S3745

An Act concerning antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes in State water systems, supplementing Title 58 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in sections 1 through 6 of this act:

“Antibiotic-resistant bacteria” or “ARB” means single-celled organisms that develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to eradicate them.

“Antibiotic-resistant genes” or “ARG” means genetic material that develops the ability to defeat the drugs designed to eradicate it.

“Biosensor systems” means a system that detects and transforms responses, changes, or interactions in biological specimen for use as measurable data.

“Department” means the Department of Environmental Protection.

“Metagenomic sampling” means a culture-independent sampling method that allows the identification and characterization of the microbial composition and interactions of a substance.

“Microfluidic devices” means systems that manipulate fluids at minimal scales to detect the physical and chemical properties of fluids or viscous substances.

“Polymerase chain reaction” or “PCR” means the technique used to amplify or copy small segments of DNA.

"Public community water system" means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2021, c.183 (C.58:12A-41).

2. a. The Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Health, and New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, shall collaboratively implement a two-year pilot program to detect, monitor, and eradicate antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes at the following sites:

(1) wastewater treatment plants, treatment works, or public community water systems treating more than 10 million gallons of water per day;

(2) hospitals with more than 100 beds or with high patient volume and turnover;

(3) surface waters, such as rivers, lakes, ponds, and wetlands;

(4) agricultural areas;

(5) sediments near effluent discharge points; and

(6) groundwater aquifers in vulnerable areas identified by historical contamination data or environmental risk.

b. The pilot program may utilize biosensors, microfluidic devices, or automated metagenomic sampling units in order to detect and monitor ARBs and ARGs.

c. The pilot program may include water, sediment, and biofilm testing, measuring in each sample both ARBs and ARGs.

d. The department shall establish a water system testing and sampling schedule, to provide that:

(1) wastewater treatment plants, treatment works, public community water systems, waterway sites, or other water systems with no more than one detection instance of ARB or ARG within the previous 90 days are tested with a monthly sampling frequency; and

(2) wastewater treatment plants, treatment works, public community water systems, waterway sites, or other water systems with more than one detection of ARB or ARG within the previous 90 days are tested with a weekly sampling frequency. The department shall continue the established sampling frequency until the tested site has achieved no presence of ARB or ARG for at least the previous 90 consecutive days.

e. The department shall require all sites tested through the pilot program to report ARB and ARG testing results quarterly. The department shall conduct annual water system audits and inspections to ensure adherence to sampling and testing standards.

f. Unless otherwise authorized by the Governor and the Legislature pursuant to section 6 of this act, the pilot program shall end at the conclusion of two years.

3. a. Through the pilot program established pursuant to section 2 of this act:

(1) The Department of Environmental Protection shall:

(a) upload results from the ARG and ARB pilot program to a centralized Internet site and database, to be known as “The New Jersey ARB and ARG in Water Systems Database;”

(b) issue alerts to all residents of a municipality in the event a wastewater treatment plant, treatment works, public community water systems, waterway site, or other public community water system receives testing results indicating the presence of ARBs or ARGs;

(c) require all individuals conducting ARB and ARG testing to complete an operator training course, to be developed and administered by the department, on an annual basis; and

(d) verify compliance of all persons licensed to conduct ARB and ARG testing with the training requirements through an annual audit and renewal process;

(2) The Department of Health shall:

(a) cross-reference data with hospital and pharmaceutical facility information in order to ensure comprehensive coverage following standardized sampling protocols.

(b) develop and publish research on the association between environmental ARB and ARG exposure and neurodegenerative diseases.

b. Through the pilot program established pursuant to section 2 of this act, the department and the Department of Health shall require all hospitals exceeding 100 beds or discharging more than 0.5 million gallons of water per day to install advanced water and wastewater treatment technologies, including, but not limited to, membrane bioreactors, UV disinfection systems, ozone systems, or other department approved systems. The department may authorize these hospital sites to conduct ARB and ARG testing through a third party, non-State contractor, provided that the hospital site has attained non-detection of ARB and ARG for at least 90 consecutive days prior to testing, and provided that all other sampling and testing compliance and monitoring requirements established by the department are met. The department shall regulate hospital systems’ compliance with all ARB and ARG testing conducted pursuant to this section.

4. Through the pilot program established pursuant to section 2 of this act, the department shall enforce phased performance standards for ARB and ARG reduction at public water utilities, wastewater treatment plants, and other public community water systems, requiring a minimum standard of 90 percent reduction in incidence of ARB and ARG across all State water systems. The performance standards shall be enforced in phases over two years of the pilot program, with each phase eight months in duration:

a. Phase one shall certify the attainment of ARB and ARG performance standards at public water utilities, wastewater treatment plants, and water systems servicing a population of greater than 10,000;

b. Phase two shall certify the attainment of ARB and ARG performance standards at public water utilities, wastewater treatment plants, and water systems servicing a population between 3,300 and 10,000; and

c. Phase three shall certify the attainment of ARB and ARG performance standards at public water utilities, wastewater treatment plants, and public community water systems servicing a population of fewer than 3,300.

