STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes common law public nuisance suits regarding lead paint under State law; exempts Attorney General from certain aspects of public nuisance claims when pursuing lead paint actions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning public nuisance actions related to lead paint, supplementing P.L.1971, c.366 (C.24:14A-1 et seq.), and amending P.L.1987, c.197.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) Nothing in P.L.1971, c.366 (C.24:14A-1 et seq.) shall preclude recourse to any other remedy available pursuant to common law for a violation of P.L.1971, c.366 (C.24:14A-1 et seq.) or for damages, abatement, or any other appropriate legal or equitable relief related to the manufacture, sale, distribution, or use in dwellings of lead paint or the production, promotion, or distribution of lead pigments for use in residential paints or coatings.
2. (New section) The Attorney General may bring an action for damages, abatement, and any other appropriate legal or equitable relief against a former or present lead paint manufacturer or an entity that produced, promoted, or distributed lead pigments for use in residential paints or coatings pursuant to a common law theory of public nuisance, and shall not be limited to injunctive relief. The Attorney General need not demonstrate that a defendant physically controls lead paint, or real property that contains lead paint, in order to prevail in a common law public nuisance claim based upon the sale or distribution of lead paint, nor demonstrate a special injury in order to recover damages or prevail in such an action. Nothing in this section shall be construed to deny, abrogate, or impair any common law or statutory right, remedy, or prohibition otherwise available to the Attorney General in any action, including, but not limited to, public nuisance claims.
3. Section 6 of P.L.1987, c.197 (C.2A:58C-6) is amended to read as follows:
6. The provisions of [this act] P.L.1987, c.197 (C.2A:58C-1 et seq.) shall not apply to:
a. any environmental tort action ; or
b. a public nuisance claim brought by the Attorney General concerning lead paint or lead pigments used in residential paints or coatings.
Nothing in this section
shall be construed to deny, abrogate, or impair any common law or statutory
right, remedy, or prohibition
otherwise available to the Attorney General in any claims not concerning lead paint, including, but not limited to, public nuisance claims.
(cf: P.L.1987, c.197, s.6)
4. This bill shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all actions pending, including those on appeal, on the date of enactment and to any action filed on or after the date of enactment, except that judgments entered or awards made pursuant to law for which no appeal is pending on the date of enactment shall not be affected by the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would allow common law public nuisance suits under P.L.1971, c.366 (C.24:14A-1 et seq., and known as the “lead paint act”), and exempt the Attorney General from certain elements of a public nuisance claim when pursuing a public nuisance lead paint claim.
Specifically, the Attorney General would be permitted to bring an action for damages, abatement, and other appropriate legal or equitable relief, not limited to injunctive relief, against a former or present lead paint manufacturer or an entity that produced, promoted, or distributed lead pigments for use in residential paints or coatings pursuant to a common law theory of public nuisance. Under the bill, the Attorney General would not be required to demonstrate that a defendant physically controls lead paint, or real property that contains lead paint, to prevail on a public nuisance claim based upon the distribution of lead paint, nor demonstrate a special injury in order to prevail in those actions. Additionally, the bill would provide that the exemption that already applies to environmental tort actions in the law regulating product liability actions, P.L.1987, c.197 (C.2A:58C-1 et seq.) would also apply to actions concerning lead paint or lead pigments used in residential paints or coatings, when brought by the Attorney General.