Bill Text: NY S00048 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Enacts the "private well testing act"; authorizes the department of health to promulgate rules and regulations to establish standards for the testing of drinking water from privately owned wells.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-25 - PRINT NUMBER 48A [S00048 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S00048-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          48--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 6, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. HOYLMAN, BROOKS, COMRIE, KAMINSKY, KRUEGER, RIVERA,
          SEPULVEDA, SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed
          to be committed to the  Committee  on  Environmental  Conservation  --
          recommitted  to the Committee on Environmental Conservation in accord-
          ance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law,  the  public  health
          law  and  the  real property law, in relation to enacting the "private
          well testing act"

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "private well testing act".
     3    § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 3-0315 of the environmental conservation
     4  law, as amended by section 12 of part T of chapter 57  of  the  laws  of
     5  2017, is amended to read as follows:
     6    1. The department in conjunction with the commissioner of health shall
     7  create and maintain a geographic information system, and associated data
     8  storage and analytical systems for purposes of collecting, streamlining,
     9  and  visualizing  integrated  data,  permits,  and  relevant sites about
    10  drinking water quality including,  but  not  limited  to,  incorporating
    11  supply  well  and monitoring well data, emerging contaminant data, water
    12  quality monitoring data, pertinent data from  remediation  and  landfill
    13  sites,  permitted  discharge locations and other potential contamination
    14  risks to water supplies. Such system shall also incorporate  information
    15  from  the source water assessment program collected by the department of
    16  health, information collected pursuant to section eleven hundred  eleven
    17  of  the  public  health  law,  data  from annual water supply statements
    18  prepared pursuant to section eleven  hundred  fifty-one  of  the  public
    19  health  law, information from the database pursuant to title fourteen of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03140-04-2

        S. 48--A                            2

     1  article twenty-seven of  this  chapter,  and  any  other  existing  data
     2  regarding  soil  and groundwater contamination currently gathered by the
     3  department, as well as data on contamination that is  readily  available
     4  from  the  United  States geological survey and other sources determined
     5  appropriate by the department. In addition to  facilitating  interagency
     6  coordination  and  predictive  analysis  to  protect water quality, such
     7  system shall provide state agency information to the  public  through  a
     8  website,  within  reasonable  limitations  to ensure confidentiality and
     9  security.
    10    § 3. Section 206 of the public health law is amended by adding  a  new
    11  subdivision 32 to read as follows:
    12    32.  The  commissioner  is authorized and directed to promulgate rules
    13  and regulations to establish standards for the testing of drinking water
    14  from privately owned wells. Such standards  shall  apply  to  any  water
    15  wells subject to subdivision eighteen of this section, as added by chap-
    16  ter  three  hundred  ninety-five of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-
    17  nine. Such testing shall be to determine the quality, safety and  exist-
    18  ing level of contamination of drinking water from privately owned wells.
    19    §  4.  Subdivision  1  of  section  1100  of the public health law, as
    20  amended by chapter 655 of the laws  of  1978,  is  amended  to  read  as
    21  follows:
    22    1.  The  department  may make rules and regulations for the protection
    23  from contamination of any or all public or private supplies  of  potable
    24  waters  and  water supplies of the state or United States, institutions,
    25  parks, reservations or posts and their sources within the state, and the
    26  commissioner of environmental protection of the city of New York and the
    27  board of water supply of the city of New York may make  such  rules  and
    28  regulations subject to the approval of the department for the protection
    29  from  contamination  of any or all public or private supplies of potable
    30  waters and their sources within the state where the  same  constitute  a
    31  part of the source of the public or private water supply of said city.
    32    §  5. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 1111 to
    33  read as follows:
    34    § 1111. Private well testing. 1.   (a) Within ninety  days  after  the
    35  effective  date  of  this section, the department shall promulgate regu-
    36  lations providing for the testing of drinking water from  private  wells
    37  located on real property subject to this section.  The regulations shall
    38  provide  for  the  full reimbursement of costs associated with the water
    39  testing required under this section or any regulations promulgated ther-
    40  eto, as well as the implementation of any treatment deemed necessary  by
    41  the  department to protect human health, from funds appropriated through
    42  the department of environmental conservation for clean water infrastruc-
    43  ture projects.
    44    (b) Any contract for the sale of real property, including  a  multiple
    45  family dwelling as defined in section eight hundred two of the executive
    46  law,  which is served by a private well that is the potable water supply
    47  for such property shall include a provision requiring as a condition  of
    48  sale,  the  testing  of  such water supply for at least the contaminants
    49  prescribed pursuant to this section. Provisions of  this  section  shall
    50  not  apply  to  property where the potable water supply has five or more
    51  service connections or that regularly serves an average  of  twenty-five
    52  or more individuals daily for at least sixty days out of the year.
    53    (c) Water sampling shall be done, preferably by a laboratory certified
    54  by the department, in the following manner:
    55    (i)  if  there  is  no water treatment system in use on the water well
    56  being tested, samples shall be collected  from  a  primary  cold  water,

