There was a strong showing on June 18 for the "PFAS Policy and Practice: The Role of Local Government and Essential Public Services" congressional briefing, proudly co-hosted by NRWA. Local government and utility leaders delivered a clear, unified message: drinking water, wastewater treatment, stormwater management, water recycling facilities, solid waste landfills, and composting facilities are all passive receivers of PFAS. These essential public service providers never manufactured, used or profited from these ubiquitous "forever chemicals", yet now face sweeping liability under EPA's May 2024 CERCLA "hazardous substance" designation. This marks a dangerous shift from the long-standing "polluter pays" model to a "public pays" framework by imposing costly CERCLA liability on compliant water systems and, ultimately, their ratepayers.