N.J. takes ‘significant step’ to ending exposure to lead under laws Murphy just signed – NJ.com

New Jersey is now two steps closer to a lead-free future.

Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday signed three bills into law aiming to removing two common sources of lead exposure in the state.

Lead exposure is known to damage the brains of children and create learning and behavioral problems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no safe amount of lead in a child’s blood.

Nearly 4,000 children in New Jersey are found to have high levels of lead in their blood each year, according to Isles, a Trenton-based organization that advocates for lead abatement measures. That number is likely an undercount because testing requirements are difficult to enforce.

“In a state where two-thirds of our housing stock predates 1980, the risks of lead exposure run broad and deep,” Murphy said before signing the bills during a ceremony in Bloomfield.

“There are countless homes across our suburbs and rural areas where lead exists. … And when it comes to lead paint, we cannot ignore the reality that this has been a health crisis focused primarily in our cities and predominantly on black and brown communities, family, and children.”

One new law (S1147) takes aim at lead paint and dust, the most common sources of exposure, by creating a new requirement that any rental property in New Jersey built before 1978 be inspected for lead. This closes a loophole in the state’s existing lead testing regulations, which allowed single-family and two-family rental units to go without inspection.

The law also requires that if lead is found, affected tenants are eligible to be moved into lead-safe housing with financial help from the state Department of Community Affairs.

The measure passed the state Senate 40-0 and the state Assembly 70-3-1 last month.

Lead paint and dust are the most common sources of exposure to children. Sean Jackson, the CEO of Isles, said the lack of proactive lead testing has long left New Jersey’s children at risk, particularly those in urban areas where housing units are older.

“Today, New Jersey says we stop using our kids as lead detectors,” Jackson said at the ceremony.

Murphy also signed a law (A5343) that requires every community water system in New Jersey identify and replace every lead service line in its distribution network within 10 years. The measure passed the Senate 40-0 and the Assembly 70-0-2 last month.

The third new law (A5407) removes restrictions on special assessments and bond issuances for the replacement of residential lead service lines. The measure passed the Senate 40-0 and the Assembly 71-1-1 earlier this year.

“You shouldn’t turn on your faucet and fear the water’s not safe,” said state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, a sponsor of the legislation. “You shouldn’t have your child running around in a setting and then worry what condition your apartment is in and an exposure to lead.”

MORE: See our comic that draws out how lead got into drinking water across N.J.

Service lines are small pipes that connect individual properties to the water mains under the street. Decades ago, service lines were often made of lead because the material is easier to work with. Drinking water is treated to be made less corrosive, to prevent it from eating away at any lead pipes it may pass through, but corrosion control treatment can sometimes fail. Experts agree the only way to permanently remove any lead threat from water systems is to replace the outdated pipes.

Lead service lines are at the heart of drinking water concerns in Newark, Bergen County, Trenton and elsewhere around the state and nation. It’s estimated that there are 350,000 lead service lines in New Jersey, but state officials were only aware of about half that number in 2019.

Replacing the estimated total of lines in the Garden State could cost $2.3 billion, according to the American Water Works Association.

Paying for lead line replacements can be tricky. Some publicly owned systems have used state loans to pay for the work.

Newark has emerged from a lead crisis that drew national attention in 2019 by replacing more than 20,000 service lines without any cost to residents. That was made possible by a $120 million county bond that was repaid with money collected by renting the land under Newark Liberty International Airport.

The new lead line law allows investor-owned companies, like New Jersey American Water and SUEZ, to assess fees on customers within an affected water system to pay for their lead line replacement programs. Plans to create such fees would have to be approved by the state Board of Public Utilities.

There is some hope that an influx of federal spending through a national infrastructure bill will fund lead line replacements around New Jersey. President Joe Biden is seeking $45 billion from Congress to replace lead service lines nationwide.

Murphy told NJ Advance Media that “any added federal gravy allows us to do what we’re doing faster and with a bigger reach.”

“I feel very comfortable with the 10-year horizon, but I think that gets even better and faster if we get federal support,” the governor said.

Murphy was asked if the state would have had a lead plan if the troubles didn’t happen in Newark.

“Was Newark was a wakeup call for everybody? … Yes, no question,” he said. “But we would be here without it. But it certainly helped crystalize the issue for a lot of folks.”

Debbie Mans, co-chair of Lead-Free NJ, called the new laws “a significant step toward eliminating lead exposure to our families through lead paint and lead drinking water lines.”

“There is still more to do, including ensuring renters are also safe from lead-contaminated drinking water and extending lead paint notifications to home buyers,” Mans added.

Read more of NJ.com’s coverage of New Jersey water issues here.

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Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.