2005 Connecticut Code - Sec. 19a-37. (Formerly Sec. 19-13a). Regulation of water supply wells and springs.

      Sec. 19a-37. (Formerly Sec. 19-13a). Regulation of water supply wells and springs. (a) The Commissioner of Public Health may adopt regulations in the Public Health Code for the preservation of the public health pertaining to (1) protection and location of new water supply wells or springs for residential construction or for public or semipublic use, and (2) inspection for compliance with the provisions of municipal regulations adopted pursuant to section 22a-354p.

      (b) The Commissioner of Public Health shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, for the testing of water quality in private residential wells. Any laboratory or firm which conducts a water quality test on a private well serving a residential property, within thirty days of the completion of such test, shall report the results of such test to the public health authority of the municipality where the property is located provided such report shall not be required if the party for whom the laboratory or firm conducted such test informs the laboratory or firm that the test was not conducted within six months of the sale of such property. No regulation may require such a test to be conducted as a consequence or a condition of the sale, exchange, transfer, purchase or rental of the real property on which the private residential well is located.

      (c) The Commissioner of Public Health shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to clarify the criteria under which a well permit exception may be granted and describe the terms and conditions that shall be imposed when a well is allowed at a premise that is connected to a public water supply system. Such regulations shall (1) provide for notification of the permit to the public water supplier, (2) address the quality of the water supplied from the well, the means and extent to which the well shall not be interconnected with the public water supply, the need for a physical separation, and the installation of a reduced pressure device for backflow prevention, the inspection and testing requirements of any such reduced pressure device, and (3) identify the extent and frequency of water quality testing required for the well supply.

      (d) No regulation may require that a certificate of occupancy for a dwelling unit on such residential property be withheld or revoked on the basis of a water quality test performed on a private residential well pursuant to this section, unless such test results indicate that any maximum contaminant level applicable to public water supply systems for any contaminant listed in the public health code has been exceeded. No administrative agency, health district or municipal health officer may withhold or cause to be withheld such a certificate of occupancy except as provided in this section.

      (e) No regulation may require the water in private residential wells to be tested for alachlor, atrazine, dicamba, ethylene dibromide (EDB), metolachlor, simazine or 2,4-D or any other herbicide or insecticide unless (1) results from a prior water test indicate a nitrate concentration at or greater than ten milligrams per liter and (2) the local director of health has reasonable grounds to suspect such chemical or chemicals are present in said residential well. For the purposes of this subsection, "reasonable grounds" includes, but is not limited to, the proximity of the particular water supply system to past or present agricultural uses of land.

      (f) Any owner of a residential construction on which a private residential well is located or any general contractor of a new residential construction on which a private residential well is located may collect samples of well water for submission to a laboratory or firm for the purposes of testing water quality pursuant to this section, provided such laboratory or firm finds said owner or general contractor to be qualified to collect such sample. No regulation may prohibit or impede such collection or analysis.

      (g) No regulation may require the water in private residential wells to be tested for organic chemicals unless the local director of health has reasonable grounds to suspect such organic chemicals are present in said residential well. For purposes of this subsection, "reasonable grounds" means any indication, derived from a phase I environmental site assessment or otherwise, that the particular water supply system that is to be tested exists on land or in proximity to land associated with the past or present production, storage, use or disposal of organic chemicals.

      (h) The amendments to sections 19-13-B51l and 19-13-B101 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies that became effective December 30, 1996, shall be waived for those residential wells which were not tested in accordance with said amendments between December 30, 1996, and July 8, 1997.

      (1959, P.A. 30; P.A. 77-614, S. 475, 610; P.A. 89-305, S. 26, 32; P.A. 92-251; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 94-85, S. 3; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 97-296, S. 1, 4; P.A. 02-102, S. 4.)

      History: P.A. 77-614 replaced public health council with commissioner of health services, effective January 1, 1979; Sec. 19-13a transferred to Sec. 19a-37 in 1983; P.A. 89-305 added provision concerning inspection for compliance with municipal aquifer protection regulations; P.A. 92-251 added Subsec. (b) re testing of private residential wells; P.A. 93-381 replaced commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-85 amended Subsec. (b) to provide that a laboratory or firm which conducts a water quality test of a private well shall report the results of such test to the local health authority if the test was conducted within six months, rather than three months, of a sale of the property served by such well and specified that results be reported within thirty days after test made; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-296 amended Subsec. (b) to prohibit regulations from requiring the testing of well water as a consequence or a condition of the sale, exchange, transfer, purchase or rental of real property, and added new Subsecs. (c) to (g) re regulations, effective July 8, 1997; P.A. 02-102 added new Subsec. (c) requiring the adoption of regulations to clarify the criteria under which a well permit exception may be granted and to describe the terms and conditions to be imposed when a well is allowed at a premises that is connected to a public water supply, and relettered existing Subsecs. (c) to (g) as Subsecs. (d) to (h).