Bill Text: NY S01854 | 2019-2020 | 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 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION [S01854 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S01854-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1854--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 16, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered print- ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- 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 20 article twenty-seven of this chapter, and any other existing data 21 regarding soil and groundwater contamination currently gathered by the 22 department, as well as data on contamination that is readily available EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02776-03-9S. 1854--A 2 1 from the United States geological survey and other sources determined 2 appropriate by the department. In addition to facilitating interagency 3 coordination and predictive analysis to protect water quality, such 4 system shall provide state agency information to the public through a 5 website, within reasonable limitations to ensure confidentiality and 6 security. 7 § 3. Section 206 of the public health law is amended by adding a new 8 subdivision 31 to read as follows: 9 31. The commissioner is authorized and directed to promulgate rules 10 and regulations to establish standards for the testing of drinking water 11 from privately owned wells. Such standards shall apply to any water 12 wells subject to subdivision eighteen of this section, as added by chap- 13 ter three hundred ninety-five of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety- 14 nine. Such testing shall be to determine the quality, safety and exist- 15 ing level of contamination of drinking water from privately owned wells. 16 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 1100 of the public health law, as 17 amended by chapter 655 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as 18 follows: 19 1. The department may make rules and regulations for the protection 20 from contamination of any or all public or private supplies of potable 21 waters and water supplies of the state or United States, institutions, 22 parks, reservations or posts and their sources within the state, and the 23 commissioner of environmental protection of the city of New York and the 24 board of water supply of the city of New York may make such rules and 25 regulations subject to the approval of the department for the protection 26 from contamination of any or all public or private supplies of potable 27 waters and their sources within the state where the same constitute a 28 part of the source of the public or private water supply of said city. 29 § 5. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 1111 to 30 read as follows: 31 § 1111. Private well testing. 1. (a) The department shall promulgate 32 regulations providing for the testing of drinking water from private 33 wells located on real property subject to this section. 34 (b) Any contract for the sale of real property, including a multiple 35 family dwelling as defined in section eight hundred two of the executive 36 law, which is served by a private well that is the potable water supply 37 for such property shall include a provision requiring as a condition of 38 sale, the testing of such water supply for at least the standards 39 prescribed pursuant to this section. Provisions of this section shall 40 not apply to property where the potable water supply has five or more 41 service connections or that regularly serves an average of twenty-five 42 or more individuals daily for at least sixty days out of the year. 43 (c) Water sampling shall be done, preferably by a laboratory certified 44 by the department, in the following manner: 45 (i) if there is no water treatment system in use on the water well 46 being tested, samples shall be collected from a primary cold water, 47 non-aerated spigot or tap that draws from or feeds water to the potable 48 water system from such water; 49 (ii) where a water treatment system is in use on the water supply 50 system, the sample shall be collected as follows: 51 (A) the water treatment system shall be disconnected or otherwise 52 disabled prior to the collection of the water sample; or 53 (B) the sample shall be collected at a location prior to the water 54 treatment system; orS. 1854--A 3 1 (iii) in the case of a new well construction and installation where 2 there is no spigot or tap on the subject property, the sample may be 3 collected directly at the wellhead, utilizing a raw water sample. 4 2. Every water test conducted in accordance with this section shall be 5 conducted by a laboratory certified by the department pursuant to 6 section five hundred two of this chapter to test for drinking water 7 constituents and shall include but not be limited to a test for at least 8 the following constituents: bacteria (total coliform); sodium; nitrites; 9 nitrates; iron; manganese; iron plus manganese; pH; copper; chloride; 10 all volatile organic compounds for which maximum constituent levels have 11 been established pursuant to public health regulations; and lead. 12 3. (a) The department, in consultation with the department of environ- 13 mental conservation, and local health organizations established pursuant 14 to article three of this chapter may require additional testing for 15 constituents that appear on a county or regional basis including but not 16 limited to arsenic, barium, fluoride, mercury, methane, radium, and 17 radon. 18 (b) The department may, by rule or regulation, exclude or limit by 19 geographic area or geologic formation, or based upon well recorded 20 information, any constituent listed in this section deemed by the 21 department as not significant in a county or in any specific area within 22 a county and such area or formation need not be tested as part of any 23 water test conducted in accordance with this section. 24 (c) For each constituent to be tested for in accordance with this 25 section, the department shall establish, by regulation a maximum time 26 period for which a test result shall remain valid for the purposes of 27 this section without necessitating retesting for such constituent; 28 provided, however, such time period shall not exceed twelve months. A 29 retest of the water supply shall not be required pursuant to this 30 section if the contract of sale is entered into within the period of 31 test validity established pursuant to this paragraph. Notwithstanding 32 any provision of this paragraph to the contrary, a buyer and seller 33 subject to the provisions of this section may mutually agree to retest 34 for a constituent even though the maximum time period for test validity 35 for the constituent established pursuant to this section has not 36 expired. 37 4. (a) Any water test results provided by a laboratory to the person 38 or persons requesting the test shall include the maximum constituent 39 levels or other established water quality standards, if any, prescribed 40 by the department for each constituent tested and shall be transmitted 41 on a standardized private well water test reporting form prescribed by 42 the department. The form shall refer the buyer and seller of the real 43 property in question to the appropriate office or person within the 44 department, or the department's website for information regarding reme- 45 diation alternatives. 