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A RESOLUTION
26-178
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
July 14, 2025
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Language Access
Act of 2004 to include the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority as a covered
entity with major public contact; to amend the District of Columbia Public Works Act of
1954 to require that the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority submit
information regarding disconnections to the Council, the Office of the Attorney General,
and the Office of the Tenant Advocate on a monthly basis; to amend the Water and Sewer
Authority Establishment and Department of Public Works Reorganization Act of 1996 to
clarify the imposition of charges and penalties for late payment of water service charges
and bills; and to amend section 431 of Title 21 of the District of Columbia Municipal
Regulations to modify the notice requirements to building occupants prior to a water
service disconnection.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “DC Water and Sewer Authority Billing and Disconnection
Clarification Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025”.
Sec. 2. (a) In 1954, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Public Works Act of 1954,
approved May 18, 1954 (68 Stat. 101; D.C. Official Code passim) (“PWA”). Sections 102 (D.C.
Official Code § 34-2413.10, repealed) and 210 (D.C. Official Code § 34-2110) of the PWA
authorized charging 10% for late payment of water and sewer charges, respectively, remaining
unpaid after 30 days.
(b) In 1990, the Council enacted the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Operations
Amendment Act of 1990, effective April 17, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-136; 37 DCR 2620), which,
among other things, amended those sections of the PWA to add a late penalty of 1% per month
compounded monthly for any water and sewer charges remaining unpaid after 60 days.
(c) In 1996, the Council passed the Water and Sewer Authority Establishment and
Department of Public Works Reorganization Act of 1996, effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law
11-111; D.C. Official Code § 34-2201.01 et seq.), which repealed the statutory provision for late
payment of water charges in section 102 of the PWA, but did not repeal the statutory provision
for late payment of sewer charges in section 210 of the PWA.
(d) Still, section 216(d) of the PWA (D.C. Official Code § 34-2202.16(d)) granted the
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District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (“DC Water”) broad authority to “impose
additional charges and penalties for late payment of bills.” Relying on that legal authority, on
August 4, 2003, DC Water approved amendments to 21 DCMR § 112 that established a late
penalty fee of 10% for charges remaining unpaid after 30 days and a late fee of 1% compounded
monthly for charges remaining unpaid after 60 days. There is now a legal dispute as to whether
the D.C. Official Code conferred DC Water with the requisite legal authority to initiate this
change to the DCMR.
(e) If the authority delegated to DC Water under section 216(d) is interpreted as not
conferring DC Water with the requisite legal authority, DC Water would only be authorized to
issue late fees and penalties in connection with sewer service arrearages. This effectively
prohibits DC Water from charging any late fees that encourage the timely payment of water
charges and other related services such as payment-in-lieu of taxes and right-of-way fees.
Additionally, while section 210 sets a limit on the late fees that can be imposed for unpaid
sanitary sewer service charges, section 216(d) includes no such limit on the imposition of late
fees related to unpaid water service charges.
(f) Separately, DC Water is also faced with $35.5 million in unpaid water bills owed to
it by ratepayers. In response, in March of this year, DC Water launched a more robust
campaign to collect outstanding balances from ratepayers, issuing its first of many notices of
disconnection to housing providers of multifamily apartment buildings. The notices advised
tenants residing at the properties that the water service would be terminated unless housing
providers addressed their outstanding water bills.
(g) As of May 21, 2025, a total of 331 properties had received a notice of potential water
service disconnection: 327 small multi-unit buildings (ranging from 4 to 6 units on average)
and 4 larger apartment buildings. Of those 331 properties, 42 had their water service
disconnected, and as of May 30, 2025, 24 remained disconnected. Since June 1, 2025, an
additional 29 properties have been identified for disconnection.
(h) DC Water’s recent efforts at collecting outstanding debts have revealed significant
challenges associated with water shutoffs at multifamily residential buildings. First, in some of
these cases, tenants have been paying their rent consistently and did not know that their
building was in arrears until they saw a notice of disconnection or experienced a
disconnection. In a sense, these tenants are also being punished for their building owner or
manager’s failure to pay the water bill. Additionally, because DC Water is rarely in contact
with individual tenants, they may not know if a unit for which they are threatening
disconnection is the home of a senior, child, or a person with a disability—populations that are
especially vulnerable during water service shutoffs. And without more information about
individual occupants at these buildings, it has been difficult for District agencies (like the
Office of the Tenant Advocate) or legal aid providers to contact families who have experienced
or are facing a disconnection to provide them with assistance or guidance.
(i) Requiring that DC Water provide monthly updates to the Council, the Office of the
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Attorney General (“OAG”), and the Office of the Tenant Advocate (“OTA”) regarding its
disconnection activities will better enable OAG and OTA to assist residents experiencing
disconnection and will allow the Council to make more informed decisions regarding potential
changes to the disconnection process.
(j) Emergency legislation is therefore necessary to clarify the Council’s intent that DC
Water has had the authority to assess late payment fees on water service arrearages since April
18, 1996, and that those fees are subject to the same limitations as fees for sewer service
arrearages. Emergency legislation is also necessary to require that DC Water submit monthly
reports to the Council, OAG, and OTA regarding its disconnection activities.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the DC
Water and Sewer Authority Billing and Disconnection Clarification Emergency Amendment
Act of 2025 be adopted after a single reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.