1Relating to safe drinking water; establishing the Emergency
2Drinking Water Support Fund; and providing for testing, for
3purchase of clean drinking water and for surcharge.

4The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5hereby enacts as follows:

6Section 1. Definitions.

7The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
8have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
9context clearly indicates otherwise:

10"Department." The Department of Environmental Protection of
11the Commonwealth.

12"Fracking." The injection of water into a Class II well as
13defined by the Environmental Protection Agency to release or
14"frack" natural gas from Marcellus Shale.

15"Marcellus Shale." The rock formation known as the Marcellus
16Formation, also classified as the Marcellus Subgroup of the
17Hamilton Group, Marcellus Member of the Romney Formation, is a
18unit of marine sedimentary rock found in eastern North America.

1Section 2. Establishment of fund.

2There is established a fund in the State Treasury to be known
3as the Emergency Drinking Water Support Fund.

4Section 3. Surcharge.

5Upon each permit filed under 58 Pa.C.S. § 3211(d) (relating
6to well permits), there shall be a surcharge of $10 which the
7department shall transfer in the succeeding month from which it
8was collected to the Emergency Drinking Water Support Find. The
9surcharge shall be in addition to any other fees that are
10currently due and payable to the department.

11Section 4. Uses of funds.

12(1) The funds deposited in the Emergency Drinking Water
13Support Fund shall be used for the testing of well water and
14purchasing of clean water for residents and businesses that
15have reason to believe their well water is contaminated from
16either an accidental spill of fracking water or chemicals,
17seepage of chemicals and fracking water or seepage of natural
18gas dislodged by the fracking process.

19(2) The funds shall only be utilized to test well water
20by a testing laboratory approved by the department. The test
21is to determine whether chemicals known to be utilized in the
22fracking process are present in the sample to a level that is
23higher than recommended by either the department or the
24Environmental Protection Agency according to guidelines
25published. If the test determines that natural gas is present
26in the water higher than that recommended by either the
27department or the Environmental Protection Agency, the test
28results shall state this information. A copy of the test
29shall be provided to the homeowner or business that requested
30the test.

1(3) If a test conducted under paragraph (2), or another
2test done by an approved testing laboratory, determines that
3the well water contains chemicals or natural gas higher than
4recommended levels and the department determines that the
5contamination probably resulted from Marcellus Shale drilling
6activity, then the department shall use the funds to purchase
7water for the affected household or business. Funds may only
8be spent out of the Emergency Drinking Water Support Fund
9until a final determination of the source of the
10contamination is made and the responsible driller begins to
11provide the water to the affected household or business. If
12it is determined that drilling activity is not responsible
13for the contamination, then no more funds shall be provided
14from the fund.

15(4) If the well water test conducted under paragraph (2)
16determines that there is no contamination or the
17contamination is determined by the department under paragraph
18(3) to not have been caused by drilling activity, the
19department may, at its discretion, require the homeowner or
20business to reimburse the fund for half of the costs of the
21testing procedure. The department shall notify the homeowner
22or business of the possibility of this reimbursement before
23the initial test is conducted.

24Section 5. Removal of surcharge.

25The department shall cease collecting the surcharge levied
26under section 3, if the available balance in the fund is more
27than $20,000 and the department sends a notice to discontinue
28the surcharge to the chairman and minority chairman of the
29Appropriations Committee of the Senate and the chairman and
30minority chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the House

1of Representatives.

2Section 6. Regulations.

3The department may promulgate any regulations necessary to
4implement this act.

5Section 7. Use of unspent funds.

6If the department determines that any money accumulated in
7the Emergency Drinking Water Support Fund is unlikely to be
8utilized for the purposes contained in this act, the Secretary
9of Environmental Protection may order those funds to be
10transferred to any other fund established to provide for the
11cleanup or rehabilitation of Marcellus Shale drilling sites.

12Section 8. Effective date.

13This act shall take effect in 60 days.