Bill Text: NJ A5656 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires public water systems to provide customers and local officials with expedited notice of elevated lead levels.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-06-24 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee [A5656 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5656-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LISA SWAIN
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman P. CHRISTOPHER TULLY
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires public water systems to provide customers and local officials with expedited notice of elevated lead levels.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning information on lead in drinking water and supplementing P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A public water system that exceeds the lead action level shall send a written notice by mail to all customers and residents served by the public water system, all schools and daycare centers served by the public water system, all local health agencies in the public water system's service area, and the chief executive of each municipality in the public water system's service area. The written notice shall be sent no later than 10 days after the end of the monitoring period during which the exceedance is discovered. The written notice shall:
(1) clearly state that the public water system is in exceedance of the lead action level;
(2) explain what the lead action level is and the measurement process that the public water system is required to perform to monitor drinking water for lead; and
(3) provide additional information on the possible sources of lead in drinking water, the health effects of drinking water with elevated levels of lead, and measures a customer can take to reduce or eliminate lead in drinking water.
b. The notice required pursuant to this section shall be in addition to any notice requirements under federal law.
c. As used in this section:
"Lead action level" means the standard for lead in drinking water established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or a more stringent standard adopted by the department pursuant to the "Safe Drinking Water Act," P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et al.).
"Local health agency" means the same as that term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1975, c.329 (C.26:3A2-3).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would supplement the "Safe Drinking Water Act," P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et al.) to require public water systems to provide their customers, local health agencies, and municipal governments with expedited written notice by mail of elevated lead levels.
The federal "Lead and Copper Rule" requires public water systems to periodically sample their water supplies to check the amount of lead present. If the concentration of lead in more than 10 percent of tap water samples collected during any monitoring period is greater than 15 parts per billion, the public water system is said to exceed the lead action level, and federal regulations require the public water system to take various actions. Among other things, the regulations require the public water system to deliver public education materials to its customers within 60 days after the end of the monitoring period.
In New Jersey, the Department of Environmental Protection enforces the federal drinking water regulations pursuant to the "Safe Drinking Water Act." This bill would supplement the existing notice requirements by requiring the public water system to send out an expedited notice no later than 10 days after the end of the monitoring period in which the public water system exceeds the lead action level. The notice would: (1) clearly state that the public water system is in exceedance of the lead action level; (2) explain what the lead action level is and the measurement process that the public water system is required to perform to monitor drinking water for lead; and (3) provide additional information on the possible sources of lead in drinking water, the health effects of lead in drinking water, and measures a customer can take to reduce or eliminate lead in drinking water.
