Bill Text: NJ S1072 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires owners or operators of public community water systems to perform certain tests for Legionella bacteria.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S1072 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S1072-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires owners or operators of public community water systems to perform certain tests 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 systems 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:
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
"Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.
"Public community water system" means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-41).
"Service line" means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-41).
"System side" means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-41).
"Water system facility" means any large structure, container, or facility used for the intake, treatment, or distribution of drinking water, as determined by the department pursuant to subsection i. of this section, including, but not limited to, storage tanks, treatment plants, pumps, and water mains.
b. Commencing two years after the effective date of this section, the owner or operator of a public community water system shall test, at least once every three months, water from the system side of selected service lines for the presence of Legionella bacteria. The owner or operator shall divide the service area of the public community water system into quadrants of equal size, and shall test a random sample of not less than 0.1 percent of the service lines in each quadrant. To the maximum extent practicable, the same service line shall not be tested more than once in the same calendar year for the purposes of complying with the provisions of this subsection.
c. Commencing two years after the effective date of this section, the owner or operator of a public community water system shall have water from water system facilities tested each month for the presence of Legionella bacteria. The tests shall be performed on a random sample of not less than one percent of the water system facilities operated by the public community water system. The same water system facility shall not be tested more than once in the same calendar year, for the purposes of complying with the provisions of this subsection.
d. To the maximum extent practicable, a public community water system shall consolidate the testing required pursuant to this section with other testing required pursuant to State or federal law.
e. Water sampling and testing carried out pursuant to this section shall be performed using the best practices developed by the department pursuant to subsection i. of this section, and the water testing shall be performed by a laboratory accredited for this purpose by the department.
f. 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.
g. If a test result is found to exceed the applicable standard for Legionella bacteria developed by the department pursuant to subsection i. of this section, the owner or operator of a public community water system shall:
(1) immediately notify any customers of the public community water system that may be affected by the Legionella contamination; and
(2) no later than 30 days after the test result is received by the owner or operator, undertake efforts to remove the excessive levels of Legionella bacteria and to protect the health of the customers of the public community water system. The Legionella contamination shall be remediated no later than six months after the test result is received by the owner or operator. After the remediation, the owner or operator shall have the water from the service line tested, and shall submit the test result to the department to verify that the remediation has been successful.
h. 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.
i. 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 act. 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;
(2) maximum acceptable concentrations of Legionella bacteria in drinking water service lines and water system facilities; and
(3) an explicit definition of the water system facilities that are to be tested pursuant to this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the owner or operator of a public community water system to perform certain tests for Legionella bacteria on the drinking water in the public community water system.
Specifically, the bill would require the owner or operator to test water from the system side of a random sample of 0.1 percent of the service lines in the service area of the public community water system, at least once every three months. In addition, the bill would require testing of a random sample of one percent of the public community water system's facilities (including storage tanks, treatment plants, pumps, and water mains), at least once every month. The bill requires the water sampling and testing to be performed using a set of best practices developed by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). In addition, the bill would require the water testing to be performed by a laboratory accredited by the DEP.
The bill would also require the owner or operator of a public community water system 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 owner or operator would be required to begin remediation of the problem within 30 days, and the remediation would be required to be completed within six months. The owner or operator would also be required to notify customers that may be affected by the Legionella contamination.
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.
