House Bill 3525 was the subject of a lengthy public hearing on Feb. 7 before the Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water. Representative Anissa Hartman introduced the bill as a measure to close a gap in protections for renters served by domestic wells and to require landlords to test and disclose water quality results.

Karen Lewatsky, water program director at the Oregon Environmental Council, testified that HB 3525 would require landlords to test domestic wells for arsenic, total coliform, nitrates and lead, share results with tenants within 30 days, report results to the state, and retest according to contamination findings. Lewatsky said rental properties with domestic wells are often rural and occupied by low-income or marginalized groups and that many tenants currently do not know if their water is safe.

Gabriela Goldfarb, environmental public health section manager at the Oregon Health Authority, provided technical input and said OHA had supplied suggested technical amendments that will be reflected in forthcoming changes. Goldfarb said OHA would use reported results to provide outreach and education and to advise on certified treatment options.

Community witnesses — including Cheyenne Holiday of Verde, Curtis Cood of Water Insecurity Solutions, Todd Jarvis of Oregon State University and Taryn Evans of the Coalition of Communities of Color — described personal experiences and public-health consequences of unknown well contamination and urged passage. Testimony cited health risks including gastrointestinal illness from E. coli, nitrate risks to infants (so-called ‘blue baby syndrome’), arsenic’s long-term risks, and lead’s neurological impacts.

Experts and advocates suggested the bill follows models in other states and that testing and disclosure would address three gaps identified in research: lack of testing requirements, lack of information provided to tenants, and lack of funding to offset testing or remediation costs. Potential implementation details and funding supports were discussed but not finalized in the hearing. The committee closed the hearing with questions to be followed up in writing and did not vote on the bill that day.