Bill Text: NJ S2680 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires energy efficiency report prior to sale of single-family residential property built before 2014.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-11 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee [S2680 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S2680-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires energy efficiency report prior to sale of single-family residential property built before 2014.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring energy efficiency reports for certain residential properties and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A contract of sale of a single-family residential property constructed prior to 2014 shall include a provision requiring, as a condition of the sale, the seller to hire a home energy auditor to prepare a report rating the energy efficiency of the property.
b. A seller shall provide a copy of a report required pursuant to subsection a. of this section to the buyer prior to the closing of title on the sale of the residential property. At closing, the seller and buyer shall both certify, in writing, that the required report has been provided to the buyer.
c. On or before the first day of the tenth month next following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), pursuant to R.S.48:2-12, the Board of Public Utilities, in consultation with the Department of Community Affairs, shall, pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this section. The rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, procedures for:
(1) the evaluation and rating of the energy efficiency of a single-family residential property for the purpose of preparing a report required pursuant to subsection a. of this section; and
(2) the certification of home energy auditors.
d. As used in this section, "home energy auditor" means a person certified by the Board of Public Utilities to evaluate and rate the energy efficiency of residential properties in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to sales of single-family residential properties on and after the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to subsection c. of section 1 have become effective.
STATEMENT
This bill would require that, prior to the sale of a single-family home built before 2014, the seller provide the buyer with a report rating the energy efficiency of the property. The bill would help the purchaser of a single-family home understand the energy efficiency of the property prior to closing.
An energy efficiency report required by the bill would have to be prepared by a home energy auditor certified by the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to evaluate and rate the energy efficiency of homes.
The bill requires the BPU, in consultation with the Department of Community Affairs, to adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of the bill no later than the first day of the tenth month next following the bill's effective date. These rules would have to include procedures for evaluating and rating the energy efficiency of single-family homes and for the certification of home energy auditors.
The bill's requirement that a seller provide an energy efficiency report to a buyer prior to a covered sale would not take effect until the regulations become effective.
