Iowa Groundwater Hazard Statement: Categories, Filing, and Penalties

The Iowa groundwater hazard statement is a disclosure form, prescribed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on Form 542-0960, that must accompany a deed whenever a declaration of value is filed with the county recorder. It covers six environmental conditions that could affect subsurface water quality or public health. If you don’t submit it, the county recorder must refuse to record your deed.¹

When the Statement Is Required

Iowa Code Section 558.69 ties the requirement to the declaration of value. If a declaration of value is being filed with your deed, a groundwater hazard statement goes with it. That captures most real property transfers, including standard home sales, farmland transactions, and transfers involving trusts or business entities.¹

Skipping the Form When No Conditions Exist

If none of the six environmental conditions exist on the property, you can skip the separate form. Instead, you include a statement on the first page of the deed itself confirming that no known burial sites, wells, solid waste disposal sites, underground storage tanks, hazardous waste, or private sewage systems exist on the property. The language has to track the statute, and it has to appear on the first page. Burying it deeper or paraphrasing loosely can still get the deed rejected at the recorder’s window.¹

The Six Categories You Must Address

The form covers six categories, not five as some older summaries suggest. Every category requires a checked response on the form; you cannot leave any blank.²

Wells. Any known well on the property, including abandoned ones, with its approximate location and status: properly capped, active, or in need of plugging.
Solid waste disposal sites. Any known disposal site the DNR has deemed potentially hazardous, with its location.
Hazardous waste. Any known hazardous waste on the property, with confirmation that it is being managed according to DNR rules.
Underground storage tanks. Any known tank and connected underground piping, with the type, size, and any known substance inside.
Private burial sites. Any known graves containing human remains, with location and any known identifying information about the people buried there, including names and dates of birth and death.
Private sewage disposal systems. Any septic or similar system, with confirmation that it has been inspected under Iowa’s time-of-transfer law or an explanation of why the property qualifies for an exclusion.

The operative word throughout the statute is “known.” You certify the information is true to the best of your knowledge. Willful ignorance is not a shield, though: if you’ve owned rural acreage with an obvious wellhead in the yard, claiming you didn’t know about it will not hold up.¹

Completing the Form

For each category, you check one of two statements: either no condition is present, or a condition exists and you’re providing details. When a condition is present, the details go on Attachment #1 (Form 542-0960a), a separate sheet. Number each entry on the attachment to match the corresponding category on the main form, so a well disclosure is labeled “1” and a burial site “5.”³

At least one seller, or the seller’s agent, must sign the completed statement. The buyer must also receive a copy of the submitted form. That is a statutory obligation on the seller, not a courtesy.¹

Filing With the County Recorder

You submit the statement at the same time you present the deed and declaration of value to the recorder in the county where the property sits. The recorder checks that the form is signed, that every category has a response, and that it corresponds to the property being transferred. There is no separate fee for the statement itself; you pay only the standard deed recording fee, which varies by county.¹

What Happens If You Don’t File

The recorder must refuse to record the deed. No groundwater hazard statement, and no exemption language on the first page of the deed, means your transfer document sits unrecorded. An unrecorded deed does not transfer legal title in the public record, which creates problems for proving ownership, obtaining title insurance, and securing a mortgage.¹

One nuance matters if a recording somehow slipped through without the required statement. The statute says a recording made in violation of the rule cannot be used as a basis to void the deed. A buyer who already holds a recorded deed will not lose the property over a missing groundwater form. The administrative cleanup is still real, and title companies routinely flag these gaps.¹

The Septic Inspection Requirement

The private sewage category is the one that triggers a separate obligation outside the form. Under Iowa Code Section 455B.172, every home or building served by a private sewage system must be inspected by a DNR-certified inspector before the property is sold or transferred. This is commonly called the “time-of-transfer” inspection.⁴

A completed inspection remains valid for two years and covers any ownership transfers during that window. If the property sold once with a fresh inspection and sells again 18 months later, the original inspection still satisfies the requirement. On the groundwater hazard statement, you check the box confirming the inspection was performed or note that the property qualifies for an exclusion from the inspection requirement.

1
Justia Law. Iowa Code 558-69 – Groundwater Hazard Statement – Requirements – Liability
2
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. DNR Form 542-0960 Instructions
3
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Groundwater Hazard Statement Attachment 1
4
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Time of Transfer Inspection