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A 2929

Requires disclosure of lead drinking water hazards to tenants of residential units; prohibits landlords from obstructing replacement of lead service lines; concerns testing of certain property for lead drinking water hazards.*

2024-2025 Regular Session Introduced by Renee Burgess and 24 co-sponsors

Requires landlords to disclose lead water hazards, allows tenants to access testing, and prevents blocking lead service line replacements.

Approved P.L.2025, c.144.
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Bill Summary · A 2929

Summary — A2929 (P.L.2025, c.144)

Status: Enacted (Approved P.L.2025, c.144 on Sept. 19, 2025)
Subject: Lead in drinking water — tenant disclosures, testing, and service-line replacement access

Purpose

A2929 requires landlords to disclose lead-in-drinking-water hazards to tenants, prohibits landlords from obstructing replacement of lead service lines, and requires public water systems to test drinking water for lead at customer request. The law seeks to increase tenant awareness, expand testing access, and facilitate removal of lead service lines.

Key provisions

  • Educational notice: The Department of Health (in consultation with the DEP and DCA) must develop a consumer notice on health risks and exposure-minimization measures (e.g., flushing, using cold tap water, certified point‑of‑use filters — defined to meet NSF/ANSI 53‑2019) within six months of the law’s effective date and update it as needed. Publication and web posting required within 5 days of each development/update.

  • Landlord disclosure: Within 90 days after publication of the Health notice and a model disclosure, landlords must provide a “Lead In Drinking Water Disclosure” to each prospective/current tenant before a lease or renewal. Required contents include:

    • Acknowledgement if property is serviced by a lead service line or line of unknown composition (where landlord has received such notice);
    • Property construction date and a warning that housing built before 1986 may contain lead plumbing;
    • Any formal notice of a lead action‑level exceedance in the system’s service area (within prior 3 years) unless corrected >12 months earlier;
    • Any citation/penalty issued to the landlord under this law in prior 12 months;
    • Copy of, or directions to, the DOH consumer notice.
    • If included in a written lease, the disclosure must be a separate rider, individually signed/acknowledged, in at least 12‑point type.

  • Testing on request: Public water systems must, upon request by a customer (broadened in amendments to include property owners/lessees and non‑paying consumers in some cases), provide one certified lead test per year at no charge. If a test exceeds the EPA lead action level, the system must test every 60 days (on request) until two consecutive tests are ≤ the action level. Results must be provided to the requester. Exemptions: units built after 1986, units with service lines determined not to be lead, and seasonal rental units.

  • Access and lease termination: Landlords may not obstruct lead service line replacement; tenants may be permitted to terminate leases without penalty if the owner denies access for replacement.

Enforcement & penalties

  • Agencies: Enforcement authority is split (as amended): the Commissioner of Community Affairs may enforce landlord-related provisions; the DEP may enforce water-system provisions. Violations receive written notice and a 15‑day cure period.
  • Penalties: $100 (first), $500 (second), $1,000 (third+).

Timeline & implementation

  • DOH: develop consumer notice within 6 months of effective date; publish/update within 5 days thereafter.
  • DCA: produce model disclosure within 6 months; publish within 5 days of development/update.
  • Landlords: must begin providing disclosures within 90 days after publication of the notices/models.

Fiscal impact (summary)

The Office of Legislative Services estimates indeterminate state and local costs. Public water systems will incur testing costs (EPA estimate $15–$100/test); an illustrative upper‑bound aggregate (if many pre‑1987 homes requested tests) could be large (OLS cited up to ~$269 million aggregate as a hypothetical). Systems may seek to recover reasonable testing costs through rates (regulated utilities via BPU petition; others via rate base). DEP and DCA/DOH will incur administrative costs; fine revenues are possible but indeterminate.

Scope notes

  • The enacted law expands applicability beyond “public community water systems” in earlier drafts to broader “public water systems” and adjusts the customer definition to cover property owners/lessees (and in some provisions non‑paying consumers), per Senate amendments.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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