        S. 48--A                            3

     1  non-aerated  spigot or tap that draws from or feeds water to the potable
     2  water system from such water;
     3    (ii)  where  a  water  treatment  system is in use on the water supply
     4  system, the sample shall be collected as follows:
     5    (A) the water treatment system  shall  be  disconnected  or  otherwise
     6  disabled prior to the collection of the water sample; or
     7    (B)  the  sample  shall  be collected at a location prior to the water
     8  treatment system; or
     9    (iii) in the case of a new well construction  and  installation  where
    10  there  is  no  spigot  or tap on the subject property, the sample may be
    11  collected directly at the wellhead, utilizing a raw water sample.
    12    2. Every water test conducted in accordance with this section shall be
    13  conducted by a  laboratory  certified  by  the  department  pursuant  to
    14  section  five  hundred  two  of  this chapter to test for drinking water
    15  contaminants and shall include but not be limited to a test for at least
    16  the following contaminants: bacteria (total coliform); sodium; nitrites;
    17  nitrates; iron; manganese; iron plus manganese;  pH;  copper;  chloride;
    18  all specific organic chemicals for which maximum contaminant levels have
    19  been  established  pursuant to public health regulations; lead; arsenic;
    20  barium;  fluoride;  mercury; methane; radium; radon; gross alpha  parti-
    21  cles;  uranium;  perfluorononanoic  acid (PFNA); perfluorohexanesulfonic
    22  acid (PFHxS); perfluoroheptanoic acid  (PFHpA);  perfluorobutanesulfonic
    23  acid   (PFBS); hexafluoropropylene  oxide  dimer acid (HFPO-DA); N-ethyl
    24  perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetic        acid    (NEtFOSAA);     N-methyl
    25  perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetic acid (NMeFOSAA); perfluorodecanoic acid
    26  (PFDA);   perfluorododecanoic   acid   (PFDoA);  perfluorohexanoic  acid
    27  (PFHxA); perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTA);  perfluorotridecanoic  acid
    28  (PFTrDA);  perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA); 11-chloroeicosafluoro-3-ox-
    29  aundecane-1-sulfonic acid (11Cl-PF3OUdS);  9-chlorohexadecafluoro-3-oxa-
    30  nonane-1-sulfonic acid (9Cl-PF3ONS); 4,8-dioxa-3H-perfluorononanoic acid
    31  (ADONA);  nonafluoro-3,6-dioxaheptanoic  acid (NFDHA); perfluorobutanoic
    32  acid (PFBA); 1H, 1H, 2H,   2H-perfluorodecane   sulfonic acid  (8:2FTS);
    33  perfluoro(2-ethoxyethane)sulfonic acid (PFEESA); perfluoroheptanesulfon-
    34  ic  acid  (PFHpS); 1H,1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (4:2FTS);
    35  perfluoro-3-methoxypropanoic  acid  (PFMPA); perfluoro-4-methoxybutanoic
    36  acid (PFMBA); 1H,1H,  2H,  2H-perfluorooctane  sulfonic  acid  (6:2FTS);
    37  perfluoropentanoic  acid  (PFPeA);  and  perfluoropentanesulfonic   acid
    38  (PFPeS).
    39    3.  (a) The department may, by rule or regulation, exclude or limit by
    40  geographic area or geologic  formation,  or  based  upon  well  recorded
    41  information,  any  contaminant  listed  in  this  section  deemed by the
    42  department as not significant in a county or in any specific area within
    43  a county and such area or formation need not be tested as  part  of  any
    44  water test conducted in accordance with this section.
    45    (b)  For  each  contaminant  to  be tested for in accordance with this
    46  section, the department shall establish, by regulation  a  maximum  time
    47  period  for  which  a test result shall remain valid for the purposes of
    48  this section  without  necessitating  retesting  for  such  contaminant;
    49  provided,  however,  such  time period shall not exceed twelve months. A
    50  retest of the water supply  shall  not  be  required  pursuant  to  this
    51  section  if  the  contract  of sale is entered into within the period of
    52  test validity established pursuant to this paragraph.    Notwithstanding
    53  any  provision  of  this  paragraph  to the contrary, a buyer and seller
    54  subject to the provisions of this section may mutually agree  to  retest
    55  for  a contaminant even though the maximum time period for test validity

