Bill Text: NJ S2636 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies duties of local health authorities with regard to retail food establishment inspection reports and placards; requires inspection results to be posted online; and revises compliance rating system used for placards.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-10-05 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S2636 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S2636-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator STEPHEN M. SWEENEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies duties of local health authorities with regard to retail food establishment inspection reports and placards; requires inspection results to be posted online; and revises compliance rating system used for placards.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the inspection of retail food establishments, and the public dissemination of inspection-related information, supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes, and amending R.S.26:3-31.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. Whenever a local health authority conducts an inspection of a retail food establishment located in its jurisdiction, the findings shall be recorded in an inspection report, in a form and manner specified by the Department of Health. The inspection report shall identify, in narrative form, the violations of the State Sanitary Code that are deemed to exist on the premises, and the specific sections of the Code that are being violated.
b. Upon completion of an inspection report, the local health authority shall:
(1) present a copy of the report to the owner or operator of the retail food establishment, or, if the owner or operator is not present, to an employee of the establishment;
(2) in accordance with the provisions of subsection c. of this section, provide the retail food establishment with an evaluation placard, which rates the establishment's compliance with the provisions of the State Sanitary Code; and
(3) in accordance with the provisions of subsection g. of this section, incorporate the information from the inspection report, as well as the compliance rating from the evaluation placard, into a publicly accessible and searchable online database.
c. The evaluation placard that is provided to a retail food establishment pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section shall include a descriptive designation indicating whether the local health authority deems the retail food establishment's compliance with the State Sanitary Code to be "exemplary;" "satisfactory, with only minor deficiencies;" "passable, but with substantial deficiencies;" or "unsatisfactory."
(1) An "exemplary" designation shall be indicated only if the retail food establishment is found to be operating in full compliance with the State Sanitary Code, without any violations or deficiencies, and if all food service employees have demonstrated that they are aware of, and are practicing, appropriate sanitation and food safety principles as outlined in the State Sanitary Code.
(2) A "satisfactory, with only minor deficiencies" designation shall be indicated if the retail food establishment is found to be operating in substantial compliance with the State Sanitary Code, but is found to have one, or only a few, minor or technical violations or deficiencies, which prevent it from obtaining an "exemplary" designation, but which do not significantly reduce the ability of the establishment to operate in a sanitary manner.
(3) A "passable, but with substantial deficiencies" designation shall be indicated if the retail food establishment: (a) is found to have one or more violations or deficiencies that, while not posing an imminent hazard to human health, are nevertheless substantial, non-minor, and non-technical in nature; or (b) is found to have a multitude of minor or technical violations or deficiencies that together have the effect of significantly reducing the ability of the establishment to operate in a sanitary manner.
(4) An "unsatisfactory" designation shall be indicated whenever the establishment is found to have one or more violations or deficiencies that constitute gross unsanitary or unsafe conditions posing an imminent hazard to human health.
d. The operator of a retail food establishment shall post the evaluation placard, which has been issued to the establishment following the most recent inspection thereof, in a visible and conspicuous place at the front of the establishment, immediately adjacent to a public entrance. The placard shall be posted in a manner that allows members of the public to easily view it, and shall not, at any time or for any reason, be hidden or obstructed from public view.
e. Whenever the local health authority issues an evaluation placard indicating that a retail food establishment's compliance rating is "unsatisfactory," the health authority shall immediately order the operator to cease operations until it is shown, through re-inspection conducted in accordance with subsection f. of this section, that the conditions warranting an unsatisfactory designation no longer exist. The local health authority may utilize all lawful measures, including embargo, condemnation, and injunctive relief, to ensure that such an establishment does not prepare or serve food until the establishment is re-inspected, and improved compliance is confirmed, in accordance with subsection f. of this section.
f. Whenever the local health authority issues an evaluation placard indicating that a retail food establishment's compliance rating is anything other than "exemplary," the local health authority shall conduct at least one unannounced follow-up inspection of the establishment, prior to the establishment's next annually scheduled inspection, in order to ensure that efforts are being made to attain exemplary-level compliance. Immediately following any such unannounced re-inspection, the local health authority shall change the compliance rating that appears on the establishment's evaluation placard, and shall update the online database maintained pursuant to subsection g. of this section, as appropriate.
g. (1) Each local health authority shall establish and maintain, at a publicly accessible location on its Internet website, a searchable electronic database of retail food establishment inspection results. The database shall include complete and updated inspection report information for each retail food establishment that is under the jurisdiction of the local health authority, and shall additionally identify the compliance rating that is indicated on the most recent evaluation placard issued to each such establishment. Members of the public shall be authorized to search the database, and obtain up-to-date inspection results and compliance rating information, using the name and address of any retail food establishment that falls under the jurisdiction of the local health authority. The local health authority shall regularly update the database to ensure that it reflects the most up-to-date inspection results and compliance rating information on each retail food establishment in the local jurisdiction.
