2023 New Hampshire Revised Statutes › Title L - Water Management and Protection › Chapter 485-A - Water Pollution and Waste Disposal › Section 485-A:39 - Waterfront Property Sale; Site Assessment Study.

485-A:39 Waterfront Property Sale;  Site Assessment Study. –
I. Prior to the execution of a purchase and sale agreement for any developed waterfront property using a septic disposal system, the owner of the property shall, at the owner's expense, engage a permitted subsurface sewer or waste disposal system designer to perform a site assessment study to determine if the site meets the current standards for septic disposal systems established by the department. The site assessment study shall include an on-site inspection. If the site assessment is not complete prior to the time that the buyer and seller enter into a purchase and sale contract, the contract shall be subject to the buyer's acceptance of the completed site assessment.
II. The site assessment study form shall become a part of the purchase and sale agreement.
III. The site assessment study form, with stated findings, shall be given to the buyer and the seller and receipt of the form shall be acknowledged in writing by the buyer and the seller.
IV. Failure of the seller or the seller's agent to notify the buyer of the findings or deliver the completed site assessment study form pursuant to paragraph III of this section shall be a violation and, notwithstanding RSA 651:2, shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.
V. The site assessment study shall consist of 3 sections:
(a) Section A shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the seller and the seller's agent and the location and a brief description of the property, including the tax map reference and lot number.
(b) Section B shall include the lot size, slope, loading (based on the number of bedrooms in the structure), water source, soil type, and estimated seasonal high water table information from U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service maps. A space shall be included on the form for the permitted designer to write his assessment of the site for the current use of the system, based upon the criteria and information required in this subparagraph.
(c) Section C shall include information about the present septic disposal system, if available. If the installed system was approved by the department, a copy of the approval form, approval number and plan shall be attached to the site assessment study.
VI. The department shall design the site assessment form pursuant to paragraph V of this section. The commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A relative to the procedures for the availability and distribution of the form to interested parties.
VII. An assessment indicating that the site fails to meet any of the criteria established under this section shall not prohibit the sale of the property but shall be disclosed to the buyer as full and proper notice of the possible limitations of the site for a septic disposal system.
VIII. If the septic disposal system designer, during the course of a site assessment, discovers evidence that there is sewage discharge on the ground surface or directly into surface waters, the designer shall notify, in writing, the department and the local health officer, and shall include that information in the site assessment report.
Source.
1989, 339:1. 1992, 278:2. 1995, 206:2. 1996, 228:81, 106. 2007, 177:1. 2008, 349:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.