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An Act To Promote Testing of Drinking Water for Maine Families
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §2602-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1991, c. 499, §3 and affected by §26, is further amended to read:
 
2. Fees.  TheExcept as provided in this section, the department shall charge the average cost of the analysis for an examination, testing or analysis of private residential water supplies requested under this chapter. These fees must be recalculated and deposited according to section 565, subsection 3 and section 568, provided that the. The fee charged for testing a private residential water supply may not exceed $150 when:
 
A. In the opinion of the department, initial testing or screening performed at the expense of the owner indicates the need for additional testing at a cost in excess of $150 to determine whether that water supply contains contaminants potentially hazardous to human health and that additional testing is essential to the maintenance of public health; or
 
B. In the opinion of the department, there is reason to suspect that a private residential water supply may be affected by contamination potentially hazardous to human health and that additional testing is essential to the maintenance of public health. In making such a determination, the department shall consider the following:
 
(1) The proximity of the private residential water supply to a known or suspected source of contamination;
 
(2) The proximity of the private residential water supply to another private well or water supply known to be contaminated;
 
(3) Information provided in writing to the department by a physician who has seen or treated a person and who has identified contaminated drinking water as a possible cause of the person's condition or symptoms; or
 
(4) Information provided by the owner or a user of the private residential water supply voluntarily or in response to questions asked by personnel of the department.
 
The department mayshall waive all fees incurred in connection with the testing of a private residential water supply upon a showing of indigencyfor any household with income equal to or below 200% of the federal poverty level. For the purposes of this section, "federal poverty level" has the same meaning as in section 3762, subsection 1, paragraph C.
 
SUMMARY
This bill waives the fee for testing a private residential water supply for any household with income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.