Increased Fee for Private Well Water Testing - S.L. 2014-100 (S 744), Sec. 12E.3

This section of the 2014 Appropriations Act amends G.S. 130A-5(16), the law that authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to charge a fee for analyzing private well water samples sent to the State Laboratory of Public Health by local health departments. Prior law set a maximum fee amount of $55 and provided that the fee could be imposed only for analyzing samples from newly constructed wells. The amendment permits the Secretary to impose a fee of up to $74 for analyzing samples from both newly constructed and existing wells. The authority to set the higher fee became effective on August 7, 2014, the date the budget was enacted. On August 20, the State Lab issued a memo with a new fee schedule that applies to both newly constructed and existing wells. Under the new schedule, the maximum fee for testing is $74.

The legislation directs the NC Division of Public Health, in consultation with local health departments and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, to study options for reducing or waiving the fee for households at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level, and to report on its study by December 1, 2014.