Bill Text: NJ A2431 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes electronic database of occupants of hotels and multiple dwellings for use by fire safety and emergency service providers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-04 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee [A2431 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A2431-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GREGORY P. MCGUCKIN
District 10 (Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes electronic database of occupants of hotels and multiple dwellings for use by fire safety and emergency service providers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning registries of occupants of hotels and multiple dwellings and supplementing P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. (1) The owner of each hotel shall establish and maintain a registry of occupants of each dwelling unit located therein. The registry shall include, but not be limited to, the name of each occupant, each occupant's principal residence address, the date upon which each person commenced occupancy of the dwelling unit, and the signature of the person renting the dwelling unit.
(2) The owner of each hotel shall establish and maintain an electronic record identifying the name and principal residence address of each person occupying each dwelling unit located therein, which record shall be continuously available, or reported daily, to the Division of Fire Safety, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to this act.
b. (1) The owner of each multiple dwelling shall establish and maintain a registry of occupants of each dwelling unit located therein.
(2) The owner of each multiple dwelling shall establish and maintain an electronic record identifying the name of each person occupying each dwelling unit located therein, which record shall be continuously available, or electronically reported at least monthly, to the Division of Fire Safety, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to this act. The owner shall update and report to the division any changes in occupancy of a dwelling unit within 24 hours of a change in occupancy.
c. The commissioner shall establish and continuously maintain a centralized on-line database of electronic records reported by owners of hotels and multiple dwellings pursuant to this section, which shall be accessible at all times by key fire safety and emergency services personnel when responding to fires and other emergencies.
2. The commissioner shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), and within 180 days of the effective date of this act, rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of this act.
3. This act shall take
effect immediately, but section 1 shall remain inoperative until the first day
of the seventh month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
Recently, an ocean-side hotel was the site of a fatal fire. While the hotel kept a guest registry, because it was maintained on-site in book form, it was not accessible to fire safety personnel who responded to the blaze. This bill would require owners of hotels and multiple dwellings to maintain electronic records of current occupants, and to report that information to the Division of Fire Safety, who in turn, would make it accessible to fire safety and emergency services personnel.
Immediate access to a current list of occupants of hotels and multiple dwellings will provide fire chiefs and others, who are charged with the responsibility of deploying firefighters, with valuable, potentially life-saving information.
