N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.2A

Relief for contaminated private drinking water wells

Redline — June 1, 2021 → current.View current text →

Current — April 1, 2022

As of June 1, 2021

(1) The Secretary shall, upon direction of the Governor, order any person who the Secretary finds responsible for the discharge or release of industrial waste that includes per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including the chemical known as "GenX" (CAS registry number 62037-80-3 or 13252-13-6), into the air, groundwater, surface water, or onto the land that results in contamination of a private drinking water well, as that term is defined in G.S. 87-85, to establish permanent replacement water supplies for affected parties. For purposes of this section, the terms (i) "contamination" means an exceedance of a standard established by the Environmental Management Commission for groundwater, surface water, or air quality, or an exceedance of a health advisory level established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, for any chemical classified as a PFAS, including GenX; and (ii) "affected party" means a household, business, school, or public building with a well contaminated with PFAS, including GenX, as a result of the discharge or release of industrial waste.

(1) The Secretary shall, upon direction of the Governor, order any person who the Secretary finds responsible for the discharge or release of industrial waste that includes per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including the chemical known as “GenX” (CAS registry number 62037-80-3 or 13252-13-6), into the air, groundwater, surface water, or onto the land that results in contamination of a private drinking water well, as that term is defined in G.S. 87-85, to establish permanent replacement water supplies for affected parties. For purposes of this section, the terms (i) “contamination” means an exceedance of a standard established by the Environmental Management Commission for groundwater, surface water, or air quality, or an exceedance of a health advisory level established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, for any chemical classified as a PFAS, including GenX; and (ii) “affected party” means a household, business, school, or public building with a well contaminated with PFAS, including GenX, as a result of the discharge or release of industrial waste.

(2) If the Secretary orders a person responsible for the discharge or release of a PFAS, including GenX, that results in contamination of a private drinking water well to establish a permanent replacement water supply for an affected party with such a well pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, preference shall be given to permanent replacement water supplies by connection to public water supplies; provided that (i) an affected party may elect to receive a filtration system in lieu of a connection to public water supplies and (ii) if the Department determines that connection to a public water supply to a particular affected party would not be cost-effective, the Department shall authorize provision of a permanent replacement water supply to that affected party through installation of a filtration system. For affected parties for which filtration systems are installed, the person responsible shall be liable for any periodic required maintenance of the filtration system. An order issued by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall include a deadline by which the responsible person must establish the permanent replacement water supply for the affected party or parties subject to the order.

(3) An order issued by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be delivered by registered or certified mail, or by any means authorized by G.S. 1A-1, Rule 4, to the person ordered to establish the permanent replacement water supply and shall include detailed findings of fact and conclusions in support of the order. A person to whom such order is issued may commence a contested case by filing a petition under G.S. 150B-23 within 30 days after receipt of notice of the order. If the person does not file a petition within the required time, the Secretary's decision is final and is not subject to review.

(4) A person required to establish a permanent replacement water supply pursuant to this section shall be jointly and severally liable for all necessary costs associated with establishment of the permanent replacement water supply. The remedy under this section is in addition to those provided by existing statutory and common law. Nothing in this section shall limit or diminish any rights of contribution for costs incurred herein.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to (i) require an eligible affected party to connect to a public water supply or receive a filtration system or (ii) obviate the need for other federal, State, and local permits and approvals.

(6) All State entities and local governments shall expedite any permits and approvals that may be required for the establishment of permanent replacement water supplies required pursuant to this section.

History

(2018-5, s. 13.1(c); 2018-97, s. 4.4(b).)

Funds to the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority for Water Quality Sampling, and Testing of Treatment Techniques, to Address Per- And Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances, Including Genx, and Other Contaminants. - Session Laws 2018-5, s. 13.1(e), provides: "Four hundred fifty thousand dollars ($450,000) of the funds appropriated in this act to the Division of Water Infrastructure of the Department of Environmental Quality shall be used to provide a grant-in-aid to the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority to implement a program to:

"(1) Perform nontargeted sampling of finished drinking water from the Authority's Sweeney Water Treatment Plant and in its Aquifer Storage and Recovery Well (ASR) to identify levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including the chemical known as 'GenX' (CAS registry number 62037-80-3 or 13252-13-6), that may be included in the water.

