The civic record

Read. Follow. Verify.

SB 762WISCONSINSession 2025State Billdead

Did Not Advance

Wisconsin Bill Creates Private Well Testing Grants and Educational Outreach Programs

Original title: An Act to create 20.370 (6) (cs), 281.73 and 281.74 of the statutes; Relating to: grants for testing privately owned wells and providing education, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)

Last action · March 23, 2026: Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1Sponsors: Jeff Smith and 57 others

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

Law

Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.

Public stanceCommunity reactions are separate from the official record and reporting.

What This Bill Proposed

Senate Bill 762 requires the Department of Natural Resources to administer a grant program providing up to $10,000 to local governments and county health departments for testing private wells, mapping contamination and geology, and conducting public education. Local municipalities with private wells are also required to inform residents about the importance of regular well testing. Grant recipients for testing must share anonymized results with the state and the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.

Why it matters

Local governments and county health departments can apply for up to $10,000 in state funding to assess groundwater quality and educate residents, while municipalities containing private wells face a new mandate to promote regular testing.

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Counties, cities, villages, and towns

Eligible to apply for up to $10,000 in grants for well testing and mapping, and municipal governments must inform residents about the importance of regular well testing.

Directly affected

County health and land conservation departments

Eligible to apply for up to $10,000 in grants to provide education and outreach related to well testing.

Directly affected

Department of Natural Resources

Required to create and administer the grant program, receive testing results, and authorized to issue emergency rules.

Key Facts

The Department of Natural Resources must establish a grant program providing up to $10,000 to counties, cities, villages, and towns for testing and mapping privately owned wells to assess groundwater quality and geology.
Grants of up to $10,000 are made available to county health departments and county land and water conservation departments for well testing education and outreach.
Eligible applicants may apply for testing and education grants individually or jointly, and may apply for both types simultaneously.
Recipients of testing and mapping grants must submit their findings to the Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point Center for Watershed Science and Education without including personally identifiable information.

Show all 6 facts

Cities, villages, and towns containing privately owned wells or water supplies must inform their residents of the importance of regular well testing.
The Department of Natural Resources is granted authority to promulgate emergency rules relating to the grant program without providing evidence of emergency necessity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible to apply for the private well testing grants?

Counties, cities, villages, and towns that contain privately owned wells or water supplies can apply for testing and mapping grants, while county health departments and county land and water conservation departments can apply for education and outreach grants.

What is the maximum amount for each grant?

Grants provided under the program may not exceed $10,000.

Are individual well owners allowed to apply directly for these grants?

No, the grants are provided to local governments and county health departments, not individual private well owners.

What requirements do grant recipients have regarding test results?

Recipients of testing and mapping grants must submit their results and studies to the Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point Center for Watershed Science and Education, omitting any personally identifiable information.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Follow the record

Votes, people, money & the original source

Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Failed in the Senate.

Procedural history

4 actions

Mar 23, 2026Senate
Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1
Jan 13, 2026Senate
Fiscal estimate received
Dec 12, 2025SenateIntroduced
Read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Veteran and Military Affairs
Dec 12, 2025SenateIntroduced
Introduced by Senators Smith, Spreitzer, Habush Sinykin, Carpenter, Dassler-Alfheim, Drake, Hesselbein, L. Johnson, Keyeski, Larson, Pfaff, Ratcliff, Roys, Wall and Wirch; cosponsored by Representatives Miresse, Palmeri, Billings, Andraca, Anderson, Arney, Bare, Brown, Clancy, Cruz, DeSanto, DeSmidt, Doyle, Emerson, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Haywood, Hong, Hysell, J. Jacobson, Joers, Johnson, Kirsch, Madison, Mayadev, McCarville, Moore Omokunde, Neubauer, Phelps, Prado, Rivera-Wagner, Roe, Sheehan, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spaude, Stroud, Stubbs, Subeck, Taylor, Tenorio, Udell and Vining

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →