Bill > SCR123

Introduced Session

This concurrent resolution would strongly urge the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt drinking water standards for 14 hazardous contaminants, as recommended by the Drinking Water Quality Institute (DWQI). In 1977, the Legislature passed the "Safe Drinking Water Act," which, among other things, directed the DEP to adopt and enforce State primary drinking water regulations. Amendments to that act in 1983 created the DWQI, a panel of experts tasked with developing standards for hazardous contaminants in drinking water and recommending those standards to the DEP. The 1983 amendments also directed the DEP, after considering the recommendations of the DWQI, to establish standards for 22 listed organic compounds and any other contaminants that are present in New Jersey drinking water and may be harmful to human health. Despite the State's strides in improving the quality of drinking water, today many contaminants remain unregulated, including several specified in the 1983 amendments. Since at least 2005, the DEP has failed to adopt new or more stringent standards for approximately 14 contaminants, even though the DWQI has made recommendations concerning those contaminants. The DWQI's recommendations include new or more stringent standards for: perchlorate, a hazardous industrial chemical used in the production of explosives; radon-222, a radioactive gas and known human carcinogen; and formaldehyde, an organic compound used in embalming to temporarily preserve human and animal remains. As the agency responsible for ensuring the safety of the State's drinking water supply, the DEP has a duty to adopt new and more stringent drinking water standards when doing so would protect the health and welfare of New Jersey residents and visitors. The DWQI's recommendations are based on the latest scientific information concerning the health effects of, and testing and treatment methods for, various contaminants. As such, the recommendations of the DWQI should be swiftly considered and adopted by the DEP.

Committee Categories

Linda Greenstein (D)*, 

Reported from Senate Committee, 2nd Reading (on 11/03/2022)

Official Document