It’s clear the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts aims to pass some legislation this year tackling PFAS, with an omnibus bill covering a wide range of PFAS concerns as well as two bills specifically targeting biosolids.
Back in August, a group of Massachusetts legislators led by Senator Jo Comerford took a trip to meet with their counterparts in Maine with respect to the farming-related PFAS bill. They visited a PFAS-contaminated farm in Arundel, Maine, and the State House for various presentations and discussions, including a roundtable with lawmakers, farmers, and environmental advocates. Interestingly, the Massachusetts legislators did not visit the Juniper Ridge landfill or any wastewater treatment facilities which were impacted by the 2022 Maine legislation that Massachusetts is looking to as a model.
The omnibus PFAS bill, An Act to Protect Massachusetts Public Health from PFAS (Bill H.2450 and companion bill S.1504), could impact biosolids management. There are a lot good aspects of the bill, including numerous provisions aimed at PFAS source reduction. But there is language in there for "phasing out the use, sale, or distribution, or offer for use, sale, or distribution of sludge". Both the House and Senate bills have a long list of sponsors. The legislature held hearings back in September before the Joint Committee for Public Health and no further action has been taken.
In addition to impacting the beneficial use of biosolids, H.2450/S.1504 may intend to prohibit landfilling. The language in Section 3 certainly could use some clarification:
“The department of environmental protection shall promulgate regulations to implement a schedule for phasing out the use, sale, or distribution, or offer for use, sale, or distribution of sludge without the department’s site-specific approval in the commonwealth, and shall not include the disposal or placement of sludge at a solid waste landfill, hazardous waste landfill or sludge landfill.”
The Massachusetts Water Environment Association (MAWEA) has been outreaching legislators to address that landfill issue and explain to them the implications of H2450 as well as several other bills of concern:
H.109/S.56 -- An Act Protecting Our Soil and Farms from PFAS Contamination
H.136 -- An Act Prohibiting the Use and Sale of Toxic Sludge
This set of bills had hearings before the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries in September. They explicitly propose a complete moratorium on the beneficial use of biosolids via land application. There is concern not only about cost impacts but about increasing greenhouse gas generation as organics degrade in landfills or have to be shipped long distances out of state. Any reduction of biosolids and sludge disposal outlets will have an immediate impact, further destabilizing the biosolids/sludge disposal market in the region.
NEBRAMail reached out to MAWEA’s Government Affairs Committee Chair Mickey Nowak for a quote and got an earful. Mickey told NEBRAMail:
“The recently released MassDEP report indicates in the Executive Summary "that a minimum of 7% of the sludge generated in Massachusetts in 2028 (11,826 dry tons) will be unable to be accommodated by existing methods (Section 7.1.2)." That projected deficit is contingent on conditions remaining the same. Unfortunately, conditions are not remaining the same. On September 1, 2025 Hawk Ridge Compost Facility in Maine stopped accepting sludge and 10,300 dry tons of Massachusetts sludge were going to that facility. Under pressure from local environmental advocacy groups the Hoosac Water Quality District has recently stopped the land application of their compost product resulting in significantly higher disposal costs. The Woonsocket incinerator is under consideration for closure. Fall River is disposing of their sludge in a landfill in Lexington Ohio. These three bills under consideration by the legislature would eliminate land application in Massachusetts – that’s another 15,000 dry tons.
The bottom line is that the disposal crisis for Massachusetts wastewater facilities is happening right now. The MassDEP and Mass Legislature need to reach a consensus on the future of sludge disposal and act as soon as possible. We need more instate disposal options. There may not be perfect solutions but we need to pick the best solution.”
NEBRA issued a Member Alert in early September and signed on to written testimony by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. MAWEA submitted comments and continues to educate legislators about the impacts. The next stop for this bill is the Ways and Means Committee for approval. NEBRA’s Reg-Leg Committee is closely tracking this and other Massachusetts legislation.