BILL REQ. #:  S-2093.1 

Read first time 02/26/2007.   Referred to Committee on Water, Energy & Telecommunications.

     AN ACT Relating to residential wells; amending RCW 18.104.020 and 19.27.097; and adding a new section to chapter 18.104 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 18.104.020 and 2005 c 84 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Abandoned well" means a well that is unmaintained or is in such disrepair that it is unusable or is a risk to public health and welfare.
     (2) "Constructing a well" or "construct a well" means:
     (a) Boring, digging, drilling, or excavating a well;
     (b) Installing casing, sheeting, lining, or well screens, in a well;
     (c) Drilling a geotechnical soil boring; or
     (d) Installing an environmental investigation well.
     "Constructing a well" or "construct a well" includes the alteration of an existing well.
     (3) "Decommission" means to fill or plug a well so that it will not produce water, serve as a channel for movement of water or pollution, or allow the entry of pollutants into the well or aquifers.
     (4) "Department" means the department of ecology.
     (5) "Dewatering well" means a cased or lined excavation or boring that is intended to withdraw or divert ground water for the purpose of facilitating construction, stabilizing a landslide, or protecting an aquifer.
     (6) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology.
     (7) "Environmental investigation well" means a cased hole intended or used to extract a sample or samples of ground water, vapor, or soil from an underground formation and which is decommissioned immediately after the sample or samples are obtained. An environmental investigation well is typically installed using direct push technology or auger boring and uses the probe, stem, auger, or rod as casing. An environmental investigation well is not a geotechnical soil boring.
     (8) "Geotechnical soil boring" or "boring" means a well drilled for the purpose of obtaining soil samples or information to ascertain structural properties of the subsurface.
     (9) "Ground source heat pump boring" means a vertical boring constructed for the purpose of installing a closed loop heat exchange system for a ground source heat pump.
     (10) "Ground water" means and includes ground waters as defined in RCW 90.44.035.
     (11) "Grounding well" means a grounding electrode installed in the earth by the use of drilling equipment to prevent buildup of voltages that may result in undue hazards to persons or equipment. Examples are anode and cathode protection wells.
     (12) "Instrumentation well" means a well in which pneumatic or electric geotechnical or hydrological instrumentation is permanently or periodically installed to measure or monitor subsurface strength and movement. Instrumentation well includes borehole extensometers, slope indicators, pneumatic or electric pore pressure transducers, and load cells.
     (13) "Monitoring well" means a well designed to obtain a representative ground water sample or designed to measure the water level elevation in either clean or contaminated water or soil.
     (14) "Observation well" means a well designed to measure the depth to the water level elevation in either clean or contaminated water or soil.
     (15) "Operator" means a person who (a) is employed by a well contractor; (b) is licensed under this chapter; or (c) who controls, supervises, or oversees the construction of a well or who operates well construction equipment.
     (16) "Owner" or "well owner" means the person, firm, partnership, copartnership, corporation, association, other entity, or any combination of these, who owns the property on which the well is or will be constructed or has the right to the well by means of an easement, covenant, or other enforceable legal instrument for the purpose of benefiting from the well.
     (17) "Pollution" and "contamination" have the meanings provided in RCW 90.48.020.
     (18) "Remediation well" means a well intended or used to withdraw ground water or inject water, air (for air sparging), or other solutions into the subsurface for the purpose of remediating, cleaning up, or controlling potential or actual ground water contamination.
     (19) "Residential well operator" means an operator that may only construct wells for single-family residential purposes.
     (20) "Resource protection well" means a cased boring intended or used to collect subsurface information or to determine the existence or migration of pollutants within an underground formation. Resource protection wells include monitoring wells, observation wells, piezometers, spill response wells, remediation wells, environmental investigation wells, vapor extraction wells, ground source heat pump boring, grounding wells, and instrumentation wells.
     (((20))) (21) "Resource protection well contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, copartnership, corporation, association, or other entity, licensed and bonded under chapter 18.27 RCW, engaged in the business of constructing resource protection wells or geotechnical soil borings.
     (((21))) (22) "Water well" means any excavation that is constructed when the intended use of the well is for the location, diversion, artificial recharge, observation, monitoring, dewatering, or withdrawal of ground water. "Water wells" include ground source heat pump borings and grounding wells.
     (((22))) (23) "Water well contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, copartnership, corporation, association, or other entity, licensed and bonded under chapter 18.27 RCW, engaged in the business of constructing water wells.
     (((23))) (24) "Well" means water wells, resource protection wells, dewatering wells, and geotechnical soil borings. Well does not mean an excavation made for the purpose of obtaining or prospecting for oil, natural gas, geothermal resources, minerals, or products of mining, or quarrying, or for inserting media to repressure oil or natural gas bearing formations, or for storing petroleum, natural gas, or other products.
     (((24))) (25) "Well contractor" means a resource protection well contractor and a water well contractor licensed and bonded under chapter 18.27 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 18.104 RCW to read as follows:
     A person is qualified to receive a residential well operator's license if the person:
     (1) Has submitted a completed application to the department on forms provided by the department and has paid to the department the application fee determined by rule adopted under this chapter;
     (2) Has two hundred hours of experience in the field drilling wells. Experience includes actual field experience or an equivalent of educational training by department recognized sources or classes. As used in this subsection, recognized sources includes the department, department-approved classes, drilling equipment manufacturers, or drilling company representatives;
     (3) Has passed a written examination as provided for in RCW 18.104.080; and
     (4) Has passed an on-site examination by the department if the person's qualifying field experience under subsection (2) of this section is from another state. The department may waive the on-site examination.

Sec. 3   RCW 19.27.097 and 1995 c 399 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Each applicant for a building permit of a building necessitating potable water shall provide evidence of an adequate water supply for the intended use of the building. Evidence may be in the form of a water right permit from the department of ecology, a letter from an approved water purveyor stating the ability to provide water, or another form sufficient to verify the existence of an adequate water supply. In addition to other authorities, the county or city may impose conditions on building permits requiring connection to an existing public water system where the existing system is willing and able to provide safe and reliable potable water to the applicant with reasonable economy and efficiency. An application for a water right shall not be sufficient proof of an adequate water supply.
     (2) Within counties not required or not choosing to plan pursuant to RCW 36.70A.040, the county and the state may mutually determine those areas in the county in which the requirements of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply. The departments of health and ecology shall coordinate on the implementation of this section. Should the county and the state fail to mutually determine those areas to be designated pursuant to this subsection, the county may petition the department of community, trade, and economic development to mediate or, if necessary, make the determination.
     (3) Buildings that do not need potable water facilities are exempt from the provisions of this section. The department of ecology, after consultation with local governments, may adopt rules to implement this section, which may recognize differences between high-growth and low-growth counties.
     (4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) through (3) of this section, an applicant for a building permit is not required to provide proof of potable water supply for a single-family residence if the applicant submits an acknowledgment of no adequate supply. As a condition precedent to the issuance of the building permit, the applicant shall file a notice of no water supply in the chain of title to the property in the county records in each county in which the land or some part of the land is situated.