STATE OF NEW JERSEY
213th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2008 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT M. GORDON
District 38 (Bergen)
Senator CHRISTOPHER "KIP" BATEMAN
District 16 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires prompt parental notification of contaminated soil found on school property.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning soil contamination on school property, and supplementing Title 13 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Charter school" means a school established pursuant to P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-1 et seq.).
"Pesticide" means any substance or mixture of substances labeled, designed, intended for or capable of use in preventing, destroying, repelling, sterilizing or mitigating any insects, rodents, nematodes, predatory animals, fungi, weeds and other forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except viruses on or in living man or other animals. "Pesticide" shall also include any substance or mixture of substances labeled, designed or intended for use as a defoliant, desiccant or plant regulator.
"School" means any public or private school as defined in N.J.S.18A:1-1.
"School property" means any area inside and outside of the school buildings controlled, managed, or owned by the school or school district.
"Staff member" means an employee of a school or school district, including administrators, teachers, and other persons regularly employed by a school or school district.
2. a. Within 10 days after the discovery of soil contamination caused by pesticides on school property, the local school board, the board of trustees of a charter school, or the principal or chief administrator of a private school, as appropriate, shall provide to each parent or guardian of a student enrolled at the school, and staff member of the school, notice of the soil contamination that includes: (1) a description of the problem and the factors that qualified the problem as an emergency that threatened the health or safety of a student or staff member; and (2) a description of the steps that will be taken to remediate the soil contamination.
b. The local school board, the board of trustees of a charter school, or the principal or chief administrator of a private school, as appropriate, may provide the notice required by subsection a. of this section by: (1) written notice sent home with the student and provided to the staff member; (2) a telephone call; (3) direct contact; or (4) electronic mail.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires prompt parental notification of contaminated soil found on school property.
Specifically, within 10 days of the discovery of soil contamination caused by pesticides on school property, the local school board, the board of trustees of a charter school, or the principal or chief administrator of a private school, as appropriate, must provide to each parent or guardian of a student enrolled at the school, and staff member of the school, notice of the soil contamination that includes: (1) a description of the problem and the factors that qualified the problem as an emergency that threatened the health or safety of a student or staff member; and (2) a description of the steps that will be taken to remediate the soil contamination.
The notice may be provided by: (1) written notice sent home with the student and provided to the staff member; (2) a telephone call; (3) direct contact; or (4) electronic mail.