GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

SESSION LAW 2009-124

SENATE BILL 141

AN ACT TO require the commission for public health to adopt rules concerning when testing for volatile organic compounds in newly constructed private drinking water wells is required, and to limit DRINKING WATER TESTING FOR the presence of volatile organic compounds in accordance with those rules.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 87-97(h) reads as rewritten:

"(h)       Drinking Water Testing. - Within 30 days after it issues a certificate of completion for a newly constructed private drinking water well, the local health department shall test the water obtained from the well or ensure that the water obtained from the well has been sampled and tested by a certified laboratory in accordance with rules adopted by the Commission for Public Health. The water shall be tested for the following parameters: arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, fluoride, lead, iron, magnesium, manganese, mercury, nitrates, nitrites, selenium, silver, sodium, zinc, pH, and bacterial indicators, indicators. The local health department also shall test the water obtained from the well for the following parameters when required to do so pursuant to rules adopted by the Commission for Public Health: methyl tert-butyl ether, ethylene dibromide, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloropropane, isopropyl ether, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene."

SECTION 2.  The Commission for Public Health shall adopt rules concerning when testing for volatile organic compounds in newly constructed private drinking water wells under G.S. 87-97, as amended by Section 1 of this act, is required in order to protect public health. In developing these rules, the Commission for Public Health shall incorporate the following factors: (i) known current and historic land uses around well sites and associated contaminants; (ii) known contaminated sites within a given radius of a well and any known data regarding dates of contamination, geology, and other relevant factors; (iii) any GIS based information on known contamination sources from databases available to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources; and (iv) visual on-site inspections of well sites.

SECTION 3.  Section 1 of S.L. 2008-198 is repealed.

SECTION 4.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective October 1, 2010. The remainder of the act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 11^th day of June, 2009.

                                                                    s/  Marc Basnight

                                                                         President Pro Tempore of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Joe Hackney

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/  Beverly E. Perdue

                                                                         Governor

Approved 11:30 a.m. this 19^th day of June, 2009