New Jersey Senate Passes Water Quality Legislation

The New Jersey Senate passed two pieces of legislation on Monday to address concerns about water infrastructure and water quality in New Jersey,

Senate Bill 922, sponsored by Senate Urban and Community Affairs Chair, Sen. Troy Singleton, D-7th District, and Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-14th District, would require the Local Finance Board to make certain findings before approving the dissolution of a municipal water authority.

Under the bill, the Local Finance Board must find whether the municipality has implemented an asset management plan for its water system. The board must also make sure the municipality has developed a plan to annually dedicate funds to address and remediate the highest priority projects.

The board must ensure that all fund balances held by the authority would only be used for the municipality’s water system and not for general municipal purposes. The bill was released from the Senate by a vote of 37-0.

Senate Bill 968, sponsored by Singleton, would require public water systems to notify customers and local officials of elevated lead levels in drinking water and would also require landlords to notify their tenants of elevated lead levels. The bill was released from the Senate by a vote of 39-0.

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