(2) The Department of Health shall provide, at a publicly accessible location on its Internet website, hyperlinks to each of the retail food establishment inspection databases that are established by local health authorities pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. In addition, whenever the department conducts an inspection of a retail food establishment, pursuant to the general authority granted thereto under section 18 of P.L.1947, c.177 (C.26:1A-18), it shall transmit a copy of the department's inspection report to the local health authority having local jurisdiction over the establishment, and the local health authority shall include a copy of the department's report in its retail food establishment inspection database, established pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.
h. The department, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
i. As used in this section:
"Department" means the Department of Health.
"Compliance rating" means the descriptive designation included on an evaluation placard, as provided by subsection c. of this section, which is used to indicate, in summary fashion, a retail food establishment's current level of compliance with the State Sanitary Code.
"Local health authority" means a duly licensed agent of a local board of health who is authorized to enforce local ordinances pertaining to the sanitation of retail food establishments.
"Retail food establishment" means an operation, including a restaurant, satellite or catered feeding location, catering operation, market, vending location, or food bank, which stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption, and which relinquishes possession of such food directly to a consumer, or indirectly to a consumer, through the use of a delivery or take-out service; regardless of whether the operation is conducted in a mobile, stationary, temporary, or permanent facility or location, or whether consumption takes place on or off the premises, or whether there is a charge for the food. "Retail food establishment" includes a transportation vehicle or central preparation facility or location that supplies food to a vending location or satellite or catered feeding location, unless the vending or feeding location is permitted by the local health authority. "Retail food establishment" does not include: (1) a produce stand that only offers whole, uncut fresh fruits and vegetables; (2) a food processing plant; (3) a private home that receives catered or home-delivered food; (4) a kitchen in a private home, such as a family childcare home, as defined at N.J.A.C.10:126-1.2, or a bed and breakfast guesthouse or bed and breakfast homestay, as defined at N.J.A.C.5:70-1.5, where food is prepared for and offered to guests, provided that the home is owner-occupied, and breakfast is the only meal offered; (5) a kitchen in a private home where food is prepared for sale or use in a community function, such as a religious or charitable bake sale, provided that the consumer is informed by a clearly visible placard at the sales or service location that the food has been prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to inspection by the local health authority; or (6) an area where food that has been prepared under paragraph (5) of this subsection is sold or offered for human consumption.
2. R.S.26:3-31 is amended to read as follows:
26:3-31. The local board of health shall have power to pass, alter or amend ordinances and make rules and regulations in regard to the public health within its jurisdiction, for the following purposes:
a. To protect the public water supply and prevent the pollution of any stream of water or well, the water of which is used for domestic purposes, and to prevent the use of or to close any well, the water of which is polluted or detrimental to the public health.
b. (1) To prohibit the cutting, sale or delivery of ice in any municipality without obtaining a permit from the local board. No person shall cut, sell or deliver ice in any municipality without obtaining such permit.
(2) To refuse such permit or revoke any permit granted by it when in its judgment the use of any ice cut, sold or delivered under the permit would be detrimental to the public health. Upon the refusal or revocation of a permit by the local board, an appeal may be taken to the State department. Upon order of the State department a permit shall be granted or the revocation set aside.
(3) To prohibit the importation, distribution or sale of any impure ice which would be detrimental to the public health.
c. (1) To license and regulate the sanitary conditions of hotels [,] .
