ASSEMBLY AGING AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
ASSEMBLY, No. 1970
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 24, 2024
The Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee reports
favorably an Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No.
1970.
This committee substitute requires the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP), the Department of Health (DOH),
owners or operators of public water systems, and the owners or
operators of certain types of buildings or facilities to take specified
actions to help inform citizens of the State about, and prevent and
control cases of, Legionnaires’ disease.
Specifically, the committee substitute requires the owners or
operators of public community water systems, which have more than
100 service connections, and which are served fully or partially by
surface water or groundwater under the influence of surface water, and
any other public water systems designated by the DEP, to maintain a
certain minimum detectable disinfectant residual of free chlorine or
monochloramine, as applicable. The substitute would require the DEP
to develop a set of best management practices to aid public community
water systems in complying with the substitute's provisions. The
substitute would also require each public community water system that
is subject to the substitute's provisions to develop and implement a
distribution system maintenance plan for complying with the
substitute's provisions.
In the event of a disruption to a community water system (e.g. a
change in water treatment process or a change in the drinking water's
source), a public community water system that is subject to the
committee substitute's provisions would be required to provide a record
of the disruption to the DEP within 72 hours. Under the substitute, the
DEP would be required to establish a data management system for the
submission of records of disruption by a public community water
system, and a portal through which records of disruptions may be
accessed by the public.
The committee substitute would direct the DEP to establish
penalties, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the "Safe
Drinking Water Act," P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.), for failure
to maintain the minimum detectable disinfectant residual, failure to
comply with a certified distribution system maintenance plan, failure to
comply with notification requirements, and any other violation of the
substitute's provisions. 2
In addition, the committee substitute would require the DOH, or a
local health officer designated by the DOH, to perform an
epidemiological investigation for each reported diagnosis of
Legionnaires' disease in the State. The substitute would require the
DOH to develop guidelines concerning the investigations, and would
authorize the DOH to take certain actions during an investigation,
including requiring water testing in buildings suspected to be the source
of the Legionnaires' case. The substitute would also require the DOH
to establish a dashboard accessible to the public and healthcare
providers that provides de-identified data related to all reported cases of
Legionnaires' disease.
The committee substitute would require owners or operators of
certain buildings or facilities that meet criteria enumerated in subsection
a. of section 6 of the substitute – including hospitals, certain health care
facilities, correctional facilities, certain transient housing, certain
residential housing, and certain senior housing facilities – to develop,
with 24 months of the substitute’s enactment, a water management
program to minimize the growth of Legionella bacteria in the facility's
water system. The substitute would require each water management
program to be consistent with the American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard
188-2018 or subsequent versions thereof, or comparable standards
adopted by a nationally-recognized, accepted, and appropriate
organization.
The committee substitute would also require water management
programs for certain buildings and facilities, including health care
facilities licensed pursuant to the "Health Care Facilities Planning Act,"
P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.), to include periodic sampling and
testing for the presence of bacteria. The substitute would require the
water management program to be implemented within 27 months of the
substitute's enactment. The owner or operator of a covered facility who
fails to implement a water management program would be subject to a
civil or civil administrative penalty of not more than $2,000 for a first
violation, and not more than $5,000 for a second or subsequent
violation, except that an owner or operator would be subject to a penalty
of not more than $10,000 for any violation which causes serious injury
or death to any person.
Finally, the committee substitute would require the DOH to develop
a public awareness campaign related to Legionnaires' disease, and to
submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature on the status
of Legionnaires' disease transmission in the State and the DEP's and
DOH's progress in implementing the substitute's provisions.
As reported by the committee, this Assembly Committee Substitute
for Assembly Bill No.1970 is identical to the Senate Committee
Substitute for Senate Bill No.2188 (1R) which was amended and
released by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on this
date.