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ADEQ tells Arizona committee it is prioritizing PFAS sampling, advanced water purification and ozone research
Summary
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality outlined agency programs, funding pressures and emerging priorities including PFAS sampling at small water systems, a rule for advanced water purification, and a $6 million air‑transport study to support ozone planning.
Karen Peters, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, briefed the House Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee on the agency’s scope, current work and top priorities.
Peters said ADEQ’s mission is “to protect and enhance public health and the environment in Arizona” and described the agency’s duties implementing federal programs such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, together with state programs including an aquifer protection program.
She told members ADEQ regulates roughly 20,000 facilities, inspects thousands of sites each year and conducts ambient monitoring; the department conducts about 1,800,000 vehicle emissions tests annually and reported 4,348 on‑site facility inspections in the last fiscal year. Peters said ADEQ’s programs have yielded long‑term improvements: statewide air pollutant emissions have fallen more than 70% since 1990, she said, even as population and GDP increased.
Peters outlined current priorities tied to water and air: a rule to allow advanced water purification (direct potable reuse) is complete and in the governor’s regulatory review process; ADEQ expects it to be effective in the first quarter of 2025. The agency has sampled roughly 680 small public water systems for PFAS and received $5 million in the budget to begin mitigation and connection projects for systems that cannot meet forthcoming federal drinking water standards. Peters said ADEQ helps small systems find solutions and has used WARF (the Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund) and other programs to support cleanups and connections.
On air quality, Peters said Arizona remains in moderate ozone nonattainment in the Phoenix region and is at risk of being reclassified to a more stringent nonattainment category, which would sharply increase compliance costs. She described ozone as a photochemical pollutant formed from nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in sunlight and distinguished it from visible particulate haze. ADEQ is funding a new study to trace transported pollution and wildfire/dust impacts; Peters said the study has approximately $1 million in state‑level federal funding and private support and will fund about $6 million of work over the next 12 months so the state can document the origin of transported pollutants in time for an ozone attainment plan due to EPA in January 2026.
Committee members asked about failing septic systems and remediation funding; Peters said cesspools have been illegal in Arizona since the 1970s but many older systems exist and counties have primary permitting authority. ADEQ can provide technical assistance and some funding through revolving funds for closures and replacements but civil penalties go to the general fund, not to ADEQ.
Members also raised concerns about out‑of‑state sources of smoke and dust; Peters said the Clean Air Act allows demonstrations for exceptional events (wildfire, dust storms) and that ADEQ is collecting data to make the scientific case to EPA where transport is significant.
Peters concluded by identifying ADEQ staff present to the committee and offering follow‑up on specific technical questions.