(2) To license and regulate the sanitary conditions of restaurants, cafes, and other public eating houses , and , in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), to provide for the preparation, dissemination, and on-site and online posting , of inspection reports and compliance ratings [or score cards] setting forth the sanitary condition of [any] public eating [house after] houses in the local jurisdiction, following inspection of the same [and to post the rating or score card in some conspicuous or public place in such eating house].
d. To compel any owner of property along the line of any sewer to connect his house or other building therewith. This paragraph shall be enforced by the local board within its jurisdiction and it shall by ordinance provide a fine of $25 to be imposed upon any person who shall not comply with any order issued under the authority of this paragraph, within 30 days after notice by the proper officer of the board to make the required connections. An additional fine of $10 shall be provided for each day of delay, after the expiration of the 30 days, in which the provisions of the order or notice are not complied with. Such notice may be served upon the owner personally or by leaving it at his usual place of abode with a member of his family above the age of 18 years.
e. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1987, c.442.)
f. To regulate, control, and prohibit the accumulation of offal and any decaying or vegetable substance.
g. (1) To regulate the location, construction, maintenance, method of emptying or cleaning, and the frequency of cleaning of any privy or other place used for the reception or storage of human excrement, and to prohibit the construction or maintenance of any privy or other such place until a license therefor shall have been issued by the board, which license shall continue in force for one year from the date of issue.
(2) To fix the fee, not exceeding $5, for such license, and to use the fees so collected in supervising and maintaining said privies or other places and in removing and disposing of the excrement therefrom.
(3) To revoke such license at any time if the owner or tenant of the property on which any privy or other such place is located, maintains the same in violation of law, or of the State sanitary code, or any ordinance or rule of the board.
h. To regulate, control, or prohibit the cleaning of any sewer, the dumping of garbage, the filling of any sunken lot or marsh land, and to provide for the filling up of any such lot or land, which has become filled with stagnant water and is located in any built-up area.
i. (1) To license and regulate the business of cleaning cesspools and privies, which license shall continue for the term of one year from the date of granting, and to fix the fee that shall be charged for such license, not exceeding $20 for each vehicle or conveyance.
(2) To prohibit unlicensed persons from engaging in such business.
(3) To require any vehicle or conveyance used in such business within its jurisdiction to be approved by it.
(4) To revoke such license if any licensee or his employee or agent shall violate any ordinance or rule of the board in cleaning any cesspool or privy, or in removing the contents thereof.
j. To aid in the enforcement of laws as to the adulteration of all kinds of food and drink, and to prevent the sale or exposure for sale of any meat or vegetable that is unwholesome or unfit for food.
k. To regulate, control, or prohibit the keeping or slaughtering of animals.
l. To license and regulate the keeping of boarding houses for infants and children and to fix a license fee for the same and to prevent unlicensed persons from keeping such boarding houses. This paragraph shall not apply to:
(1) The Department of Children and Families.
(2) Any children's home, orphan asylum, or children's aid society incorporated under the laws of this State.
(3) Any aid society of a properly organized and accredited church or fraternal society organized for aid and relief to its members.
(4) Any charitable society incorporated under the laws of this State having as one of its objects the prevention of cruelty to children or the care and protection of children.
m. To require in buildings, designed to be occupied, or occupied, as residences by more than two families and when the owners have agreed to supply heat, that from October 1 of each year to the next succeeding May 1, every unit of dwelling space and every habitable room therein shall be maintained at least at 68 degrees F. whenever the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees during daytime hours from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. At times other than those specified interiors of units of dwelling space shall be maintained at least at 55 degrees F. whenever the outside temperature falls below 40 degrees.
In meeting the aforesaid standards, the owner shall not be responsible for heat loss and the consequent drop in the interior temperature arising out of action by the occupants in leaving windows or doors open to the exterior of the building. The owner shall be obligated to supply required fuel or energy and maintain the heating system in good operating condition so that it can supply heat as required herein notwithstanding any contractual provision seeking to delegate or shift responsibility to the occupant or third person, except that the owner shall not be required to supply fuel or energy for heating purposes to any unit where the occupant thereof agrees in writing to supply heat to his own unit of dwelling space and the said unit is served by its own exclusive heating equipment for which the source of heat can be separately computed and billed.
n. To regulate the practice of midwifery, but the exercise of such authority shall not conflict with the provisions of chapter 10 of Title 45 of the Revised Statutes (R.S.45:10-1 et seq.).
o. To enforce the making of returns or reports to the local board on the part of any person charged with such duty under any law and to take cognizance of any failure to make such returns and deal with the same in an effective manner.
p. To act as the agent for a landlord in the engaging of repairmen and the ordering of any parts necessary to restore to operating condition the furnace, boiler or other equipment essential to the proper heating of any residential unit rented by said landlord, provided, however, that at least 24 hours have elapsed since the tenant has lodged a complaint with the local board of health, prior to which a bona fide attempt has been made by the tenant to notify the landlord of the failure of the heating equipment, and the landlord has failed to take appropriate action, and the outside air temperature is less than 55 degrees F.
