1. a. There is established in the Department of Environmental Protection a non-lapsing revolving fund to be known as the “Water Supply Replacement Trust Fund,” hereinafter referred to as the fund. The department shall administer the fund, and monies in the fund shall be used to (1) provide loans to individuals, municipalities or municipally-owned or privately-owned public water systems as defined in section 3 of P.L.1977, c.224 (C. 58:12A-3) for the purposes of providing interim or permanent alternate water supplies to persons whose principal source of potable water is contaminated or is threatened with contamination by hazardous substances as identified by the department, or fails to meet the State primary drinking water standards contained in regulations developed pursuant to this act, or fails to meet a standard for sodium, chloride, lead, mercury, iron, or manganese established by the department pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1991, c.456 (C. 58:12A-22.4), and (2) provide funds to the department to conduct feasibility studies to determine appropriate remedies for contaminated potable water supplies, including the evaluation of water treatment systems, to conduct confirmatory tests to determine the presence of hazardous substances in potable water supplies, to study the extent to which water supplies are contaminated or are threatened by contamination with hazardous substances, to develop recommendations for remediating contaminated or threatened water supplies, and to defray administrative costs incurred by the department in implementing the provisions of this act. Payments of principal and interest on loans issued under the authority of this act shall be deposited in the fund, and shall remain available for further disbursements as new loans to be awarded pursuant to this act. Any monies deposited in the “Water Supply Replacement Trust Fund” are hereby appropriated to the Department of Environmental Protection to carry out the purposes of this act.

b. Loans made to local government units pursuant to this act shall bear interest at a rate fixed by the State Treasurer, which rate shall not exceed two percent per year for a term of not more than 20 years.

c. As used in this act, “hazardous substance” means any substance defined as a hazardous substance by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to rules and regulations adopted pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1976, c.141 (C. 58:10-23.11b).

L.1988,c.106,s.1; amended 1989, c.311, s.1; 1991, c.456, s.1; 1999, c.266, s.1.