1. In this section:
§ 214-h.Certain actions by public water suppliers to recover damages for injury to property.
Article 2. Limitations of Time · Last amended 2022 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 214-h gives a public or wholesale water supplier three years to sue over contamination of its water supply, with the clock reset separately for each well or plant intake and running from whichever contamination-related event happened last.
Full Text of CPLR 214-h
(a) “Contaminant” means any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter in water and includes but is not limited to an emerging contaminant listed pursuant to section eleven hundred twelve of the public health law.
(b) “Person” means an individual, corporation, public corporation, company, association, partnership, or entity of the state or federal government.
(c) “Public water supplier” means a person that owns, manages or operates a community, noncommunity or nontransient noncommunity water system that provides water to the public for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if such system has at least five service connections or regularly serves an average of at least twenty-five individuals daily at least sixty days out of the year.
(d) “Wholesale water supplier” means a person that owns, manages or operates a public water system that treats a source of water supply as necessary to produce finished water and then delivers some or all of that finished water to a public water supplier.
(e) “Source of water supply” means any groundwater aquifer or other source from which water is taken either periodically or continuously for drinking, kitchen, cooking or food-processing purposes, or which has been designated for present or future use as a source of water supply for domestic or municipal purposes.
(f) “Plant intake” means the works or structures at the head of a conduit through which water is diverted from a source of water supply into the treatment plant by a public water supplier.
(g) “Well” means any excavation used for obtaining water by a public water supplier.
(h) “Raw water” means water immediately before the first or only point of disinfection or other treatment.
(i) “Emerging contaminant” shall mean any physical, chemical, microbiological or radiological substance that has ever been or ever will be identified or listed pursuant to paragraph a or b of subdivision three of section eleven hundred twelve of the public health law or that has ever been or ever will be required to be identified or listed as an emerging contaminant pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision three of section eleven hundred twelve of the public health law or that is identified or listed as an emerging contaminant pursuant to any other law.
2. Notwithstanding any other law that provides for a shorter limitations period, any civil claim or cause of action brought by a public water supplier or wholesale water supplier against any person to recover damages for injury to property owned, managed or operated by a public water supplier or a wholesale water supplier resulting from the presence of a contaminant in a source of water supply shall be commenced within three years of the latest of any of the following:
(a) the detection of a contaminant in the raw water of each well or plant intake sampling point in excess of any notification level, action level, maximum contaminant level, or maximum contaminant level goal established by the commissioner of health, the department of health or the United States Environmental Protection Agency for that contaminant;
(b) the last wrongful act by any person whose conduct contributed to the presence of a contaminant in a source of water supply or the raw water of each well or plant intake sampling point; or
(c) the date the contaminant is last detected in the raw water of each well or plant intake sampling point in excess of any notification level, action level, maximum contaminant level, or maximum contaminant level goal established by the commissioner of health, the department of health or the United States Environmental Protection Agency for that contaminant. 3. This three-year period shall apply to each well and each plant intake for each contaminant separately, and the expiration of the three-year period at one well or plant intake shall not affect the three-year period for another well or plant intake. 4. Nothing in this section shall abridge or limit a public water supplier’s or a wholesale water supplier’s right to bring an action to abate an imminent threat of contamination of any well or plant intake or to recover as damages the costs of such abatement. 5. Any action, civil claim, or cause of action involving an emerging contaminant that is barred as of the effective date of this subdivision because the applicable period of limitation has expired is hereby revived, and such action, civil claim, or cause of action thereon may be commenced and prosecuted provided such action, civil claim, or cause of action is commenced either before or within one year and six months following the effective date of this subdivision.
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 214-h addresses litigation over contaminated public water systems — cases involving PFAS, 1,4-dioxane, and other substances the section calls emerging contaminants. It defines who qualifies as a public water supplier or wholesale water supplier by reference to the number of connections or people served, and it defines the technical terms that matter for accrual: contaminant, source of water supply, plant intake, well, and raw water.
A supplier's three-year period runs from the latest of three triggering events: detection of a contaminant above a regulatory notification, action, or maximum contaminant level; the last wrongful act by any person whose conduct contributed to the contamination; or the last detection of the contaminant above the relevant regulatory level. Critically, this calculation applies separately to each well and each plant intake, so the expiration of the period for one location has no effect on a separate claim tied to a different well or intake.
The section preserves a supplier's right to sue for abatement of an imminent contamination threat regardless of these deadlines, and it includes its own revival window: claims involving an emerging contaminant that were already barred as of a 2022 amendment's effective date could still be commenced, provided suit was filed before or within eighteen months after that date.
CPLR 214-h extends the same discovery-based logic found in CPLR 214-c, 214-b, and 214-f to an institutional plaintiff — a water supplier — rather than an individual injury victim, applying the family's shared principle that a claim shouldn't be measured from the contamination itself when detection takes years.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does CPLR 214-h cover?
Damage to property owned, managed, or operated by a public or wholesale water supplier resulting from the presence of a contaminant in its source of water supply.
How long does a water supplier have to sue over contamination?
Three years from the latest of specified triggering events, including detection of a contaminant above a regulatory level or the last wrongful act contributing to the contamination.
Does the three-year deadline run separately for each well?
Yes. The period applies separately to each well and each plant intake, so its expiration at one location doesn't affect a claim tied to another.
Can a water supplier always sue to stop an ongoing contamination threat, regardless of this deadline?
Yes. CPLR 214-h preserves the right to bring an action to abate an imminent threat of contamination, or to recover the costs of that abatement, without regard to the three-year period.
Is there a revival window for older emerging-contaminant claims under CPLR 214-h?
Yes. Claims involving an emerging contaminant that were already barred as of a 2022 amendment's effective date could still be brought before, or within eighteen months after, that date.
Amendment History
L 2019, ch 442, § 1, effective November 4, 2019; L 2022, ch 566, §§ 1, 2, effective October 5, 2022.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: PFAS water contamination lawsuit New Yorkpublic water supplier lawsuit deadline NYwater contamination statute of limitations New Yorkemerging contaminant lawsuit New York water system