"(2) After establishing the baseline pursuant to testing conducted pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, the Authority shall test the effectiveness of ion exchange and activated carbon technologies for treatment of PFAS, including GenX. In so doing, the Authority shall (i) install temporary ion exchange and carbon treatment systems suitable to treat 500 gallons per minute (GPM) flow as a minimum capacity and modify existing piping from the Plant and ASR to connect to the temporary treatment systems; (ii) after installation of the temporary treatment systems, test the water treated weekly, before and after treatment by ion exchange and activated carbon, over a period of six weeks at increasing flow rates to determine the relative effectiveness of the two technologies at reducing PFAS, including GenX; and (iii) after determination of the most successful treatment technology at a high flow of 500 GPM, continue sampling water treated by the technology at two-week intervals thereafter.

"The Authority shall submit an interim report on activities conducted pursuant to this section to the House Select Committee on North Carolina River Quality, the Senate Select Committee on North Carolina River Water Quality, the Fiscal Research Division, and the Environmental Review Commission no later than December 1, 2018, and a final report with sampling results and treatment data no later than June 1, 2019."

Funding to Address Per- And Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances, Including Genx/Use of Expertise and Technology Available in Institutions of Higher Education Located Within the State. - Session Laws 2018-5, s. 13.1(f)-( l ), as amended by Session Laws 2019-241, s. 7(d), and as amended by Session Laws 2020-74, s. 8(a), provides: "(f) The General Assembly finds that (i) per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including the chemical known as 'GenX' (CAS registry number 62037-80-3 or 13252-13-6), are present in multiple watersheds in the State, and impair drinking water and (ii) these contaminants have been discovered largely through academic research not through systematic water quality monitoring programs operated by the Department of Environmental Quality or other State or federal agencies. The General Assembly finds that the profound, extensive, and nationally recognized faculty expertise, technology, and instrumentation existing within the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wilmington, North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Duke University, and other public and private institutions of higher education located throughout the State should be maximally utilized to address the occurrence of PFAS, including GenX, in drinking water resources.

"(g) The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Collaboratory) shall identify faculty expertise, technology, and instrumentation, including mass spectrometers, located within institutions of higher education in the State, including the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wilmington, North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Duke University, and other public and private institutions, and coordinate these faculty and resources to conduct nontargeted analysis for PFAS, including GenX, at all public water supply surface water intakes and one public water supply well selected by each municipal water system that operates groundwater wells for public drinking water supplies as identified by the Department of Environmental Quality, to establish a water quality baseline for all sampling sites. The Collaboratory, in consultation with the participating institutions of higher education, shall establish a protocol for the baseline testing required by this subsection, as well as a protocol for periodic retesting of the municipal intakes and additional public water supply wells. No later than April 15, 2021, the Collaboratory shall report the results of such sampling by identifying chemical families detected at each intake to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources, the Environmental Review Commission, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"(h) Beginning October 1, 2018, the Collaboratory shall report no less than quarterly to the Environmental Review Commission, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the Department of Health and Human Services on all activities conducted pursuant to this section, including any findings and recommendations for any steps the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Health and Human Services, the General Assembly, or any other unit of government should take in order to address the impacts of PFAS, including GenX, on surface water and groundwater quality, as well as air quality in the State.

"(i) Five million thirteen thousand dollars ($5,013,000) of the funds appropriated in this act for the 2018-2019 fiscal year to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina shall be allocated to the Collaboratory to manage and implement the requirements of this section, which shall include distribution to the Collaboratory and participating institutions of higher education (i) to cover costs incurred as a result of activities conducted pursuant to this section, (ii) for acquisition or modification of essential scientific instruments, or (iii) for payments of costs for sample collection and analysis, training or hiring of research staff and other personnel, method development activities, and data management, including dissemination of relevant data to stakeholders. No overhead shall be taken from these funds from the participating institutions that receive any portion of these funds. Funds appropriated by this section shall not revert but shall remain available for nonrecurring expenses.

"(j) The Collaboratory should pursue relevant public and private funding opportunities that may be available to address the impacts of PFAS, including GenX, on surface water and groundwater quality, as well as air quality, in order to leverage funds appropriated by this section, or any other funds provided to the Collaboratory, including the Challenge Grant authorized in Section 27.5 of S.L. 2016-94, as amended by Section 10.4(a) of S.L. 2017-57.

