Bill Text: NJ A1977 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires DOE and DCF to establish online reporting systems for schools and child care centers to report lead testing results.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-11-15 - Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee [A1977 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A1977-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY J. PINKIN
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Benson, Holley, Assemblywoman Murphy, Assemblyman Conaway, Assemblywoman McKnight, Assemblymen Schaer, Tully and Assemblywoman Swain
SYNOPSIS
Requires DOE and DCF to establish online reporting systems for schools and child care centers to report lead testing results.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning lead in drinking water at schools and child care centers and supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes and P.L.1983, c.492 (C.30:5B-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Within one year after the effective date of this act, the Department of Education shall establish an online reporting system that allows a school to submit the results of any tests it has conducted for lead in drinking water and other related information to the department electronically.
b. Within 90 days after the establishment of the online reporting system pursuant to subsection a. of this section, any school that was required by law, rule, or regulation, on or after July 1, 2016, to test its drinking water for lead shall submit or resubmit its test results and other required information to the department via the online reporting system. The department shall compile the test results and other relevant information on its Internet website for access by the public in an easily-searchable format.
2. a. Within one year after the effective date of this act, the Department of Children and Families shall establish an online reporting system that allows a child care center to submit the results of any tests it has conducted for lead in drinking water and other related information to the department electronically.
b. Within 90 days after the establishment of the online reporting system pursuant to subsection a. of this section, any child care center that was required by law, rule, or regulation, on or after January 1, 2017, to test its drinking water for lead shall submit or resubmit its test results and any other required information to the department via the online reporting system. The department shall compile the test results and other relevant information on its Internet website for access by the public in an easily-searchable format.
3. Within two years after
the effective date of this act, the Department of Education and the Department
of Children and Families, in consultation with the Department of Environmental
Protection, shall prepare and submit a report to the Governor and, pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature, outlining the
extent of lead contamination in the drinking water of schools and child care
centers, the associated need for assistance with remediation activities, and
recommendations for how the State could assist schools and child care centers
with remediating lead in drinking water. The Department of Education and the
Department of Children and Families shall post the report on their respective
Internet websites.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require, within one year after the bill is enacted into law, the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to establish online reporting systems for schools and child care centers to report lead testing results electronically. In July 2016, the State Board of Education adopted regulations requiring every school in the State to test for lead in drinking water. Shortly thereafter, in January 2017, the DCF adopted regulations requiring each child care facility in the State to test for lead in drinking water.
Under the bill, within 90 days after establishment of the databases required by the bill, each school and child care center that was required pursuant to law or regulation to test for lead would be required to submit or resubmit its test results and any other required information via the online reporting system. The DOE and the DCF would be required to compile the test results on their respective Internet websites for access by the public.
The bill also would require, within two years after the bill is enacted into law, the DOE and the DCF, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, to prepare and submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature outlining the extent of lead contamination in the drinking water of schools and child care centers, the associated need for assistance with remediation activities, and recommendations for how the State can assist schools and child care centers with remediating lead in drinking water.
