By Kaitlyn Montán
On Capitol Hill, water policy continues to be heavily influenced by tightening federal budgets for agencies relevant to the water sector, and intensifying partisan divisions.
While the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and other stakeholders have faced a rapidly shifting policy landscape over the last year, we remain committed to our top priorities of pushing Congress heavily to support robust infrastructure funding, to address PFAS responsibly, and to ensure affordable water services for all. These priorities align powerfully with the emphasis on affordability from the 2025-2026 election season.
Water Infrastructure Funding
As Congress is diving into the latter half of the 119th session, and keenly aware of the upcoming election season, policymakers face limited time to accomplish an ever-growing to-do list. Of upmost concern for the water infrastructure sector is passing a reauthorization of the Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and other key water infrastructure funding programs whose authorizations expire after Fiscal Year 2026.
Last year, both the House of Representatives and the Senate began discussions for a reauthorization of the Clean and Drinking Water SRFs, but progress stalled. While bipartisan support for clean water funding programs remains strong among Members of Congress in principle, the current political environment is pushing cuts to many domestic programs, and this has stymied progress and support for robust funding levels for upcoming years. NACWA has been heavily involved in advocating for robust clean water funding reauthorizations, conducting extensive education and outreach across the House and Senate since last spring with the strong support of our Board of Directors.
Breaking down the White House FY2027 budget request with more SRF cuts
Despite Congress’ slow progress, NACWA sees reason to remain optimistic that a water investment reauthorization package will pass before the end of the year, which would help ensure stability for water programs.
In January, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ramped up preparation for their water reauthorization package, soliciting formal input from Senators and stakeholders. In addition, a positive development came in January when Congress passed a final bipartisan, bicameral appropriations package for Fiscal Year 2026 that funded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at equal levels as the year prior – a sharp reversal from the severe cuts initially proposed by the White House and the House of Representatives in 2025.
This helps set a more hopeful tone for the time being.
Addressing PFAS Responsibly
The water sector also continues to focus on the complex and growing PFAS regulatory environment. NACWA believes that Congress and the Administration should be focused on addressing PFAS responsibly to protect public health and the environment, including through greater source control and reducing PFAS upstream before it ever reaches the water environment. Clean water agencies should be viewed as part of the potential solution to PFAS pollution — but are not the cause, and, as such, should be protected from bearing costs that should more justly accrue to the actual producers and beneficiaries of PFAS chemicals.
This Congress, a top focus for NACWA has been to secure PFAS CERCLA liability protections for water utilities that have acted in good faith. Last year, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin affirmed that only Congress holds the authority to establish a reliable PFAS liability framework that shields passive receivers and ensures that cleanup costs are borne by polluters, not the public. NACWA, as a lead entity of the Water Coalition Against PFAS, has been heavily engaged with Congress on this challenging issue.
Last year, Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez (D-WA) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT) introduced H.R. 1267, the Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act, to address this issue. Support for this bill in the House of Representatives continues to grow. A Senate companion bill has not yet been introduced this Congress, but the Water Coalition Against PFAS continues to have positive engagement with Senators on both sides of the aisle.
In December of 2025, after heavy engagement from the Water Coalition Against PFAS, the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on “Examining the Impact of EPA’s CERCLA Designation for Two PFAS Chemistries and Potential Policy Responses to Superfund Liability Concerns.” The hearing provided a helpful understanding for where members on both sides of the aisle stand on this issue, and while it was a constructive step forward toward a legislative solution, there were several misconceptions raised during the hearing that the Water Coalition Against PFAS continues to correct with Congressional audiences.
NACWA and the rest of the Water Coalition Against PFAS remain committed to pushing Congress to provide a legislation solution, such as H.R. 1267, that reinforces CERCLA’s foundational “polluter pays” principle, safeguards communities, and advances the nationwide effort to address PFAS contamination.
“It is on the water sector to guide Congress toward substantive progress.”
Ensuring Affordable Water Services for All
Lastly, NACWA’s member utilities continue to see low-income customers struggle to afford their water and wastewater services. And the rising costs of providing clean water services continues to outpace inflation and income growth. As such, NACWA remains focused on pushing Congress to reestablish a permanent water assistance program within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after funding for the temporary program expired in 2023. Reps. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.) and Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) have introduced a bill, the Low-Income Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) Establishment Act, to re-establish the program at HHS which continues to build support and new cosponsors from both sides of the political aisle in the House of Representatives.
In the Senate, no legislation has yet been introduced this Congress, but NACWA remains closely engaged with key offices who are productively discussing paths forward to successfully establish a permanent water assistance program.
This bipartisan, bicameral momentum despite a difficult political environment is a great sign for the eventual creation of a permanent water assistance program. NACWA will remain focused on advocating with Congress to build on the success of the temporary program at HHS through a permanent program that allows it to build on existing systems, ensure assistance continues to reach individual households in need, and align water assistance with other similarly structured essential-service programs – like energy and housing.
As we are now in full swing of the new year, NACWA remains steadfast in pushing for strong federal investment in our clean water infrastructure, thoughtful reauthorization of existing federal funding and finance programs, stronger liability protection for water utilities, and a permanent water assistance program.
Many of these goals are not easy to accomplish, but the critical need to close the gap in infrastructure funding and support wastewater and stormwater utilities in addressing public health and environmental concerns continues to motivate NACWA and other water advocates to push Congress for action. It is on the water sector to guide Congress toward substantive progress.
Kaitlyn Montán is director of legislative affairs for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining NACWA in 2025, Montán worked in the House of Representatives, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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