5. The department shall establish and disseminate protocols and standards specifying the approved sampling technologies, testing systems, and monitoring protocols necessary to implement this act.

6. The department, in consultation with the Department of Health and the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, shall annually report to the Governor, and to the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), such information as is necessary to assess the success of the pilot ARG and ARB detection program. The report shall also provide the opinions of the Commissioners of Environmental Protection and Health as to whether the pilot program should be continued and, if so, recommendations for further improvement and implementation.

7. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Environmental Protection the sum of $1,000,000 to implement sections 2 through 6 of this act. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health the sum of $500,000 to implement sections 2,3, and 6 of this act. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank the sum of $1,500,000 to administer grants and loans to meet the objectives of sections 2 and 6 of this act.

8. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health and the Executive Director of the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, shall, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations as necessary to implement this act.

9. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Department of Health (DOH), and New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, to collaboratively implement a two-year pilot program to detect, monitor, and eradicate antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistant genes (ARG) at (1) wastewater treatment plants, public water utilities, and other water treatment systems treating more than 10 million gallons of water per day; (2) certain hospitals; (3) surface waters; (4) agricultural areas; (5) sediments near effluent discharge points; and (6) groundwater aquifers in vulnerable areas identified by historical contamination data or environmental risk. The pilot program may utilize biosensors, microfludic devices, or automated metagenomic sampling units in order to detect and monitor ARBs and ARGs. Under the bill, the department would establish a water system testing and sampling schedule, with low-risk wastewater treatment plants, treatment works, water utilities, waterway sites, or other water systems tested with a monthly sampling frequency and high-risk wastewater treatment plants, treatment works, public water utilities, waterway sites, or other water systems tested with a weekly sampling frequency. Under the bill, the DEP would require that all tested sites report ARB and ARG on a quarterly basis. All individuals conducting ARB and ARG testing would be required to complete an operator training course, to be developed and administered by the DEP, on an annual basis. Through an annual audit and renewal process, the DEP would verify fidelity, adherence, and compliance of all persons licensed to administer ARB and ARG tests to established training standards. The DEP would also conduct annual water system audits and inspections to ensure sampling and testing adherence, and issue alerts to all residents of a municipality in which a public community water systems, water system, or waterway site receives testing results that indicate the presence of ARB or ARG.

Through the pilot program, the DEP would be directed to upload results from the ARB and ARG detection pilot program to a centralized Internet site and database, to be known as the “New Jersey ARB and ARG in Water Systems Database”.

The DOH would cross-reference all data with hospital and pharmaceutical data in order to ensure comprehensive coverage following standardized sampling protocols. The DOH would also be required to develop and publish research on the association between environmental ARB and ARG exposure and neurodegenerative diseases.

Through the pilot program established pursuant to section 2 of the bill, the DEP and the DOH would require hospitals exceeding 100 beds or discharging more than 0.5 million gallons of water per day to install advanced wastewater treatment technologies to test for the presence of ARB and ARG, authorizing these hospitals to contract with a third-party, provided that the hospital site has attained non-detection of ARB and ARG for at least ninety consecutive days prior to testing, and provided that all compliance and monitoring requirements are met. The DEP would also regulate hospital compliance with all ARB and ARG testing standards.

Under the bill, the DEP would enforce phased performance standards for ARB and ARG reduction at public water utilities, wastewater treatment plants, and other water systems, requiring a minimum standard of 90 percent reduction in the incidence of ARB and ARG across all State water systems. The performance standards would be enforced in phases over two years of the pilot program, with each phase eight months in duration. Phase one would certify attainment of ARB and ARG performance standards at public water utilities, wastewater treatment plants, and water systems servicing a population of greater than 10,000; phase two would certify the attainment of performance standards at public water utilities, wastewater treatment plants, and water systems servicing a population between 3,300 and 10,000; and phase three would certify the attainment of ARB and ARG performance standards at water utilities, wastewater treatment plants, and water systems servicing a population of fewer than 3,300.

The DEP would be authorized, in collaboration with the State Infrastructure Bank’s Water Bank, to distribute grants, loans, and cost sharing programs for the pilot program. The DEP, DOH, and Infrastructure Bank would receive a collective appropriation of $3 million to implement the provisions of this bill. In addition to submitting annual reports on the pilot program, the DEP, DOH, and the Infrastructure Bank would advise the Governor and the Legislature on the continuation of the pilot program, and recommendations for improvement.