Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires public water systems to inventory and replace lead service lines within 20 years and provides for recoupment of costs by investor-owned public water systems.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the replacement of lead service lines and supplementing Title 58 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds that the presence of lead in drinking water represents a threat to the public health, especially the health and development of New Jersey s children; that pipes containing lead that connect water mains to homes and other buildings, often called lead service lines, are a primary source of lead in drinking water; and that, due in part to the age of New Jersey s housing, there does not exist a full and complete inventory of all lead service lines in the State.
The Legislature therefore declares that public water systems should fully inventory all service lines and gradually replace all lead services lines, portions of which may exist on private property; and that, given the risk to public health and the resulting social costs that lead exposure imposes upon society as a whole, it is in the public interest that each public water system be obligated to replace lead service lines, including those that exist on private property, and be authorized to recoup the costs of lead service line replacements from all subscribers of the public water system.
2. As used in this act:
Board means the Board of Public Utilities or any successor agency.
Gooseneck, pigtail, or connector means the short section of flexible piping, usually one to two feet long, which is used to connect rigid sections of service line piping.
Investor-owned public water system means a public water system that is a public utility, as defined in R.S.48:2-13, and which is subject to the jurisdiction of the board pursuant to Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Lead service line means a service line that is made of, or lined with, materials containing lead. "Lead service line" shall include a lead gooseneck, pigtail, or connector, regardless of the composition of the rigid sections of service line piping to which they are attached. "Lead service line" shall also include a service line composed of galvanized steel.
Partial replacement means the act of replacing any service line component without replacing the entire service line.
Property owner side means the portion of a service line owned by a property owner.
Public water system means a system for the provision to the public of water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if the system has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year. "Public water system" shall include: (1) any collection, treatment, storage and distribution facilities under control of the operator of the system and used primarily in connection with the system; and (2) any collection or pre-treatment storage facilities not under control of the operator which are used primarily in connection with the system. "Public water system" shall also include the operator of the system. "Public water system" shall not include transient, non-community systems.
Public water system side means the portion of a service line owned by a public water system.
Service line means any piping, tubing, and fittings connecting a water main to a building that serves a customer of a public water system. Service line shall include the property owner side and the public water system side of a service line.
3. a. Each public water system in the State shall develop a service line inventory in accordance with the requirements of this section, in order to determine the existence or absence of a lead service line at each service connection in its service area. The service line inventory shall include information about service line locations and the composition of service lines at each location. The department may prescribe data management means and methods to provide for the receipt of uniform submissions of the service line inventory by public water systems.
b. No later than 30 days after the effective date of this act, a public water system shall compile and submit to the department an initial count of the number of lead service lines and the number of service lines of unknown composition that are known to be present in the service area of the public water system.
c. No later than six months after the effective date of this act, a public water system shall submit to the department an initial service line inventory. The inventory shall include:
(1) the locations of identified lead service lines;
(2) an indication of whether the identified lead service lines are completely composed of lead or otherwise meet the definition of lead service line;
(3) the locations of service lines suspected to be lead;
(4) for each identified and suspected lead service line, whether the line is owned by the public water system, property owner, or both;
(5) the locations and compositions of non-lead service lines; and
(6) a separate category identifying all service lines of unknown composition.
The public water system shall use historical building records and other available information, including data from the American Water Works Association or other industry research groups, to determine the likelihood of the presence of lead service lines in all portions of its service area.
After the submission of the initial service line inventory, each public water system in the State shall continue the inventory process and utilize every reasonable method available to locate all lead service lines within its service area. This process shall include, but shall not be limited to, visual inspection during planned maintenance, meter replacement, and main replacement projects, and input that the public water system requests from its customers.
d. No later than one year after the effective date of this act, a public water system shall submit to the department an updated inventory of its service territory that meets the requirements of subsection c. of this section. The updated inventory shall also contain the following information:
(1) supporting information detailing the reasoning behind the identification of each service line identified as being suspected of containing lead; and
(2) for each service line identified as being of unknown composition, a description detailing the steps undertaken to determine if the line contains lead.
The public water system shall keep the department informe