Any person who supplies material or services in accordance with this section shall bill the landlord directly and by filing a notice approved by the local board of health, with the county clerk, shall have a lien on the premises where the materials were used or services supplied.
(cf: P.L.2006, c.47, s.110)
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month next following enactment, except that the Commissioner of Health and each local health board of health may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
In order to improve public transparency in the area of restaurant sanitation, this bill would establish certain requirements in association with the inspection of retail food establishments, and would revise and clarify the existing compliance rating system that is used by local health authorities to identify, in summary form, a restaurant's level of compliance with the State Sanitary Code.
"Retail food establishment" would be broadly defined by the bill, consistent with existing regulatory provisions, to mean an operation, including a restaurant, satellite or catered feeding location, catering operation, market, vending location, or food bank, which stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption, and which relinquishes possession of such food directly to a consumer, or indirectly to a consumer, through the use of a delivery or take-out service; regardless of whether the operation is conducted in a mobile, stationary, temporary, or permanent facility or location, or whether consumption takes place on or off the premises, or whether there is a charge for the food. "Retail food establishment" would include a transportation vehicle or a central preparation facility or location that supplies food to a vending location or satellite or catered feeding location, unless the vending or feeding location is permitted by the local health authority. "Retail food establishment" would not include: (1) a produce stand that only offers whole, uncut fresh fruits and vegetables; (2) a food processing plant; (3) a private home that receives catered or home-delivered food; (4) a kitchen in a private home, such as a family child-care home, as defined at N.J.A.C.10:126-1.2, or a bed and breakfast guesthouse or bed and breakfast homestay, as defined at N.J.A.C.5:70-1.5, where food is prepared for and offered to guests, provided that the home is owner-occupied, and breakfast is the only meal offered; (5) a kitchen in a private home where food is prepared for sale or use in a community function, such as a religious or charitable bake sale, provided that the consumer is informed by a clearly visible placard at the sales or service location that the food has been prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to inspection by the local health authority; or (6) an area where food prepared under paragraph (5), above, is sold or offered for human consumption.
The bill would provide that, whenever a local health authority conducts an inspection of a retail food establishment located in its jurisdiction, the findings are to be recorded in an inspection report, in a form and manner specified by the Department of Health (DOH). The inspection report is to identify, in narrative form, the violations of the State Sanitary Code that are deemed to exist on the premises, and the specific sections of the Code that are being violated.
Upon completion of an inspection report, the bill would require the local health authority to:
(1) present a copy of the report to the owner or operator, or to an employee, of the retail food establishment;
(2) provide the retail food establishment with an evaluation placard, which rates the establishment's compliance with the provisions of the State Sanitary Code, in accordance with a new compliance rating system established by the bill; and
(3) include the information from the completed inspection report, and the compliance rating from the evaluation placard, into a publicly accessible and searchable online database that is to be established in accordance with the bill's provisions.
The evaluation placard that is provided to a retail food establishment would include a descriptive designation indicating whether the local health authority deems the retail food establishment's compliance with the State Sanitary Code to be "exemplary;" "satisfactory, with only minor deficiencies;" "passable, but with substantial deficiencies;" or "unsatisfactory."
An "exemplary" designation would be indicated only if the retail food establishment is found to be operating in full compliance with the State Sanitary Code, without any violations or deficiencies, and if all food service employees have demonstrated that they are aware of, and are practicing, appropriate sanitation and food safety principles as outlined in the State Sanitary Code.
A "satisfactory, with only minor deficiencies" designation would be indicated if the establishment is found to be operating in substantial compliance with the State Sanitary Code, but is found to have one, or only a few, minor or technical violations or deficiencies, which prevent it from obtaining an "exemplary" designation, but which do not significantly reduce the ability of the establishment to operate in a sanitary manner.
A "passable, but with substantial deficiencies" designation would be indicated if the establishment is: (1) found to have one or more violations or deficiencies that, while not posing an imminent hazard to human health, are nevertheless substantial, non-minor, and non-technical in nature; or (2) the retail food establishment is found to have a multitude of minor or technical violations or deficiencies that together have the effect of significantly reducing the ability of the establishment to operate in a sanitary manner.
