Bill Text: VA HB548 | 2022 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Chesapeake, City of; local government authority to require analysis of water.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-04-08 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0225) [HB548 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2022-HB548-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §32.1-176.5 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§32.1-176.5. Construction permit; local government authority to require analysis of water.
A. Any person intending to construct a private well shall apply to the Department for and receive a permit before proceeding with construction. The permit application shall include a site plan. No survey plat shall be required. In all cases, it shall be the landowner's responsibility to ensure that the water well is properly located on the landowner's property. This permit shall be issued no later than 60 days from application and in accordance with the Board's regulations. In addition, an inspection shall be made after construction to assure that the construction standards are met.
B. The local governing bodies of the Counties of Albemarle,
Bedford, Chesterfield, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Goochland, James
City, Loudoun, Orange, Powhatan, Prince William, Rappahannock, Stafford,
Warren, and York, and the Cities of Chesapeake, Manassas, Manassas Park, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach may
by ordinance establish reasonable testing requirements to determine compliance
with existing federal or state drinking water quality standards and require
that such testing be done prior to the issuance of building permits. Such
testing requirements shall apply only to building permit applicants proposing
to utilize private ground water wells as their primary potable water source. In
developing such an ordinance, the local governing body shall consider (i) the
appropriate ground water constituents to be tested using the above standards as
guidance;,
(ii) the reasonable cost of such testing which that may be borne by the
applicant;,
and (iii) the availability of certified laboratories to perform such services.
However, no such test shall be conducted by Consolidated Laboratories. The
applicant shall be notified of the test results with respect to such
established standards.
C. Any local governing body referenced in subsection B of this section that has adopted a well abandonment ordinance may require property owners to close and cap abandoned or inactive wells pursuant to that ordinance.
