Bill Text: NY A00310 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates the well water and water supply education act; requires the department of health to establish and maintain a public education program on the potential hazards of private water supplies; requires home inspectors, licensed real estate agents and brokers to provide private water supply education materials to prospective buyers of property where such property is serviced by a private water supply.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 23-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to ways and means [A00310 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A00310-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 310 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 5, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JAFFEE, LAVINE, COOK, MOSLEY, COLTON, ARROYO, ABINANTI, HUNTER -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GALEF, RIVERA, THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, the real property law and the state finance law, in relation to enacting the well water and water supply education 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 "well water and water supply education act". 3 § 2. Section 206 of the public health law is amended by adding a new 4 subdivision 31 to read as follows: 5 31. The commissioner is authorized and directed to establish and main- 6 tain a public education program to inform the public and appropriate 7 professional disciplines of the potential health effects of consuming 8 water that does not meet state drinking water standards. As part of this 9 education program, the department shall prepare materials to educate 10 consumers who obtain drinking water from private water supplies on the 11 importance of regularly testing for contamination. 12 (a) Such educational materials shall include, but not be limited to: 13 (i) information on potential contaminants including: coliform bacte- 14 ria, chlorides, sodium, arsenic, nitrates, iron, manganese, lead, pH, 15 volatile organic compounds for which maximum contaminant levels have 16 been established pursuant to public health regulations, vinyl chloride, 17 MtBE, and radon; 18 (ii) an explanation that contamination of groundwater can occur from 19 migration of contaminants that may not yet have been identified. 20 Further, it should be emphasized that contaminated water does not neces- 21 sarily result in obvious odors or color changes in drinking water and 22 that the only way to ensure that water meets state drinking water stand- 23 ards is to have it tested by a state certified laboratory; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01765-02-7A. 310 2 1 (iii) information on the maximum contaminant levels, or public health 2 standards, for those contaminants identified in subparagraph (i) of this 3 paragraph and the potential health impacts of exposure to such contam- 4 inants above such levels; 5 (iv) a recommendation that any water test conducted should be analyzed 6 by a laboratory certified by the department to test for drinking water 7 contaminants; 8 (v) information on the importance of testing private water supplies 9 regularly for contaminants, and a request that residents provide their 10 local health department with any results of tests that exceed state 11 standards; and 12 (vi) information on water treatment techniques and equipment. 13 (b) (i) The department shall make such educational materials available 14 to the public on their website and upon request to the general public. 15 (ii) The department, in consultation with the department of state, 16 shall require that: 17 (A) licensed home inspectors, as defined in section four hundred 18 forty-four-b of the real property law, are provided with such materials, 19 which shall be provided by the licensed home inspector to each client 20 whose property or potential property is served by a private water supply 21 that is the potable water supply for such property; and 22 (B) licensed real estate salesmen, real estate brokers or associate 23 real estate brokers, as defined in section four hundred forty of the 24 real property law, provide such information to their clients whose prop- 25 erty or potential property is served by a private water supply that is 26 the potable water supply for such property, at the time such clients 27 enter into a contract for the sale of such property. 28 § 3. Section 444-g of the real property law is amended by adding a new 29 subdivision 3-a to read as follows: 30 3-a. Every home inspector shall provide to each client, who may be an 31 owner, prospective buyer or other interested individual, whose residence 32 or potential residence is served by a private water supply that is the 33 potable water supply for such property, educational materials prepared 34 by the department of health pursuant to subdivision thirty-one of 35 section two hundred six of the public health law relating to the regular 36 testing of the quality of drinking water from wells and private water 37 supplies. 38 § 4. Section 466 of the real property law, as added by chapter 456 of 39 the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows: 40 § 466. Duty of an agent. 1. An agent representing a seller of residen- 41 tial real property as a listing broker shall have the duty to timely 42 inform each seller represented by that agent of the seller's obligations 43 under this article. An agent representing a buyer of residential real 44 property, or, if the buyer is not represented by an agent, the agent 45 representing a seller of residential real property and dealing with a 46 prospective buyer, shall have the duty to timely (in any event, before 47 the buyer signs a binding contract of sale) inform such buyer of the 48 buyer's rights and obligations under this article. If an agent performs 49 the duties and obligations imposed upon him or her pursuant to this 50 [section] subdivision, the agent shall have no further duties under this 51 article and shall not be liable to any party for a violation of this 52 article[.]; and 53 2. In addition to its duties under subdivision one of this section, an 54 agent representing a buyer or seller of residential real property as a 55 listing broker shall have the duty to provide a purchaser of real prop- 56 erty that is served by a private water supply which is the potable waterA. 310 3 1 supply for such property with public education information created by 2 the department of health under subdivision thirty-one of section two 3 hundred six of the public health law related to regular testing of the 4 quality of drinking water from such water supplies, at the time such 5 purchaser enters into a contract for the sale of such property. 6 § 5. Paragraph (j) of subdivision 3 of section 97-b of the state 7 finance law, as added by section 4 of part I of chapter 1 of the laws of 8 2003, is amended and a new paragraph (k) is added to read as follows: 9 (j) with respect to moneys in the hazardous waste remediation over- 10 sight and assistance account, technical assistance grants pursuant to 11 titles thirteen and fourteen of article twenty-seven of the environ- 12 mental conservation law[.]; and 13 (k) implementation of the well water and water supply education act 14 pursuant to subdivision thirty-one of section two hundred six of the 15 public health law. 16 § 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 17 it shall have become a law.
