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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5184
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 1329
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING WA TER QUALITY NOTIFICATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-37 of the 2020 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective October 1, 2020): 3
(a) As used in this section: 4
(1) "Laboratory or firm" means an environmental laboratory 5
registered by the Department of Public Health pursuant to section 19a-6
29a; 7
(2) "Private well" means a water supply well that meets all of the 8
following criteria: (A) Is not a public well; (B) supplies a population of 9
less than twenty-five persons per day; and (C) is owned or controlled 10
through an easement or by the same entity that owns or controls the 11
building or parcel that is served by the water supply well; 12
(3) "Public well" means a water supply well that supplies a public 13
water system; 14 Raised Bill No. 5184
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(4) "Semipublic well" means a water supply well that (A) does not 15
meet the definition of a private well or public well, and (B) provides 16
water for drinking and other domestic purposes; and 17
(5) "Water supply well" means an artificial excavation constructed by 18
any method for the purpose of obtaining or providing water for 19
drinking or other domestic, industrial, commercial, agricultural, 20
recreational or irrigation use, or other outdoor water use. 21
(b) The Commissioner of Public Health may adopt regulations in the 22
Public Health Code for the preservation of the public health pertaining 23
to (1) protection and location of new water supply wells or springs for 24
residential or nonresidential construction or for public or semipublic 25
use, and (2) inspection for compliance with the provisions of municipal 26
regulations adopted pursuant to section 22a-354p. 27
(c) The Commissioner of Public Health shall adopt regulations, in 28
accordance with chapter 54, for the testing of water quality in private 29
residential wells and semipublic wells. Any laboratory or firm which 30
conducts a water quality test on a private well serving a residential 31
property or semipublic well shall, not later than thirty days after the 32
completion of such test, report the results of such test to (1) the public 33
health authority of the municipality where the property is located, and 34
(2) the Department of Public Health in a format specified by the 35
department, provided such report shall only be required if the party for 36
whom the laboratory or firm conducted such test informs the laboratory 37
or firm identified on the chain of custody documentation submitted 38
with the test samples that the test was conducted in connection with the 39
sale of such property. No regulation may require such a test to be 40
conducted as a consequence or a condition of the sale, exchange, 41
transfer, purchase or rental of the real property on which the private 42
residential well or semipublic well is located. 43
(d) Prior to the sale, exchange, purchase, transfer or rental of real 44
property on which a residential well is located, the owner shall provide 45
the buyer or tenant notice that educational material concerning private 46 Raised Bill No. 5184
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well testing is available on the Department of Public Health web site. 47
Failure to provide such notice shall not invalidate any sale, exchange, 48
purchase, transfer or rental of real property. If the seller or landlord 49
provides such notice in writing, the seller or landlord and any real estate 50
licensee shall be deemed to have fully satisfied any duty to notify the 51
buyer or tenant that the subject real property is located in an area for 52
which there are reasonable grounds for testing under subsection (g) or 53
(j) of this section. 54
(e) The Commissioner of Public Health shall adopt regulations, in 55
accordance with chapter 54, to clarify the criteria under which the 56
commissioner may issue a well permit exception and to describe the 57
terms and conditions that shall be imposed when a well is allowed at a 58
premises (1) that is connected to a public water supply system, or (2) 59
whose boundary is located within two hundred feet of an approved 60
community water supply system, measured along a street, alley or 61
easement. Such regulations shall (A) provide for notification of the 62
permit to the public water supplier, (B) address the quality of the water 63
supplied from the well, the means and extent to which the well shall not 64
be interconnected with the public water supply, the need for a physical 65
separation, and the installation of a reduced pressure device for 66
backflow prevention, the inspection and testing requirements of any 67
such reduced pressure device, and (C) identify the extent and frequency 68
of water quality testing required for the well supply. 69
(f) No regulation may require that a certificate of occupancy for a 70
dwelling unit on such residential property be withheld or revoked on 71
the basis of a water quality test performed on a private residential well 72
