House Bill 3526 was presented Feb. 7 to the Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water. Representative Anissa Hartman said the bill would change the timing of well-testing disclosures in real estate transactions so buyers receive results before an offer is accepted and would strengthen accountability and state tracking of groundwater quality.

Karen Lewatsky of the Oregon Environmental Council supported the bill and said it closes loopholes in the 1989 Domestic Well Testing Act by ensuring buyers receive results earlier in the transaction and by creating a cause of action if sellers fail to provide results. Lewatsky said the proposal also ensures test results are provided to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) — or, depending on amendments, to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) — so state agencies can better monitor groundwater quality.

Ryan Hoof of DEQ testified that the real estate transaction law is intended to generate data useful for state and local officials and reminded the committee of an earlier DEQ proposal to require labs to submit test results electronically. Jeremy Rogers, representing Oregon Realtors, testified he believes the existing transaction forms and seller disclosures generally deliver results to buyers in practice, expressed concern about unintended litigation incentives from a new statutory cause of action, and urged investment in staffing and funding for the state program rather than agency reassignment.

Witnesses and trade groups discussed two amendment options: requiring labs to submit results directly to the state via an electronic template, or keeping OHA as the receiving agency because DEQ may lack capacity to handle non-digital submissions. DEQ encouraged consideration of shifting lab reporting into an electronic submission model.