18.104.040 - Powers of department.

Powers of department.

The department shall have the power:

     (1) To issue, deny, suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;

     (2) At all reasonable times, to enter upon lands for the purpose of inspecting, taking measurements from, or tagging any well, constructed or being constructed;

     (3) To call upon or receive professional or technical advice from the department of health, the technical advisory group created in RCW 18.104.190, or any other public agency or person;

     (4) To adopt rules, in consultation with the department of health and the technical advisory group created in RCW 18.104.190, governing licensing and well construction as may be appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The rules adopted by the department may include, but are not limited to:

     (a) Standards for the construction and maintenance of wells and their casings;

     (b) Methods of capping, sealing, and decommissioning wells to prevent contamination of groundwater resources and to protect public health and safety;

     (c) Methods of artificial recharge of groundwater bodies and of construction of wells which insure separation of individual water bearing formations;

     (d) The manner of conducting and the content of examinations required to be taken by applicants for license hereunder;

     (e) Requirements for the filing of notices of intent, well reports, and the payment of fees;

     (f) Reporting requirements of well contractors;

     (g) Limitations on well construction in areas identified by the department as requiring intensive control of withdrawals in the interests of sound management of the groundwater resource;

     (5) To require the operator in the construction of a well and the property owner in the maintenance of a well to guard against waste and contamination of the groundwater resources;

     (6) To require the operator to place a well identification tag on a new well and on an existing well on which work is performed after the effective date of rules requiring well identification tags and to place or require the owner to place a well identification tag on an existing well;

     (7) To require the well owner to repair or decommission any well:

     (a) That is abandoned, unusable, or not intended for future use; or

     (b) That is an environmental, safety, or public health hazard.

[1993 c 387 § 4; 1991 c 3 § 249; 1971 ex.s. c 212 § 4.]