Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator SANDRA B. CUNNINGHAM
District 31 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Gopal
SYNOPSIS
Requires disclosure of lead drinking water hazards to tenants of residential units; prohibits landlords from obstructing replacement of lead service lines; requires inspection of residential rental units for lead drinking water hazards.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the presence of lead in drinking water in certain residential properties, supplementing various parts of the statutory law, and amending P.L.2021, c.183 and P.L.2021, c.182.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection b. of this section, when a landlord offers for rent a residential rental unit, the landlord shall provide a Lead In Drinking Water Disclosure to each prospective or current tenant before entering into a lease or renewal agreement with the tenant. The disclosure shall be provided on a written form prescribed by the Commissioner of Community Affairs. At a minimum, the disclosure shall include the following information:
(a) an acknowledgment that the residential rental property is serviced by a lead service line or service line of unknown composition, if the landlord received such notification from a public community water system pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-43) or any other requirement of law or regulation;
(b) an acknowledgment that there is a significant possibility that the residential rental property is serviced by a lead service line or interior lead plumbing if the residential rental property was constructed before 1986;
(c) a copy of any citation or formal notice received by the landlord within the previous three years for the failure to comply with any requirement of law or regulation concerning the presence of lead in drinking water;
(d) a copy of the results of any tests conducted within the previous three years concerning the presence of lead in the drinking water supplied to any unit within the residential rental property;
(e) a copy of any formal notice received by the landlord within the previous three years indicating that a lead action level exceedance was detected within the service area in which the residential rental property is located;
(f) a copy of, or instructions for accessing, the educational materials developed by the Department of Health, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), concerning the health risks associated with lead in drinking water; and
(g) any other information that the Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and Commissioner of Health, may deem necessary.
(2) Upon entering into a lease or renewal agreement, the landlord and tenant shall jointly sign an addendum to the lease or renewal agreement attesting that the tenant received the Lead In Drinking Water Disclosure before entering into the agreement.
b. A landlord shall not be required to comply with the requirements of subsection a. of this section related to a lease or renewal agreement for a residential rental unit that is:
(1) located in a residential rental property that was constructed after 1986;
(2) located in a residential rental property that is serviced by a lead-safe service line; or
(3) a seasonal rental unit.
c. A landlord who violates the provisions of this section, or who knowingly misrepresents any information contained in the Lead In Drinking Water Disclosure, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $5,000 for each offense. Any penalty imposed pursuant to this subsection may be collected, with costs, in a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). The Superior Court and the municipal court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.) in connection with this section.
d. As used in this section:
Lead-safe service line means a service line that does not contain lead, as determined by a public community water system pursuant to P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-40 et seq.).
Lead service line means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-41).
Seasonal rental unit means a residential rental unit that is leased for a duration of fewer than six months each year.
Service line means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-41).
2. (New section) a. Within six months of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Department of Health, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, shall develop educational materials concerning the health risks associated with lead in drinking water, including protective measures for minimizing the potential exposure to lead in drinking water. The educational materials shall be updated from time to time as deemed necessary by the Commissioner of Health.
b. Within five days of developing the educational materials, the Department of Health shall:
(1) make the information available to the public on the official Internet website of the Department of Health; and
(2) transmit the information to the Commissioner of Community Affairs, who shall also make the educational materials available to the public on the official Internet website of the Department of Community Affairs.
3. (New section) a. In addition to any other information required by law or regulation, the Department of Community Affairs shall include information in the housing registry, established pursuant to section 7 of the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Act, P.L.2003, c.311 (C.52:27D-437.7), concerning the address of every residential rental property in the State that is serviced by a lead-safe service line, lead service line, and service line of unknown composition, respectively, as reported to the department pursuant to P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-40 et seq.), as amended by P.L. , c. (C. ) (pendin