A collaborative effort among stakeholder groups during the 2022 legislative session has resulted in the passage of legislation reforming how sellers will process groundwater hazard statements.

House File 2343 passed both the House and Senate and was recently signed by Governor Reynolds. The Iowa Land Records team is working with the Iowa DNR to coordinate a training webinar for real estate professionals regarding the new process.

Essentially, House File 2343 is a “paperwork reduction act.” Under current law sellers of real estate are required to file a ground water hazard statement with a deed or other conveyance document – even if there are no reportable conditions which may be hazardous. The new law continues to require the filing of a groundwater hazard state if a reportable condition is present on the property. But if there are no reportable conditions a ground water hazard statement is not needed. Instead, sellers will be required to make a statement in the conveyance document itself that no reportable conditions exist. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is expected to develop updated administrative rules and changes to the Groundwater Hazard form in the coming weeks.

Many Iowa Land Records customers and stakeholders will be directly impacted by this bill, and they will want to know the detailed requirements of the new law. To avoid confusion and to ensure a smooth transition to the new process, we encourage the real estate community to attend this training webinar.

The recorded webinar and other resource materials will be available for review on the Iowa Land Records website following the event. In addition, we will post materials from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources when they are adopted and published.

Register for the Webinar Here

You will receive an email with instructions on how to access the webinar within 24 hours of the event.

Registration for this webinar is full. A recording of the webinar will be available on the Iowa Land Records website by June 13th.