DC Water and Sewer Authority Billing and Disconnection Clarification Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2026

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Councilmember Charles Allen 2
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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 6
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 10
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To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Language Access 14
Act of 2004 to include the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority as a covered 15
entity with major public contact; to amend the District of Columbia Public Works Act of 16
1954 to require that the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority submit 17
information regarding disconnections to the Council, the Office of the People’s Counsel, 18
the Office of the Attorney General, and the Office of the Tenant Advocate on a monthly 19
basis; to amend the Water and Sewer Authority Establishment and Department of Public 20
Works Reorganization Act of 1996 to clarify the imposition of charges and penalties for 21
late payment of water service charges and bills; and to amend section 431 of Title 21 of 22
the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations to modify the notice requirements to 23
building occupants prior to a water service disconnection. 24
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 26
resolution may be cited as the “DC Water and Sewer Authority Billing and Disconnection 27
Clarification Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2026”. 28
Sec. 2. (a) In 1954, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Public Works Act of 1954, 29
approved May 18, 1954 (68 Stat. 101; D.C. Official Code passim) (“PWA”). Sections 102 (D.C. 30
Official Code § 34-2413.10, repealed) and 210 (D.C. Official Code § 34-2110) of the PWA 31
authorized charging 10% for late payment of water and sewer charges, respectively, remaining 32
unpaid after 30 days. 33
(b) In 1990, the Council enacted the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Operations 34

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Amendment Act of 1990, effective April 17, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-136; 37 DCR 2620), which, among 35
other things, amended those sections of the PWA to add a late penalty of 1% per month 36
compounded monthly for any water and sewer charges remaining unpaid after 60 days. 37
(c) In 1996, the Council passed the Water and Sewer Authority Establishment and 38
Department of Public Works Reorganization Act of 1996, effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-39
111; D.C. Official Code § 34-2201.01 et seq. ), which repealed the statutory provision for late 40
payment of water charges in section 102 of the PWA, but did not repeal the statutory provision for 41
late payment of sewer charges in section 210 of the PWA. 42
(d) Still , section 216(d) of the PWA (D.C. Official Code § 34 -2202.16(d)) granted the 43
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (“DC Water”) broad authority to “impose 44
additional charges and penalties for late payment of bills.” Relying on that legal authority, on 45
August 4, 2003, DC Water approved amendments to 21 DCMR § 112 that established a late penalty 46
fee of 10% for charges remaining unpaid after 30 days and a late fee of 1% compounded monthly 47
for charges remaining unpaid after 60 days . There was a legal dispute as to whether the D.C. 48
Official Code conferred DC Water with the requisite legal authority to initiate this change to the 49
DCMR. 50
(e) If the authority delegated to DC Water under section 216(d) is interpreted as not 51
conferring DC Water with the requisite legal authority , DC Water would only be authorized to 52
issue late fees and penalties in connection with sewer service arrearages. This effectively prohibits 53
DC Water from charging any late fees that encourage the timely payment of water charges and 54
other related services such as payment-in-lieu of taxes and right-of-way fees. Additionally, while 55

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section 210 sets a limit on the late fees that can be imposed for unpaid sanitary s ewer service 56
charges, section 216(d) includes no such limit on the imposition of late fees related to unpaid water 57
service charges. 58
(f) Separately, in March 2025, DC Water launched a more robust campaign to collect 59
outstanding balances from ratepayers , issuing its first of many notices of disconnection to 60
housing providers of multifamily apartment buildings . The notices advised tenants residing at 61
the properties that the water service would be terminated unless housing providers addressed 62
their outstanding water bills. DC Water ended Fiscal Year 2025 with $33.3 million in unpaid 63
water bills. 64
(g) DC Water’s campaign to collect outstanding debts revealed significant challenges 65
associated with water shutoffs at multifamily residential buildings. First, in some of these cases, 66
tenants have been paying their rent consistently and did not know that their building was in 67
arrears until they saw a notice of disconnection or experienced a disconnection. In a sense, these 68
tenants are being punished for their building owner or manager’s failure to pay the water bill. 69
Additionally, because DC Water is rarely in contact with individual tenants, it may not know if 70
a unit for which they are threatening disconnection is the home of a senior, child, or a person 71
with a disability—populations that are especially vulnerable during water service shutoffs. And 72
without more information about individual occupants in these buildings, it has been difficult for 73
District agencies ( e.g., the Office of the Tenant Advocate) or legal aid providers to contact 74
families who have experienced or are facing a disconnection to provide them with assistance or 75
guidance. 76

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(h) Requiring that DC Water provide monthly updates to the Council, the Office of the 77
Attorney General (“OAG”), the Office of the People’s Counsel (“OPC”), and the Office of the 78
Tenant Advocate (“OTA”) regarding its disconnection activities will better enable OAG, OPC, 79
and OTA to assist residents experiencing disconnection and will allow the Council to make more 80
informed decisions regarding potential changes to the disconnection process. 81
(i) In response to these issues, on June 14, 2025, the Council passed the DC Water and 82
Sewer Authority Billing and Disconnection Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2025, 83
effective August 1, 2025 (D.C. Act 26 -127; 72 DCR 8607) (“emergency act”). The emergency 84
act clarified the Council’s intent that DC Water has had the authority to assess late payment fees 85
on water service arrearages since April 18, 1996, and that those fees are subject to the same 86
limitations as fees for sewer service arrearages. The emergency act also required that DC Water 87
submit monthly reports to the Council, OAG, and OTA regarding its disconnection activities. 88
The Council also passed the DC Water and Sewer Authority Billing and Disconnection 89
Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2025, effective October 1, 2025 (D.C. Law 26-50; 90
72 DCR 8941) (“temporary legislation”), which was identical to the emergency act 91
(j) The emergency act expired on October 30, 2025. The temporary legislation is set to 92
expire on May 14, 2026. A new round of emergency and temporary legislation is therefore 93
necessary to maintain these provisions until they have been incorporated into a permanent 94
measure. 95
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 96
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the DC 97

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Water and Sewer Authority Billing and Disconnection Clarification Emergency Amendment Act 98
of 2026 be adopted after a single reading. 99
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 100