Bill Text: NJ A3170 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requires inspection for pest infestation prior to certain demolition.*
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-10-02 - Reported out of Assembly Comm. with Amendments, 2nd Reading [A3170 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A3170-Amended.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GILBERT "WHIP" L. WILSON
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Requires inspection for pest infestation prior to certain demolitions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee on October 2, 2014, with amendments.
An Act requiring pest inspections prior to 1[demolition] certain demolitions1, and supplementing P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
1"Closely-situated building" means any building that is both located within 10 feet of the building to be demolished and located on a different property.1
"Demolition" means the act of forcing down all of a building pursuant to the standards of the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.), or forcing down part of a building 1when inspection and certification is required1 in accordance with rules and regulations adopted pursuant to subsection c. of this section.
1"Infestation" means a significant presence of pests within or on the perimeter of a building, or both.1
"Pest" means rat, mouse, roach, or any other animal designated by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection as posing a significant risk of infesting adjacent properties following a demolition.
1"Severe pest presence" means the existence of pests within or on the perimeter of a building, or both, at levels substantial enough to place any closely-situated building at risk for pest infestation as a result of demolition.1
b. (1) In addition to
requirements under the "State Uniform Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217
(C.52:27D-119 et seq.), P.L.1942, c.112 (C.40:48-2.3 et seq.), and any other
statutory, regulatory, or local requirements, a building shall not be
demolished without a certification by either a health officer licensed by the
State Department of Health pursuant to the "Local Health Services Act,"
P.L.1975, c.329 (C.26:3A2-1 et seq.), or a commercial pesticide applicator
certified by the Department of Environmental Protection for general and household
pest control pursuant to the "Pesticide Control Act of 1971," P.L.1971, c.176
(C.13:1F-1 et seq.). The certification shall indicate that 1[pests are not present in
the building at levels that place any nearby building at risk for pest
infestation as a result of the demolition]
the building does not contain a severe pest presence1. Before issuing
such certification, the health officer or another local health agency employee,
or pesticide applicator, shall inspect the building for a
pest presence. If 1[pests are present at
unacceptable levels]
a severe pest presence does exist1,
then the health officer or another local health agency employee, or pesticide
applicator, shall take the steps necessary to mitigate the pest presence down
to acceptable levels. 1Certification
shall not be required prior to the demolition of a building for which no
closely-situated building exists.1
(2) The inspection shall occur no earlier than two months prior to the issuance of a construction permit for demolition. The certification shall be filed with the construction official prior to the issuance of a construction permit. Any certification that is issued by a pesticide applicator, and not by a health officer, shall be filed with the health officer, in addition to the construction official, no later than five days prior to construction permit issuance. At any time prior to construction permit issuance, the health officer shall have authority to disapprove of the pesticide applicator's certification, and require a new inspection and new pest mitigation steps to be taken prior to construction permit issuance.
(3) The certification, and associated inspection and extermination, shall not be required if the construction official determines that an immediate danger is posed by the potential collapse of a structurally unsafe building.
(4) The construction permit applicant shall be responsible for the cost of any pest inspection, extermination, and certification required under this section.
c. On or before the first day of the sixth month next following enactment, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), and in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, and the Director of the Division of Codes and Standards in the Department of Community Affairs, shall adopt any rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this section, including, but not limited to, standards for the types of animals to be designated as pests, standards for the level of a pest presence that shall require extermination, acceptable methods of extermination, and the types of partial building demolitions that shall require inspection and certification. The Commissioner of Health, and the Director of the Division of Codes and Standards in the Department of Community Affairs, shall also adopt any necessary rules and regulations.
2. This act shall take effect immediately, but subsections a. and b. of section 1 shall remain inoperative until the first day of the sixth month next following enactment.
