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Lebanon Committee introduces ordinance deferring private-well testing to state rules
Summary
The Township Committee introduced Ordinance No. 12-2024 to align Lebanon’s private-well sale procedures with New Jersey’s Private Well Testing Act, removing a separate township drinking-water certificate requirement and setting a public hearing for Oct. 16, 2024.
The Lebanon Township Committee on Oct. 2 introduced Ordinance No. 12-2024 to amend Chapter 380 of the township code so regulation of potable water from private wells upon property sale is governed by New Jersey’s Private Well Testing Act (N.J.S.A. 58:12A-26 to -37) and related state regulations.
The change replaces the township-level requirement that a drinking-water certificate from the Lebanon Township Board of Health be issued for a certificate of occupancy when property with a private well is sold. township clerk Carolynn Budd provided details on the ordinance as read into the record; Mayor Beverly Koehler announced a public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. "The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, October 16, 2024," Koehler said.
The ordinance text (as introduced) preserves definitions for terms such as "board of health," "owner," and "qualified laboratory," and spells out testing and certificate procedures: sampling by a state-certified laboratory, review by the Board of Health, issuance of a drinking water certificate effective for six months, and binding contaminant levels for select inorganic and organic contaminants. The draft includes numeric limits (for example, nitrate 10.0 mg/L; iron 0.3 mg/L; manganese 0.05 mg/L; pH 6.5–8.5) and references for volatile organic compounds and coliform bacteria thresholds.
Committee members voted to introduce the ordinance (motion by Jay Wojcik, second by Brian Wunder); the motion carried with all five members recorded as voting aye. The ordinance will return to the Committee for a public hearing and possible adoption at the Oct. 16 meeting.
Why it matters: The change aligns local practice with state law and is intended to avoid overlapping or conflicting local requirements for private-well testing at real-estate transfer. The public hearing will give residents and stakeholders an opportunity to raise concerns about the proposed numeric standards, certificate time frame and administrative procedures.