        S. 48--A                            4

     1  for the  contaminant  established  pursuant  to  this  section  has  not
     2  expired.
     3    4.  (a)  Any water test results provided by a laboratory to the person
     4  or persons requesting the test shall  include  the  maximum  contaminant
     5  levels  or other established water quality standards, if any, prescribed
     6  by the department for each contaminant tested and shall  be  transmitted
     7  on  a  standardized private well water test reporting form prescribed by
     8  the department.  The form shall also include, but not be limited to, the
     9  potential health effects of exposure to the  contaminants,  the  contact
    10  information  of  the  relevant  local  health  organizations established
    11  pursuant to article three of this chapter, the  contact  information  of
    12  the  appropriate  office  or person within the department or the depart-
    13  ment's website regarding appropriate treatment technologies, and  avail-
    14  able funding to assist with the installation of treatment technology.
    15    (b)  Within  ten  business  days after completion of the water test, a
    16  laboratory shall submit the water test results to  the  department  with
    17  the following information:
    18    (i)  a statement that the testing is for the purpose of complying with
    19  the "private well testing act";
    20    (ii) the location of the real property, described  by  block  and  lot
    21  number, street address, municipality, and county;
    22    (iii) the name and mailing address of the person or persons making the
    23  request for the test;
    24    (iv)  an affidavit stating the date and time that the water sample was
    25  collected and the specific point of collection and the  legal  name  and
    26  mailing  address  of  the  person  or  persons  collecting the raw water
    27  samples;
    28    (v) the date and time the sample was analyzed by the laboratory; and
    29    (vi) such other information as may be required by the  department,  in
    30  consultation  with  the  department  of  environmental  conservation and
    31  appropriate local health organizations established pursuant  to  article
    32  three of this chapter.
    33    (c) The department shall require laboratories to submit electronically
    34  the information required pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision.
    35    (d)  A  laboratory  shall not release water test results to any person
    36  except the buyer or seller of the real property at issue as provided  in
    37  subdivision one of this section, the lessor or lessees of the real prop-
    38  erty  as provided in subdivision six of this section, any person author-
    39  ized by the buyer, seller, or lessor, as the case may  be,  the  depart-
    40  ment, or any person designated by court order.
    41    (e) The department shall make the data accumulated from the water test
    42  results  submitted by laboratories pursuant to this section available to
    43  counties,  municipalities,  or  other  governmental  entities  for   the
    44  purposes of studying groundwater supplies or contamination in the state;
    45  provided, however, that identifying information is removed.
    46    (f)  The  results of water well tests shall be provided to the depart-
    47  ment of  environmental  conservation  for  inclusion  in  the  statewide
    48  groundwater  remediation  strategy  developed in accordance with section
    49  15-3109 of the environmental conservation law and the geographic  infor-
    50  mation  system  developed in accordance with section 3-0315 of the envi-
    51  ronmental conservation law.
    52    5. The department, within ten business days after receiving any report
    53  of a water test failure in accordance with this section,  shall  provide
    54  notice of such water test failure to the appropriate local health organ-
    55  izations  established pursuant to article three of this chapter.  Within
    56  ten business days of being notified by the department of  a  water  test

