Bill Text: NJ A521 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires owners of certain buildings to test drinking water for Legionella bacteria.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee [A521 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A521-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires owners of certain buildings to test drinking water for Legionella bacteria.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the presence of Legionella bacteria in drinking water and supplementing Title 58 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"Acute care facility" means a general acute care hospital, satellite emergency department, hospital-based off-site ambulatory care facility, or ambulatory surgery facility licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
"Assisted living facility" means an assisted living residence or comprehensive personal care home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
"Boarding house" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1979, c.496 (C.55:13B-3).
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
"County correctional facility" means any prison or other secure facility managed and operated by any county of this State in which offenders are incarcerated.
"Covered building" means an acute care facility, assisted living facility, boarding house, county correctional facility, hospital, multiple dwelling, nursing home, unit of public housing that has received funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, rooming house, or State correctional facility.
"Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.
"Hospital" means a hospital licensed pursuant to P.L.1971 c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
"Multiple dwelling" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-3).
"Nursing home" means a nursing home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971 c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
"Public housing" means any housing for persons of low and moderate income owned by a public housing authority, municipality, county, or the State or any agency or instrumentality thereof.
"Rooming house" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1979, c.496 (C.55:13B-3).
"Service line" means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-41).
"State correctional facility" means a State prison or other penal institution.
b. Commencing two years after the effective date of this section, the owner of a covered building shall, at least once per year, test, or cause to be tested, the drinking water from a tap in the building for the presence of Legionella bacteria.
c. The water sampling and testing shall be performed using the best practices developed by the department pursuant to subsection h. of this section, and the water testing shall be performed by a laboratory accredited for this purpose by the department.
d. To the maximum extent practicable, the building owner shall coordinate the water sampling required by this section with other required property inspections, including, but not limited to, inspections by the municipality or the Department of Community Affairs.
e. The results of each water test performed pursuant to this section shall be transmitted to the department, in a form and manner determined by the department.
f. If a test result is found to exceed the standard for Legionella bacteria developed by the department pursuant to subsection h. of this section, the owner of the building shall:
(1) immediately notify the residents or other users of the building, as appropriate; and
(2) if the water from the service line providing drinking water to the building has been tested for Legionella bacteria in the preceding month and the test result does not indicate an excessive level of Legionella bacteria, undertake efforts to remediate the Legionella bacteria contamination and to protect the health of the residents or other users of the building, as appropriate. The remediation shall commence no later than 30 days after the test result is received by the owner, and shall be completed no later than six months after the test result is received. After the remediation, the building owner shall have the water of the building tested for Legionella bacteria and shall submit the test result to the department to verify that the remediation has been successful.
g. A violation of the provisions of this section shall be considered a violation of the "Safe Drinking Water Act," P.L.1977, c.224 (C:58:12A-1 et seq.) and the commissioner shall have recourse to any of the actions provided for in section 10 of P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-10), in order to remedy the violation. However, the presence of excessive Legionella bacteria levels shall not, in itself, constitute a violation of the provisions of this section.
h. No later than 18 months after the effective date of this section, the department shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this section. The rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) best practices to be used by persons obtaining and testing water samples for the presence of Legionella bacteria; and
(2) a maximum acceptable concentration of Legionella bacteria in drinking water service lines.
2. This act
shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require owner of certain buildings to test the drinking water of the building for the presence of Legionella bacteria.
Specifically, the bill would apply to acute care facilities, assisted living facilities, boarding houses, county correctional facilities, hospitals, multiple dwellings, nursing homes, units of public housing that have received funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, rooming houses, and State correctional facilities. The bill would require the building owner to test water from a tap in the building, at least once per year. The water sampling and testing would be required to be performed using a set of best practices developed by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), under the bill. In addition, the water testing would be required to be performed by a laboratory accredited by the DEP.
The bill would also require the building owner to transmit the test results to the DEP. If the test results reveal the presence of excessive Legionella contamination, according to a standard to be developed by the DEP under the bill, the building owner would be required to immediately notify residents and other users of the building. If the drinking water in the service line connected to the building has been tested for Legionella in the previous month, and the test result was negative, the bill would require the building owner to begin remediation of the Legionella contamination within 30 days, and the remediation would be required to be completed within six months.
A violation of the bill's provisions would be considered a violation of the "Safe Drinking Water Act," P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.), which could result in civil administrative penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.
