Bill > S3223

Introduced Session

This bill would require schools and child care centers to test their drinking water for lead at least every two years, and to take certain actions if they find a lead concentration greater than five parts per billion is found. The bill would also require schools and child care centers to install filters that are certified to reduce lead levels at each drinking water fountain or faucet that is regularly used for drinking water or food preparation. Specifically, the bill would require the governing authority of a school and the owner or operator of a child care center to test each drinking water outlet at their facilities in accordance with a lead sampling plan. The bill would establish certain minimum requirements for the lead sampling plan, as enumerated in subsection b. of sections 2 and subsection b. of section 6 of the bill, including the requirement that samples be taken after the water supplying the outlet has sat undisturbed in the pipes for between eight hours and 48 hours. The bill would also establish certain requirements on how the analysis of the water samples is performed, as enumerated in subsection c. of sections 2 and subsection c. of section 6 of the bill, including that the analysis be conducted by a laboratory certified by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to analyze for lead in drinking water. Within 96 hours after a school or child care center receives the results of a lead test, it would be required to make the test results public. In addition, if any results exceed a lead concentration of 5 parts per billion, the school or child care center would be required to provide a written notification to the parents, the staff, and the Department of Education (in the case of a school) or the Department of Children and Families (in the case of a child care center). The bill would require the notification to include information regarding the health effects of lead and a description of the following: (1) measures taken by the school or child care center to immediately end use of each drinking water outlet where lead concentration exceeds five parts per billion; (2) any additional remedial actions taken or planned by the school or child care center; and (3) the measures taken to ensure that alternate drinking water has been made available to all students, children, and staff members at the school or child care center. The bill would also require a school or child care center to install and maintain point-of-use water filters, which are certified by an accredited third-party certification body to meet National Sanitation Foundation-American National Standards Institute standards 42 and 53, at any drinking fountain or faucet in the facility that is regularly used by students, children, or teachers for drinking water or food preparation. The bill would also require a school or child care center to install, or cause to be installed, replacement cartridges for the filters at the frequency recommended by the manufacturer. Current regulations adopted by the State Board of Education, specifically N.J.A.C.6A:26-12.4, require schools to conduct lead water testing in a nearly identical way to the provisions in this bill. However, this bill would require the testing to occur every two years, rather than every three years, as under current regulations. The bill would also require schools to take action if a lead concentration of five parts per billion is found. Current regulations use the federal action level for lead, which is 0.015 milligrams per liter (approximately equal to 15 parts per billion). The bill would also extend the modified testing requirements for schools to child care centers as well, which are currently covered under substantively different regulations, adopted by the Department of Children and Families, at N.J.A.C.3A:52-5.3.

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Shirley Turner (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee (on 02/02/2026)

Official Document