                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT; LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE ANALYSIS OF WATER (§
32.1-176.5)

A. Any person intending to construct a private well shall apply to the
Department for and receive a permit before proceeding with construction. The
permit application shall include a site plan. No survey plat shall be required.
In all cases, it shall be the landowner&#8217;s responsibility to ensure that
the water well is properly located on the landowner&#8217;s property. This
permit shall be issued no later than 60 days from application and in accordance
with the Board&#8217;s regulations. In addition, an inspection shall be made
after construction to assure that the construction standards are met.

B. The local governing bodies of the Counties of Albemarle, Bedford,
Chesterfield, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Goochland, James City,
Loudoun, Orange, Powhatan, Prince William, Rappahannock, Stafford, Warren, and
York, and the Cities of Chesapeake, Manassas, Manassas Park, Suffolk, and
Virginia Beach may by ordinance establish reasonable testing requirements to
determine compliance with existing federal or state drinking water quality
standards and require that such testing be done prior to the issuance of
building permits. Such testing requirements shall apply only to building permit
applicants proposing to utilize private ground water wells as their primary
potable water source. In developing such an ordinance, the local governing body
shall consider (i) the appropriate ground water constituents to be tested using
the above standards as guidance, (ii) the reasonable cost of such testing that
may be borne by the applicant, and (iii) the availability of certified
laboratories to perform such services. However, no such test shall be conducted
by Consolidated Laboratories. The applicant shall be notified of the test
results with respect to such established standards.

C. Any local governing body referenced in subsection B of this section that has
adopted a well abandonment ordinance may require property owners to close and
cap abandoned or inactive wells pursuant to that ordinance.

HISTORY: 1986, c. 401; 1988, c. 441; 1989, cc. 454, 696; 1990, cc. 544, 547,
661; 1993, c. 794; 1995, c. 220; 1996, c. 202; 1999, c. 633; 2003, c. 500; 2009,
c. 59; 2014, c. 599; 2022, cc. 225, 226.