum contamination levels. Citing the Sierra Club, Connolly said 96 communities in Massachusetts had water systems that exceed that maximum containment level for PFAS as of February, up from 56 communities a few years earlier.
'There may be a question as to why the district attorney's office is involved in this water issue. It is what Representative Connolly referenced. I feel that part of the privilege of serving as the district attorney is to be looking at really a whole menu of prevention efforts,' Ryan said. 'We know, as the representative just mentioned, the problem with PFAS in water has grown by 47% in the last four years. Many of those communities are in my county.'
The bill got a favorable report from the Environment Committee last session but then died in House Ways and Means, according to the committee's summary. Connolly said the version he filed this session has been updated to reflect feedback from key stakeholder groups.
Ryan said the bill would provide vouchers for people to obtain two PFAS filtration devices in a five-year period, and it would cover the costs to change the filters every six months as recommended. She said the filters are placed at the point of water service, like faucets, washing machines, tub spouts and more.
The district attorney said a set of filtration devices for a household costs about $300, and the replacement filters cost less than $50 each.
Rep. Danillo Sena of Acton focused his testimony on well water, which he said is common throughout his district. Across Massachusetts, about 500,000 people rely on private wells for their water service, he said, but the state has no standards for private well testing or water quality.
'Because of this, many families don't know what is in their water. They purchase their home with no guarantee that their water is safe. Contaminants like lead, arsenic, bacteria and PFAS have been found in wells across Massachusetts. These have long-term effects on health, and with children at more risk than adults,' he said, testifying in support of a bill (H 1049) he filed. 'This legislation ensures that homeowners do not need to worry about the quality of their water through creating standards of wells [and requiring] testing. The Massachusetts Constitution established the right of clean air and water. We must uphold that right and protect 500,000 residents that currently do not have any legal protection.'
Similar legislation from Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Reps. Natalie Blais and Meghan Kilcoyne (S 585 / H 900) was also on the committee docket Tuesday.
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