Bill Text: NY A01194 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
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 and contact information for relevant local health organizations.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 32-7)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to ways and means [A01194 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A01194-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          1194
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 14, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. JAFFEE, COOK, COLTON, ABINANTI, HUNTER, SIMON,
          GALEF, D'URSO, GOTTFRIED, BARRON, CAHILL, FAHY --  Multi-Sponsored  by
          --  M.  of A.  HYNDMAN, ORTIZ, 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
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02777-01-9

        A. 1194                             2
     1  that the only way to ensure that water meets state drinking water stand-
     2  ards is to have it tested by a state certified laboratory;
     3    (iii)  information on the maximum contaminant levels, or public health
     4  standards, for those contaminants identified in subparagraph (i) of this
     5  paragraph and the potential health impacts of exposure to  such  contam-
     6  inants above such levels;
     7    (iv) a recommendation that any water test conducted should be analyzed
     8  by  a  laboratory certified by the department to test for drinking water
     9  contaminants;
    10    (v) information on the importance of testing  private  water  supplies
    11  regularly  for  contaminants, and a request that residents provide their
    12  local health department with any results  of  tests  that  exceed  state
    13  standards; and
    14    (vi) information on water treatment techniques and equipment.
    15    (b) (i) The department shall make such educational materials available
    16  to the public on their website and upon request to the general public.
    17    (ii)  The  department,  in  consultation with the department of state,
    18  shall require that:
    19    (A) licensed home inspectors,  as  defined  in  section  four  hundred
    20  forty-four-b of the real property law, are provided with such materials,
    21  which  shall  be  provided by the licensed home inspector to each client
    22  whose property or potential property is served by a private water supply
    23  that is the potable water supply for such property; and
    24    (B) licensed real estate salesmen, real estate  brokers  or  associate
    25  real  estate  brokers,  as  defined in section four hundred forty of the
    26  real property law, provide such information to their clients whose prop-
    27  erty or potential property is served by a private water supply  that  is
    28  the  potable  water  supply  for such property, at the time such clients
    29  enter into a contract for the sale of such property.
    30    § 3. Section 444-g of the real property law is amended by adding a new
    31  subdivision 3-a to read as follows:
    32    3-a. Every home inspector shall provide to each client, who may be  an
    33  owner, prospective buyer or other interested individual, whose residence
    34  or  potential  residence is served by a private water supply that is the
    35  potable water supply for such property, educational  materials  prepared
    36  by  the  department  of  health  pursuant  to  subdivision thirty-one of
    37  section two hundred six of the public health law relating to the regular
    38  testing of the quality of drinking water from wells  and  private  water
    39  supplies.
    40    §  4. Section 466 of the real property law, as added by chapter 456 of
    41  the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
    42    § 466. Duty of an agent. 1. An agent representing a seller of residen-
    43  tial real property as a listing broker shall have  the  duty  to  timely
    44  inform each seller represented by that agent of the seller's obligations
    45  under  this  article.  An agent representing a buyer of residential real
    46  property, or, if the buyer is not represented by  an  agent,  the  agent
    47  representing  a  seller  of residential real property and dealing with a
    48  prospective buyer, shall have the duty to timely (in any  event,  before
    49  the  buyer  signs  a  binding contract of sale) inform such buyer of the
    50  buyer's rights and obligations under this article. If an agent  performs
    51  the  duties  and  obligations  imposed  upon him or her pursuant to this
    52  [section] subdivision, the agent shall have no further duties under this
    53  article and shall not be liable to any party for  a  violation  of  this
    54  article[.]; and
    55    2. In addition to its duties under subdivision one of this section, an
    56  agent  representing  a buyer or seller of residential real property as a

        A. 1194                             3
     1  listing broker shall have the duty to provide a purchaser of real  prop-
     2  erty that is served by a private water supply which is the potable water
     3  supply  for  such  property with public education information created by
     4  the  department  of  health  under subdivision thirty-one of section two
     5  hundred six of the public health law related to regular testing  of  the
     6  quality  of  drinking  water  from such water supplies, at the time such
     7  purchaser enters into a contract for the sale of such property.
     8    § 5. Paragraph (j) of subdivision 3  of  section  97-b  of  the  state
     9  finance law, as amended by section 5 of part T of chapter 57 of the laws
    10  of 2017, is amended and a new paragraph (k) is added to read as follows:
    11    (j)  with  respect  to moneys in the hazardous waste remediation over-
    12  sight and assistance account, technical assistance  grants  pursuant  to
    13  titles  thirteen  and  fourteen  of article twenty-seven of the environ-
    14  mental conservation law; and
    15    (k) implementation of the well water and water  supply  education  act
    16  pursuant  to  subdivision  thirty-one  of section two hundred six of the
    17  public health law.
    18    § 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    19  it shall have become a law.
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