        S. 48--A                            5

     1  failure, the appropriate local health organizations established pursuant
     2  to  article three of this chapter shall issue a general notice to owners
     3  of real property served by private wells and any  public  water  systems
     4  located in the vicinity of the real property experiencing the water test
     5  failure  recommending  that  those property owners or water systems test
     6  for at least the contaminants at issue. The specific address or location
     7  of the private well that failed a water test shall not be identified  in
     8  the  notice or by any other means or in any other manner. The department
     9  shall establish criteria for notification which may include,  but  shall
    10  not  be  limited  to, the maximum contaminant level, the level of excee-
    11  dance reported, and the distance or location of the properties or public
    12  water supply in the vicinity of the contaminated well for which  testing
    13  is recommended.
    14    6.  Within  two years after the effective date of this section, and at
    15  least once every five years thereafter, the lessor of any real  property
    16  the  potable  water  supply  for which is a private well shall test that
    17  water supply in the manner established pursuant to this section  for  at
    18  least the contaminant required pursuant to subdivisions two and three of
    19  this  section. Within ten business days after the receipt of the private
    20  well water testing reporting form established  pursuant  to  subdivision
    21  four  of  this  section, the lessor shall also provide a written copy of
    22  the private well water testing reporting form to each lessee of a rental
    23  unit on the property. The lessor shall also provide a  written  copy  of
    24  the  most recent private well water testing reporting form to a prospec-
    25  tive tenant prior to the signing of a lease of  a  rental  unit  on  the
    26  property.
    27    7. (a) The department, in consultation with the department of environ-
    28  mental conservation, and local health organizations established pursuant
    29  to  article  three  of this chapter shall establish a public information
    30  and education program to inform the public and appropriate  professional
    31  disciplines  of  the  enactment of this section and the substance of its
    32  provisions and requirements, the potential health effects  of  consuming
    33  water  from a private well that does not meet maximum contaminant levels
    34  and other established water quality standards, the potential presence of
    35  radium in at least some potable groundwater supplies in the  state,  the
    36  geographic  areas  in the state subject to an actual or potential threat
    37  of danger from  contaminated  groundwater,  the  importance  of  testing
    38  private  wells regularly for contaminants, and suggested water treatment
    39  technology, equipment strategies and public  funding  sources  available
    40  for  treating  water  from  private  wells that have failed a water test
    41  conducted in accordance with this section.
    42    (b) Within one year of the effective date of this section, the depart-
    43  ment shall make available to the public on the  department's  website  a
    44  general  compilation  of water test results for all contaminants identi-
    45  fied in subdivision two of this section. The results shall  be  arranged
    46  or  identified by county and municipality or appropriate geographic area
    47  therein, but which does not include specific address or location  infor-
    48  mation.   The department shall update its website and add new water test
    49  results at least annually.
    50    8. Within three years of the  effective  date  of  this  section,  the
    51  department  shall prepare and transmit to the governor and legislature a
    52  report on the implementation and operation of this section. Such  report
    53  shall  also  describe the benefits and deficiencies realized as a result
    54  of this section and include recommendations for any appropriate legisla-
    55  tive action. The report shall also be made available to the  public  and
    56  be posted on the department's website.

        S. 48--A                            6

     1    §  6.  The real property law is amended by adding a new section 468 to
     2  read as follows:
     3    §  468.  Private well testing requirements.  1. Every contract for the
     4  sale of real property, including a multiple family dwelling  as  defined
     5  in  section eight hundred two of the executive law, which is served by a
     6  private well that is the potable water supply for  such  property  shall
     7  include  a  provision  requiring  as a condition of sale, the testing of
     8  such water supply for at least  the  standards  prescribed  pursuant  to
     9  section  eleven  hundred  eleven of the public health law. Provisions of
    10  this section shall not apply to property where the potable water  supply
    11  has five or more service connections or that regularly serves an average
    12  of  twenty-five or more individuals daily for at least sixty days out of
    13  the year.
    14    2. Closing of title on the sale of such real property shall not  occur
    15  unless  both  the buyer and the seller have received and reviewed a copy
    16  of the private well water testing reporting form established pursuant to
    17  subdivision four of section eleven hundred eleven of the  public  health
    18  law.    At  closing,  the buyer and seller both shall certify in writing
    19  that they have received and reviewed the water test results.
    20    3. The requirements of this section may not be waived.
    21    § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    22  it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition,  amend-
    23  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    24  tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made on or
    25  before such effective date.
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