STATEWIDE TESTING OF NEW PRIVATE WELLS: The House and Senate voted to require counties to monitor construction of new wells serving homes and small businesses, such as convenience stores. New wells also must be tested. About two-thirds of the 100 counties don't have any program now. Legislators approved $1.1 million to help them get started and to hire five more state employees to help them.

ADDITIONAL REGULATORS FOR PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS: Legislators voted to raise permit fees paid by almost 7,000 public water systems in North Carolina. The increase will generate an additional $1.25 million and enable the state's Public Water Supply Section, which regulates the systems, to hire up to 19 additional employees beginning early next year. The state already had used federal funds to hire five more employees.

ENFORCING RULES ON LEAD TESTS: State regulators have started checking whether public water systems have been following the rules when they test for lead. Hundreds of systems will be required to retest either because they did not respond by the final deadline -- last Friday -- or because they have conceded that they tested some houses not built in 1983, 1984 or 1985, those deemed most likely to have lead problems.

HIRE A CERTIFIED OPERATOR, OR BE FINED: The state has started cracking down on public water systems that are supposed to employ one or more certified operators, but don't. Letters were sent to 71 systems in June and July telling them to hire a certified operator -- or face potential fines of $100 a day. Almost 200 additional systems probably will get a notice of violation this summer.

SHARING INFORMATION ABOUT LEAD-TAINTED WATER: The Public Water Supply Section previously did not pass on information about lead-contaminated water in houses and day care centers to a sister agency responsible for protecting children from lead poisoning. Now it does. And when lead poisoning is discovered, officials have started checking the water. That's what led to the recent discovery of lead-tainted water at Penrith Townhomes and elsewhere in Durham.