SB 137

This bill requires the Department of Health Services to award grants of up to

$2,500 to eligible private well owners, which recipients must use to cover

remediation costs with a primary purpose of providing potable water for human

consumption to either a residential or nonprofit business property if the owner has

a well that has nitrate levels exceeding ten parts per million. Eligible costs include

well testing, installation of an appropriate filtration system, replacement of the well,

or replacement of the water supply. The bill also requires DHS to distribute up to

a total of $500,000 to counties that apply to participate in the testing program to

provide reimbursement for the actual costs of administering the testing and

reporting requirements.

Under the bill, private well owners may contact a local health department to

have nitrate levels tested. If the well owner's county has chosen to participate in the

testing program, upon request from a private well owner, the local health

department shall collect the necessary samples and do all of the following: 1) submit

the samples for testing to the state laboratory of hygiene or another state certified

laboratory, as determined by DHS; 2) report the test results to DHS and the private

well owner, together with a recommendation for one or more of the remediation

approaches set forth in the bill, if appropriate, and, if the testing indicates nitrate

levels exceeding ten parts per million, a statement of the fees charged for the testing

and a recommendation that the well owner receive reimbursement for those costs;

and 3) notify the private well owner that the owner may contact DHS within 30 days

to request a grant for a different approach than was recommended by the local health

department.

A private well owner is eligible to apply for a grant under the bill if the report

provided to DHS by a local health department indicates that nitrate levels in the

owner's well water exceed ten parts per million. A private well owner may receive

only one grant per parcel. DHS may not set an income limitation for grant eligibility.

Also, under the bill, DHS is required to give preference to applicants who have a

household member who is pregnant, breast-feeding, under three years old, or over

the age of 65.