NH Lawmakers To Consider 12 Water-Related Bills This Month
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
The New Hampshire legislature plans to weigh a bevy of water bills this month.
“Lawmakers will consider at least a dozen bills about water contamination and other environmental hazards when they return to session in January,” New Hampshire Public Radio reported.
Several of the bills pertain to state regulation of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in public water systems, the report said. New Hampshire has at least five PFC contamination sites, according to a research project by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Northeastern University in Boston. The project includes an interactive map highlighting where PFCs have been detected.
New Hampshire Rep. Mindi Messmer is sponsoring the PFC bills, the report said.
“Her bills don’t specify a numerical limit on the amount of PFCs that can be present in water, after her effort to lower that limit failed in the legislature this year. Instead, she says she’s asking the state Department of Environmental Services to devise its own rules,” New Hampshire Public Radio reported.
The bill instructs the department to undertake a review and decision-making process related to PFCs.
“The [bills] specify to look at other states' standards and refresh your understanding of the science, to come to a decision about whether or not we're being protective enough of New Hampshire citizens and their water,” she says.
A separate bill up for consideration in New Hampshire targets arsenic in groundwater. An additional bill mandates that people selling property are transparent about water contamination to their buyer if it is within a mile of the home.
New Hampshire also passed new state laws related to water over the summer. Two of the laws tackled the issue of PFCs, according to New Hampshire Public Radio. A third bill commissioned a water quality study.
For similar stories visit Water Online’s Drinking Water Regulations And Legislation Solutions Center.