Well testing provided to establish baseline groundwater quality before certain construction.

Land Taxes Water

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Quam
Last action: 2026-02-17
Official status: Introduction and first reading, referred to Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Well Testing Before Construction

This law requires well testing before certain construction projects start to check groundwater quality.

What This Bill Does

Defines 'landowner', 'project', and 'rural area' for the purposes of this law.
Requires project owners or operators to test water-supply wells before starting a project that needs an environmental assessment worksheet.
Specifies that testing must be done by an independent third party at an accredited laboratory.
Ensures landowner consent is obtained before well samples are collected and provides free access to the results for the landowner.

Who It Names or Affects

Project owners or operators in rural areas
Landowners with private wells near construction projects

Terms To Know

landowner: The person who owns the land where a well is located, including lessees and public well operators.
project: A construction project in rural areas that needs an environmental assessment worksheet under Minnesota Rules.
rural area: An area of the state not within a statutory city or home rule charter city.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify what happens if landowners do not consent to well sampling.
It is unclear how the results will be used after they are collected and stored in a database.

Bill History

2026-02-17 House
Introduction and first reading, referred to Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy

Official Summary Text

Well testing provided to establish baseline groundwater quality before certain construction.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

A bill for an act

relating to environment; providing for well testing to establish baseline groundwater

quality before certain construction; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota

Statutes, chapter 103H.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

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[103H.176] WELL TESTING IN RURAL AREAS.

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Subdivision 1.

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Definitions.

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For purposes of this section, the following terms have the

meanings given:

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(1) "landowner" means:

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(i) the landowner where a private well is located;

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(ii) a landowner's lessee if the lessee uses the private well; or

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(iii) the operator of a public well;

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(2) "project" means a project in a rural area that is required to prepare an environmental

assessment worksheet under Minnesota Rules, part 4410.4300; and

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(3) "rural area" means an area of the state not included within the boundaries of a statutory

city or home rule charter city.

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Subd. 2.

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Testing requirement.

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(a) Before construction begins for a project, the project

owner or operator must provide testing for water-supply wells according to this section to

establish a baseline for groundwater quality in the area of the project.

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(b) The project owner or operator must contract with an independent third party to collect

well samples and submit the samples for analysis at a laboratory accredited by the Department

of Health.

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(c) The project owner or operator must obtain landowner consent before sampling a

well. Samples must be collected from all wells located within a two-mile radius of the

proposed project, except that a well need not be sampled if the landowner does not consent

to sampling. The landowner must be given access, free of charge, to the test results for the

landowner's well.

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(d) The third-party contractor under paragraph (b) must submit the results of the well

testing to the Environmental Quality Board, which must maintain results in a database as

provided in section 103H.175, and to the Minnesota Geospatial Information Office.

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