5. a. No later than 12 months after the effective date of this act, each public community water system shall submit, to the department, an initial plan for replacing all lead service lines within its service area. The plan shall be annually updated to be consistent with the annual updates to the system’s service line inventory, which are required pursuant to section 3 of this act, and shall remain in effect until all lead services lines within the system’s service area have been identified and replaced.

b. Each lead service line replacement plan and annual update thereto shall:

(1) provide for the average annual replacement of at least 10 percent of all lead service lines that were known to, and identified by, the public community water system on the date it submitted its initial service line replacement plan to the department, pursuant to subsection a. of this section;

(2) provide for the replacement of all lead service lines within the system’s service area, no later than 10 years after the effective date of this act, regardless of whether the lines were known or unknown to the public community water system on the date that it submitted its initial plan to the department pursuant to subsection a. of this section. Each public community water system in the State shall be encouraged to complete the replacement of all lead service lines in its service area within 10 years after the effective date of this act, as provided in the system’s lead service line replacement plan; however, notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph to the contrary, the public community water system shall be authorized to continue lead service line replacement activities for a maximum period of 15 years if necessary to enable the system to fully comply with the provisions of this act;

(3) include a plan for notifying consumers of health effects and steps they may take to reduce their exposure to lead before and after any lead service line replacement; and

(4) include any other information or certifications required by the department.

c. (1) Except during an emergency, such as a water main or service line break, or during a water main replacement, a public community water system shall not conduct a partial replacement of a lead service line. In all instances, the public community water system shall make a good faith effort to replace the entire lead service line and shall conduct a partial replacement only as a last resort. A partial replacement of a lead service line shall not count toward the public community water system’s replacement requirements pursuant to subsection b. of this section.

(2) A public community water system shall not suspend the water service of a customer solely because of a denial of access to the property owner-side of a lead service line for the replacement of a lead service line pursuant to this act.

d. (1) A public community water system may apply for, and the department may approve, a reasonable extension of any target or deadline set forth in this section if the public community water system demonstrates to the department that the extension is necessary to meet a service reliability demand or public health need, not related to lead abatement, within the system.

(2) A government entity that owns a public community water system may apply for, and the department, in consultation with the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs, may approve, a reasonable extension of any target or deadline set forth in this section if the government-owned system demonstrates to the department that the extension is necessary because the system or the municipality is experiencing financial distress.

e. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S.40:56-1 to the contrary, any costs incurred by a government-owned public community water system to assess or replace a lead service line pursuant to this act, excluding any portion funded by grants or other subsidies, may be borne by all of the customers of the government-owned public water system or may be assessed to a property of a property owner in the same manner as provided for the assessment of local improvements, pursuant to R.S.40:56-1 et seq., upon notice to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs.

L.2021, c.183, s.5.