An Act To Protect Drinking Water for Low-income Maine Residents

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §2660-U,  as amended by PL 2017, c. 475, Pt. C, §7, is further amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:

The department shall establish and maintain a program through the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory offering free well water testing for low-income residents of the State. The program may not require justification for the well water testing from a geologist or a physician.

Sec. 2. Department of Health and Human Services to amend rules. The Department of Health and Human Services shall review recent research regarding arsenic toxicity and levels suitable for consumption and shall amend 10-144 C.M.R. Chapter 231, Rules Relating to Drinking Water to revise the maximum contaminant level for arsenic to be consistent with that research.

summary

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish and maintain a program through the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory offering free well water testing for low-income residents of the State. It also requires the department to review recent research regarding arsenic toxicity and levels suitable for consumption and to amend its rules to revise the maximum contaminant level for arsenic to be consistent with that research.