46 (b) Within ten business days after completion of the water test, a 47 laboratory shall submit the water test results to the department with 48 the following information: 49 (i) a statement that the testing is for the purpose of complying with 50 the "private well testing act"; 51 (ii) the location of the real property, described by block and lot 52 number, street address, municipality, and county; 53 (iii) the name and mailing address of the person or persons making the 54 request for the test; 55 (iv) an affidavit stating the date and time that the water sample was 56 collected and the specific point of collection and the legal name andS. 1854--A 4 1 mailing address of the person or persons collecting the raw water 2 samples; 3 (v) the date and time the sample was analyzed by the laboratory; and 4 (vi) such other information as may be required by the department, in 5 consultation with the department of environmental conservation and 6 appropriate local health organizations established pursuant to article 7 three of this chapter. 8 (c) The department may require laboratories to submit electronically 9 the information required pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision. 10 (d) A laboratory shall not release water test results to any person 11 except the buyer or seller of the real property at issue as provided in 12 subdivision one of this section, the lessor of the real property as 13 provided in subdivision six of this section, any person authorized by 14 the buyer, seller, or lessor, as the case may be, the department, or any 15 person designated by court order. 16 (e) The department shall make the data accumulated from the water test 17 results submitted by laboratories pursuant to this section available to 18 counties, municipalities, or other governmental entities for the 19 purposes of studying groundwater supplies or contamination in the state; 20 provided, however, that identifying information is removed. 21 (f) The results of water well tests shall be provided to the depart- 22 ment of environmental conservation for inclusion in the statewide 23 groundwater remediation strategy developed in accordance with section 24 15-3109 of the environmental conservation law and the geographic infor- 25 mation system developed in accordance with section 3-0315 of the envi- 26 ronmental conservation law. 27 5. The department, within ten business days after receiving any report 28 of a water test failure in accordance with this section, shall provide 29 notice of such water test failure to the appropriate local health organ- 30 izations established pursuant to article three of this chapter. The 31 appropriate local health organizations established pursuant to article 32 three of this chapter shall issue a general notice to owners of real 33 property served by private wells or a public water system located in the 34 vicinity of the real property experiencing the water test failure 35 suggesting or recommending that those property owners may wish to have 36 their private wells tested for at least the constituents at issue. The 37 specific address or location of the private well that failed a water 38 test shall not be identified in the notice or by any other means or in 39 any other manner. The department shall establish criteria for notifica- 40 tion which may include, but shall not be limited to, the maximum 41 constituent level, the level of exceedance reported, and the distance or 42 location of the properties or public water supply in the vicinity of the 43 contaminated well for which testing is recommended. 44 6. Within two years after the effective date of this section, and at 45 least once every five years thereafter, the lessor of any real property 46 the potable water supply for which is a private well shall test that 47 water supply in the manner established pursuant to this section for at 48 least the constituents required pursuant to subdivisions two and three 49 of this section. Within thirty days after the receipt of the test 50 results, the lessor shall also provide a written copy thereof to each 51 lessee of a rental unit on the property. The lessor shall also provide a 52 written copy of the most recent test results to a prospective tenant 53 prior to the signing of a lease of a rental unit on the property. 54 7. (a) The department, in consultation with the department of environ- 55 mental conservation, and local health organizations established pursuant 56 to article three of this chapter shall establish a public informationS. 1854--A 5 1 and education program to inform the public and appropriate professional 2 disciplines of the enactment of this section and the substance of its 3 provisions and requirements, the potential health effects of consuming 4 water from a private well that does not meet maximum constituent levels 5 and other established water quality standards, the potential presence of 6 radium in at least some potable groundwater supplies in the state, the 7 geographic areas in the state subject to an actual or potential threat 8 of danger from contaminated groundwater, the importance of testing 9 private wells regularly for constituents, and suggested water treatment 10 techniques, equipment strategies and public funding sources available 11 for treating water from private wells that have failed a water test 12 conducted in accordance with this section. 13 (b) The department shall make available to the public a general compi- 14 lation of water test results data arranged or identified by county and 15 municipality or appropriate geographic area therein, but which does not 16 include specific address or location information. 17 8. Within three years of the effective date of this section, the 18 department shall prepare and transmit to the governor and legislature a 19 report on the implementation and operation of this section. Such report 20 shall also describe the benefits and deficiencies realized as a result 21 of this section and include recommendations for any appropriate legisla- 22 tive action. The report shall also be made available to the public and 23 be posted on the department's website. 24 § 6. The real property law is amended by adding a new section 468 to 25 read as follows: 26 § 468. Private well testing requirements. 1. Every contract for the 27 sale of real property, including a multiple family dwelling as defined 28 in section eight hundred two of the executive law, which is served by a 29 private well that is the potable water supply for such property shall 30 include a provision requiring as a condition of sale, the testing of 31 such water supply for at least the standards prescribed pursuant to 32 section eleven hundred eleven of the public health law. Provisions of 33 this section shall not apply to property where the potable water supply 34 has five or more service connections or that regularly serves an average 35 of twenty-five or more individuals daily for at least sixty days out of 36 the year. 37 2. Closing of title on the sale of such real property shall not occur 38 unless both the buyer and the seller have received and reviewed a copy 39 of the water test results. At closing, the buyer and seller both shall 40 certify in writing that they have received and reviewed the water test 41 results. 42 3. The requirements of this section may not be waived. 43 § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 44 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 45 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 46 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to 47 be made and completed on or before such effective date.