pursuant to this section, unless such test results indicate that any 73
maximum contaminant level applicable to public water supply systems 74
for any contaminant listed in the public health code has been exceeded. 75
No administrative agency, health district or municipal health officer 76
may withhold or cause to be withheld such a certificate of occupancy 77
except as provided in this section. 78
(g) The local director of health may require a private residential well 79 Raised Bill No. 5184
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or semipublic well to be tested for arsenic, radium, uranium, radon or 80
gross alpha emitters, when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that 81
such contaminants are present in the groundwater. For purposes of this 82
subsection, "reasonable grounds" means (1) the existence of a geological 83
area known to have naturally occurring arsenic, radium, uranium, 84
radon or gross alpha emitter deposits in the bedrock; or (2) the well is 85
located in an area in which it is known that arsenic, radium, uranium, 86
radon or gross alpha emitters are present in the groundwater. 87
(h) Except as provided in subsection (i) of this section, the collection 88
of samples for determining the water quality of private residential wells 89
and semipublic wells may be made only by (1) employees of a 90
laboratory or firm certified or approved by the Department of Public 91
Health to test drinking water, if such employees have been trained in 92
sample collection techniques, (2) certified water operators, (3) local 93
health departments and state employees trained in sample collection 94
techniques, or (4) individuals with training and experience that the 95
Department of Public Health deems sufficient. 96
(i) Any owner of a residential construction, including, but not limited 97
to, a homeowner, on which a private residential well is located or any 98
general contractor of a new residential construction on which a private 99
residential well is located may collect samples of well water for 100
submission to a laboratory or firm for the purposes of testing water 101
quality pursuant to this section, provided (1) such laboratory or firm has 102
provided instructions to said owner or general contractor on how to 103
collect such samples, and (2) such owner or general contractor is 104
identified to the subsequent owner on a form to be prescribed by the 105
Department of Public Health. No regulation may prohibit or impede 106
such collection or analysis. 107
(j) The local director of health may require private residential wells 108
and semipublic wells to be tested for pesticides, herbicides or organic 109
chemicals when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that any such 110
contaminants might be present in the groundwater. For purposes of this 111
subsection, "reasonable grounds" means (1) the presence of nitrate-112 Raised Bill No. 5184
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nitrogen in the groundwater at a concentration greater than ten 113
milligrams per liter, or (2) that the private residential well or semipublic 114
well is located on land, or in proximity to land, associated with the past 115
or present production, storage, use or disposal of organic chemicals as 116
identified in any public record. 117
(k) The owner of any residential property for which water is supplied 118
by a public well or well for semipublic use shall notify each tenant of 119
any leased or rented dwelling unit located on such property and the 120
lessee of such property whenever any testing of the public well or well 121
for semipublic use indicates that the water exceeds a maximum 122
contaminant level applicable to public water supply systems for any 123
contaminant listed in the Public Health Code or for any contaminant 124
listed on the state drinking water action level list established pursuant 125
to section 22a-471. Not later than twenty-four hours after receiving 126
notification of the results of such testing, the owner shall forward a copy 127
of such notification to each such tenant and lessee. The local director of 128
health shall take all reasonable steps to verify that such owner 129
forwarded the notice required pursuant to this subsection. 130
[(k)] (l) Any water transported in bulk by any means to a premises 131
currently supplied by a private well or semipublic well where the water 132
is to be used for purposes of drinking or domestic use shall be provided 133
by a bulk water hauler licensed pursuant to section 20-278h. No bulk 134
water hauler shall deliver water without first notifying the owner of the 135
premises of such delivery. Bulk water hauling to a premises currently 136
supplied by a private well or semipublic well shall be permitted only as 137
a temporary measure to alleviate a water supply shortage. 138
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 19a-37
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Statement of Purpose:
To require the owner of a property supplied by a public well or a well
for semipublic use to notify each tenant and lessee of such property of
the results of certain water quality tests.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]