"(k) In the event that the United States Environmental Protection Agency no longer provides access to its analytical instrumentation at no cost to the State for water quality sampling analysis related to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including the chemical known as 'GenX' (CAS registry number 62037-80-3 or 13252-13-6), or if the Department of Environmental Quality determines that such analysis is not being performed in a sufficiently timely manner, the Collaboratory shall coordinate such analysis in the most cost-effective manner using relevant faculty expertise, technology, and instrumentation, including mass spectrometers, existing throughout institutions of higher education located throughout the State, until such time as the Department of Environmental Quality is able to perform such analysis with instrumentation acquired pursuant to subsection (q) of this section. The Collaboratory, in consultation with the Department and relevant experts across institutions of higher education in the State, including the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wilmington, North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Duke University, and other public and private institutions, shall establish a protocol for delivery of such samples taken by the Department to the entity designated to perform analysis of the samples, chain of custody protocols, and other matters to ensure proper handling and processing of the samples, which protocols shall be subject to approval by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, if such approval is required pursuant to authority delegated from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to the Department to administer federal environmental law.

"( l ) The Collaboratory shall identify faculty expertise within institutions of higher education in the State, including the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wilmington, North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Duke University, and other public and private institutions, and use technology and instrumentation existing throughout the institutions to conduct the following research (i) develop quantitative models to predict which private wells are most at risk of contamination from the discharge of PFAS, including GenX; (ii) test the performance of relevant technologies in removing such compounds; and (iii) study the air emissions and atmospheric deposition of PFAS, including GenX. In addition, Collaboratory may, using relevant faculty expertise, technology, and instrumentation existing throughout institutions identified, evaluate other research opportunities and conduct such research for improved water quality sampling and analyses techniques, data interpretation, and potential mitigation measures that may be necessary, with respect to the discharge of PFAS, including GenX."

Funds to the Department of Environmental Quality. - "(m) One million three hundred thousand dollars ($1,300,000) of the funds appropriated to the Department of Environmental Quality for the 2016-2017 fiscal year and allocated for in situ nutrient management by Section 14.13(e) of S.L. 2016-94, as amended by Section 13.24 of S.L. 2017-57, is reallocated for the purposes described in subsection (o) of this section.

"(n) Twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in nonrecurring funds appropriated to the Rural Economic Development Division of the Department of Commerce for the 2017-2018 fiscal year and provided as a grant-in-aid to the Town of Stedman by subdivision (15) of Section 15.8(b) of S.L. 2017-57 is transferred to the Department of Environmental Quality and allocated for the purposes described in subsection (o) of this section.

"(o) The funds provided to the Department of Environmental Quality by subsections (m) and (n) of this section shall be allocated for the 2018-2019 fiscal year as follows:

"(1) Six hundred thirteen thousand dollars ($613,000) to the Division of Water Resources for time-limited positions and operations support of water quality sampling and targeted analysis of samples related to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including the chemical known as 'GenX' (CAS registry number 62037-80-3 or 13252-13-6), and to purchase supplies for operation of the mass spectrometer acquired pursuant to subsection (q) of this section to perform targeted analysis of water samples related to discharges of PFAS, including GenX.

"(2) Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to the Division of Water Resources for time-limited positions and operations support to address permitting backlogs.

"(3) Two hundred thirty-two thousand nine hundred fifty dollars ($232,950) to the Division of Air Quality for sampling and analysis of atmospheric deposition of PFAS, including GenX.

"(4) Two hundred seventy-nine thousand fifty dollars ($279,050) to the Division of Waste Management for sampling and analysis of PFAS, including GenX, in groundwater wells, soil, and sediment.

"(p) Funds reallocated by subsection (o) of this section shall not revert but shall remain available for nonrecurring expenses.

"(q) Five hundred thirty-seven thousand dollars ($537,000) of the funds appropriated by this act for the 2018-2019 fiscal year to the Department of Environmental Quality to purchase a triple quadrupole (QqQ) mass spectrometer shall be used to perform targeted analysis of water samples related to discharges of PFAS, including GenX, that are identified by testing conducted pursuant to subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i) of this section. Funds appropriated by this subsection shall not revert but shall remain available for nonrecurring expenses."

Official source: North Carolina General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain North Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.