Signed by Governor Scott Walker

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that reduces laws regulating the replacement, reconstruction, and transfer of high-capacity water wells.

Highlights:

• Specifies that no additional approval or fee is required for the owner of an approved high-capacity well to perform any of  the following actions (Sec. 3):

• Repair or maintain an existing high-capacity well;

• Reconstruct a high-capacity well for the purupose of preventing contamination;

• Build a replacement high-capacity well that is substantially the same depth and either within a 75-foot radius of the existing well or farther from the nearest groundwater protection area than the existing well; or

• Transfer the approval at the same time that the owner transfers the land on which a well is located.

• Requires the Department of Natural Resources to evaluate designated areas of water in order to determine whether existing groundwater withdrawals are causing a significant reduction in water levels (Sec. 4).

Full Bill Text