House Study Bill 194 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES BILL BY CHAIRPERSON JENEARY) A BILL FOR An Act relating to persons certified to conduct 1 time-of-transfer inspections of private sewage disposal 2 systems, and providing penalties. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2012YC (1) 90 js/ns

H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 455B.172, subsection 11, paragraph e, 1 Code 2023, is amended to read as follows: 2 e. (1) Pursuant to chapter 17A , the department shall adopt 3 certification requirements for inspectors , including training, 4 testing, and fees, and shall establish uniform statewide 5 inspection criteria and an inspection form. The inspector 6 certification training shall include use of the criteria and 7 form. 8 (2) An inspector’s certification shall be considered 9 current if the inspector has paid initial and renewal fees 10 required to maintain certification and has not otherwise been 11 decertified. 12 (3) The department shall maintain a publicly available list 13 of currently certified inspectors , including a page for each 14 inspector, on the department’s internet site . The department 15 shall maintain the list such that an inspector’s name is 16 displayed next to the date that the inspector’s certification 17 first became valid and the date that the inspector’s 18 certification is set to expire. A page of a specific inspector 19 shall display the date and time that the inspector submitted 20 inspection reports. The list of all currently certified 21 inspectors and the pages for all individual inspectors shall 22 include a date and time stamp indicating when the user accessed 23 the information and such date and time stamp must be displayed 24 in a manner so that the date and time stamp appears when 25 printed in a standard format. 26 Sec. 2. Section 455B.172, subsection 11, Code 2023, is 27 amended by adding the following new paragraphs: 28 NEW PARAGRAPH . j. The county recorder’s office shall not 29 accept and record a time-of-transfer inspection report if the 30 county recorder or the county recorder’s agent knows or should 31 have known that the inspection was conducted by a person who 32 was not on the department’s list maintained under paragraph “e” 33 on the day of the inspection. If a county recorder’s office 34 violates this paragraph, the county is liable for up to ten 35 -1- LSB 2012YC (1) 90 js/ns 1/ 3

H.F. _____ thousand dollars in damages to the purchaser. 1 NEW PARAGRAPH . k. The county recorder’s office shall not 2 alter the date or time of a time-of-transfer inspection report. 3 If a county recorder’s office violates this paragraph, the 4 county is liable for up to ten thousand dollars in damages to 5 the purchaser. 6 NEW PARAGRAPH . l. A time-of-transfer inspection report 7 shall include the date and time that the inspection occurred 8 and an affidavit signed by the inspector declaring that, under 9 penalty of perjury pursuant to section 720.2, the inspector 10 exercised due diligence in conducting the inspection. An 11 inspector that falsifies information on the inspection report 12 is liable for up to twenty-five thousand dollars in actual 13 damages incurred by a purchaser to repair damage caused by 14 a sewage disposal system that did not conform to standards 15 adopted by the department and bring the sewage disposal system 16 into conformance with standards adopted by the department or 17 replace the sewage disposal system with a system that conforms 18 with standards adopted by the department. 19 EXPLANATION 20 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 21 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 22 This bill relates to persons certified to conduct 23 time-of-transfer inspections of private sewage disposal 24 systems. Current law requires an inspection of a private 25 sewage disposal system of a building in which a person resides, 26 congregates, or is employed prior to any transfer of ownership 27 of the building. The department of natural resources (DNR) is 28 required to adopt certification requirements for inspectors and 29 maintain a list of certified inspectors. 30 The bill states that an inspector’s certification is 31 considered current if the inspector has paid initial and 32 renewal fees required to maintain certification and has not 33 otherwise been decertified. DNR’s list shall display currently 34 certified inspectors and shall be publicly available on DNR’s 35 -2- LSB 2012YC (1) 90 js/ns 2/ 3

H.F. _____ internet site. The bill provides additional information and 1 formatting requirements for DNR’s list. 2 The bill prohibits a county recorder’s office from accepting 3 and recording a time-of-transfer inspection report if the 4 county recorder or the county recorder’s agent knows or should 5 have known that the inspection was conducted by a person who 6 was not on DNR’s list on the day of the inspection. A county 7 recorder’s office also shall not alter the date or time of a 8 time-of-transfer inspection report. If a county recorder’s 9 office violates either prohibition, the county is liable for up 10 to $10,000 in damages to the purchaser. 11 The bill requires a time-of-transfer inspection report to 12 include the date and time that the inspection occurred and an 13 affidavit signed by the inspector declaring that, under penalty 14 of perjury, the inspector exercised due diligence in conducting 15 the inspection. An inspector that falsifies information on the 16 inspection report is liable for up to $25,000 in actual damages 17 incurred by a purchaser to repair damage caused by a sewage 18 disposal system that did not conform to standards adopted by 19 DNR and bring the sewage disposal system into conformance 20 with standards adopted by DNR or replace the sewage disposal 21 system with a system that conforms with standards adopted by 22 DNR. Perjury is a class “D” felony. A class “D” felony is 23 punishable by confinement for no more than five years and a 24 fine of at least $1,025 but not more than $10,245. 25 -3- LSB 2012YC (1) 90 js/ns 3/ 3