The developer of a subdivision, as defined in § 15.2-2201, located in a designated ground water management area shall apply for a technical evaluation from the Department of Environmental Quality prior to final subdivision plat approval if there will be 30 or more lots within the subdivision served by private wells, as defined in § 32.1-176.3. The application for a technical evaluation shall be on a form established by the Department and shall include a geophysical log from a geophysical borehole located within the subdivision. Such borehole may subsequently be utilized as a ground water supply for a dwelling unit or for other appropriate purpose within the subdivision. Within 60 days of receiving a complete application for a technical evaluation, the Department shall perform a technical evaluation and provide to the developer a recommendation sufficient to serve the water needs of each dwelling unit in the subdivision that specifies the aquifer or aquifers that will minimize unmitigated impacts to ground water resources and any offsite impacts to existing ground water users. The recommendation to the developer shall be nonbinding; however, any such developer who constructs one or more private wells in the subdivision in an aquifer inconsistent with the Department’s recommendation shall prepare and submit a mitigation plan to the Department, consistent with requirements for mitigation plans established by the Board, and record a mitigation plan approved by the Department with the subdivision plat prior to constructing any private wells within the subdivision. The Department is authorized to charge the developer a fee not to exceed $5,000 to perform the technical evaluation. This section shall not apply to the developer of a subdivision who constructs all of the private wells within the subdivision in the surficial aquifer.

2018, c. 427.