Bill Text: NJ A5617 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires installation of Type IV flotation devices at certain lakes, ponds, and rivers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A5617 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A5617-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BRIAN BERGEN
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires installation of Type IV flotation devices at certain lakes, ponds, and rivers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning personal flotation devices and supplementing P.L.1991, c.135 (C.26:4A-4 et seq.), P.L.1983, c.324 (C.13:1L-1 et seq.), and Title 40 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The owner of a campground, common interest community, hotel, mobile home park, private lake, river or bay or private community lake, river or bay association, private marina, or retirement community, which includes a lake, pond, or river at which swimming, boating, or ice-skating is permitted by the property owner shall install a Type IV personal flotation device approved for use by the United States Coast Guard at the lake, pond, or river, as appropriate. The flotation device shall be permanently installed near the water and shall be equipped with a sign that clearly indicates the presence of the flotation device.
b. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impose any liability upon or to give rise to a cause of action against a property owner.
2. a. The department shall install a Type IV personal flotation device approved for use by the United States Coast Guard at each lake, pond, or river located in a State park or forest at which swimming, boating, or ice-skating is permitted. The flotation device shall be permanently installed near the water and shall be equipped with a sign that clearly indicates the presence of the flotation device.
b. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impose any liability upon or to give rise to a cause of action against the department or any other State agency.
3. a. A county or municipality shall install a Type IV personal flotation device approved for use by the United States Coast Guard at each lake, pond, or river located in a park owned by the county or municipality at which swimming, boating, or ice-skating is permitted. The flotation device shall be permanently installed near the water and shall be equipped with a sign that clearly indicates the presence of the flotation device.
b. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impose any liability upon or to give rise to a cause of action against a municipality or county.
c. (1) A county may use funds from a "County Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund" created pursuant to subsection c. of section 2 of P.L.1997, c.24 (C.40:12-15.2) in order to implement the provisions of this section.
(2) A municipality may use funds from a "Municipal Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund" created pursuant to subsection c. of section 7 of P.L.1997, c.24 (C.40:12-15.7) in order to implement the provisions of this section.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require certain property owners to install Type IV personal flotation devices at each lake, pond, or river at which swimming, boating, or ice-skating is permitted. A Type IV personal flotation device is a buoyant object--such as a cushion or ring--that is meant to be thrown to a conscious person in the water.
Specifically, the bill would apply to campgrounds, common interest communities, hotels, mobile home parks, private lake, river, or bay associations, private community lake, river, or bay associations, private marinas, and retirement communities, as those terms are defined in section 1 of P.L.1991, c.135 (C.26:4A-4).
The bill would also require the Department of Environmental Protection, and counties and municipalities, to install a Type IV personal flotation device at each lake, pond, or river located in a public park or State forest at which swimming, boating, or ice-skating is permitted. The bill would allow counties and municipalities to draw on funds in their respective "Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Funds" in order to pay for the flotation devices and installation costs.
