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PA HB2302
Bill
Status
3/19/2026
Primary Sponsor
Paul Takac
Click for details
AI Summary
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Expands the State Board of Crane Operators to include well drillers, renaming it the State Board of Crane Operators and Well Drillers, and adds four professional well driller members (two water well drillers, one geotechnical, one geothermal) to the board composition.
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Establishes licensure requirements for well drillers including minimum age of 18, good moral character, bonding and liability insurance, affiliation with a registered drilling company, passing a board-approved examination, and completing continuing education during each biennial renewal period.
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Creates two licensure categories for well drillers: "Expert L.W.D." (requiring 50,000+ cumulative feet of drilling across at least three well types) and "Specialized L.W.D." (requiring 30,000+ cumulative feet in a specific well type), with a two-year grandfathering period allowing experienced drillers to obtain licenses without examination.
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Requires well drillers to submit notices of intent to drill within 72 hours of contract, file completion reports within 10 days through PaGWISDriller, and comply with International Plumbing Code provisions as adopted under the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act.
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Repeals the Water Well Drillers License Act of 1956 and exempts oil/natural gas well drilling (regulated under separate statutes), normal agricultural operations, and PennDOT-prequalified geotechnical drilling contractors working on PennDOT projects.
Legislative Description
Further providing for title of act; in preliminary provisions, further providing for short ti tle and for definitions and providing for applicability; in State Board of Crane Operators, further providing for board and for powers and duties of board; in licensure, further providing for licensure, for qualifications, for duration of license, for reporting of multiple licensure and for license without certification and providing for qualifications for licensure as well driller, for grandfathering for well drillers, for examination for licensure as well driller, for bonding and insurance for well drillers, for continuing education for well drillers, for professional standards and industry regulations for well drilling, for additional reporting requirements for well drillers, for sampling, for well driller license identification, for drilling company and rig registration, for exemptions and for agricultural operations; in administration and enforcement, further providing for violation of act, for refusal, suspension or revocation of license and for temporary and automatic suspensions; and making a repeal.
Last Action
Laid on the table
4/27/2026