National Private Well Protection Act of 2005 - Requires any private property owner whose property includes a well that has fewer than 15 service connections and does not regularly serve at least 25 individuals for at least 60 days each year to: (1) conduct tests on such wells to determine the level of contaminants in the well water; (2) disclose the results of such tests to any prospective buyer or lessee of the property; and (3) provide the results of such tests to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Allows civil remedies and penalties for nondisclosure of test results to prospective buyers or lessees or to the EPA.
Requires the EPA Administrator to collect, compile, and maintain the results of such tests and make them available to the public.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3977 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3977
To require owners of property to test and disclose the water quality of
qualified wells before selling or leasing the property, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 6, 2005
Mr. Andrews introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require owners of property to test and disclose the water quality of
qualified wells before selling or leasing the property, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Private Well Protection Act
of 2005''.
SEC. 2. TESTING OF QUALIFIED WELLS BEFORE SALE OR LEASE OF PROPERTY.
(a) Requirements.--Before selling or leasing any privately-owned
property that includes a qualified well, the owner of such property
shall--
(1) conduct tests with respect to each such well in
accordance with subsection (b);
(2) disclose the results of such tests to the prospective
buyer or lessee of the property; and
(3) provide the results of such tests to the Environmental
Protection Agency.
(b) Testing.--Tests described in subsection (a) shall be conducted
in accordance with the following:
(1) The tests shall be conducted at the expense of the
owner of the property.
(2) The tests shall be conducted separately for each
qualified well on the property.
(3) The tests shall be conducted, and the samples shall be
gathered, by a laboratory that is accredited in accordance with
the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program.
(4) The tests shall be conducted at any time during the 6-
month period preceding the sale or lease involved.
(5) The tests shall determine the level of contaminants in
the water of each qualified well on the property. At a minimum,
the tests shall be for the following contaminants:
(A) Total coliform bacteria.
(B) Iron.
(C) Manganese.
(D) pH.
(E) All volatile organic compounds for which a
maximum contaminant level has been established under
the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.).
(F) Nitrate.
(G) Lead.
(H) Mercury.
(c) Civil Action.--
(1) In general.--If a person sells or leases a property in
violation of subsection (a)(2), the buyer or lessee of the
property may bring a civil action against such person in an
appropriate United States district court or in a State court of
competent jurisdiction.
(2) Damages.--In any action brought under paragraph (1), if
the court finds that the defendant violated subsection (a)(2),
the defendant shall be liable to the plaintiff in an amount
equal to the sum of--
(A) an amount equal to 1 percent of the appraised
value of the property involved or $10,000, whichever is
greater;
(B) the amount of any actual, direct economic
damages, including any remediation, legal, and medical
costs, incurred by the plaintiff as a proximate result
of any contamination which the defendant failed to
disclose as required by subsection (a)(2); and
(C) the costs of the action under this subsection.
(3) Limitation.--An action under this subsection must be
brought not later than 5 years after the sale or lease of the
property involved.
(d) Civil Penalty.--Any person found by the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, after notice and an opportunity for a
hearing, to have committed a violation of subsection (a)(3) is liable
to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not more than
$5,000 for each such violation.
(e) Public Availability of Test Results.--The Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency shall--
(1) collect, compile, and maintain the results of tests
provided to the Administrator pursuant to subsection (a)(3);
and
(2) make such results available to the public by request,
together with an explanation of such results in lay language if
requested.
(f) Definition.--In this section, the term ``qualified well'' means
a well that--
(1) has fewer than 15 service connections; and
(2) does not regularly serve at least 25 individuals for at
least 60 days each year.
(g) Effective Date.--This section applies only with respect to the
sale or lease of a property on or after the date that is 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this section.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line