An "unsatisfactory" designation would be indicated whenever the establishment is found to have one or more violations or deficiencies that constitute gross unsanitary or unsafe conditions posing an imminent hazard to human health.
The bill would require the operator of a retail food establishment to post the evaluation placard, which has been issued to the establishment following the most recent inspection thereof, in a visible and conspicuous place at the front of the establishment, immediately adjacent to a public entrance. The placard would need to be posted in a manner that allows members of the public to easily view it, and may not be hidden or obstructed from public view.
Whenever the local health authority issues an evaluation placard indicating that a retail food establishment's compliance rating is "unsatisfactory," the bill would require the health authority to immediately order the operator to cease operations until it is shown, through re-inspection conducted in accordance with the bill's provisions, that the conditions warranting an unsatisfactory designation no longer exist. The local health authority would be authorized to use all lawful measures, including embargo, condemnation, and injunctive relief, to ensure that such an establishment does not prepare or serve food until the establishment is re-inspected, and improved compliance is confirmed, in accordance with the bill's provisions.
Each local health authority would be required to establish and maintain a searchable online database of retail food establishment inspection results, for public review. The database would include complete and updated inspection report information for each retail food establishment that is under the jurisdiction of the local health authority, and would additionally identify the compliance rating that is indicated on the most recent evaluation placard issued to each such establishment. Members of the public would be authorized to search the database, and obtain up-to-date inspection results and compliance rating information, using the name and address of any retail food establishment that falls under the jurisdiction of the local health authority. The local health authority would be required to regularly update the database to ensure that it reflects the most up-to-date inspection results and compliance rating information on each retail food establishment in the locality.
The DOH would also be required to provide, at a publicly accessible location on its Internet website, hyperlinks to each of the retail food establishment inspection databases that are established by local health authorities pursuant to the bill's provisions. In addition, whenever the DOH conducts an inspection of a retail food establishment, pursuant to the general authority granted thereto under section 18 of P.L.1947, c.177 (C.26:1A-18), it would be required to transmit a copy of the DOH inspection report to the local health authority having local jurisdiction over the establishment, and the local health authority would be required to include a copy of the DOH report in its online retail food establishment inspection database.
Whenever the local health authority issues an evaluation placard indicating that a retail food establishment's compliance rating is anything other than "exemplary," the local health authority will be required to conduct at least one unannounced follow-up inspection of the establishment, prior to the establishment's next annually scheduled inspection, in order to ensure that efforts are being made to attain exemplary-level compliance. Immediately following any such unannounced re-inspection, the local health authority will be required to change the compliance rating that appears on the establishment's evaluation placard, and update the information appearing in the online inspection database, as appropriate.
This bill is needed to address the current lack of public transparency that is associated with the inspection of retail food establishments in the State. Although members of the public can use various online resources to easily access citizen reviews regarding restaurant food quality, formal restaurant inspection reports are, in many cases, not available for public viewing, except through an Open Public Records Act request. The bill's provisions, therefore, are intended to make it easier for members of the public to access inspection-related information, which will be relevant to their dining determinations.
The bill is also needed to revise and clarify the existing compliance rating system that has been established through regulation for evaluation placards. The existing compliance rating system recognizes only three different levels of compliance - "Satisfactory," "Conditionally Satisfactory," and "Unsatisfactory." However, the "conditionally satisfactory" designation is overly broad in its scope, as it is applicable to all retail food establishments that have any violations or deficiencies of the State Sanitary Code (except those with violations constituting an imminent health hazard), regardless of the nature or severity of those violations or deficiencies. Thus, an establishment where the employees fail to wear hair nets (a minor deficiency) will be subject to the same "conditionally satisfactory" compliance rating as an establishment that engages in much more substantial and gross violations of the State Sanitary Code. This vagueness and overbreadth ultimately leads to public confusion and uncertainty about the extent and nature of deficiencies that have been exhibited by retail food establishments that fall into this middle category. The revised compliance rating system established by the bill, therefore, would include two new middle-grade rankings (i.e., "satisfactory, with only minor deficiencies;" and "passable, but with substantial deficiencies"), which are designed to provide greater clarity to the public regarding the actual nature and severity of deficiencies that are discovered at each retail food establishment.
The DOH would be required to adopt rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement the bill's provisions.
