[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.
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