4. a. Within 120 days of the effective date of P.L.2021, c.317 (C. 40A:5A-28 et al.), the Department of Community Affairs shall establish a Winter Termination Program, which shall prohibit a local authority, municipal utility, or rural electric cooperative from discontinuing service during the period from November 15 through March 15, to a residential customer deemed qualified for program eligibility by the department. The program shall reflect the provisions of the Winter Termination Program for residential electric and gas public utility service, established by the board and published in the New Jersey Administrative Code, as appropriate for residential electric, sewer and water service. The program shall include:

b. In addition to categorical eligibility for customers receiving assistance under programs specified in the eligibility criteria in the board’s Winter Termination Program for residential electric and gas service:

(1) categorical eligibility for any customer receiving assistance under the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program established pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, Pub.L.116-260, or any other State or local program that provides assistance specifically to help eligible customers pay electric, sewer or water bills;

(2) a process, in a form and manner to be determined by the department, which allows a residential customer to self-certify an inability to pay their local authority or municipal utility bill due to circumstances beyond the customer’s control, provided that the circumstances shall include, but not be limited to, unemployment, illness, medically related expenses, recent death of an immediate family member, and any other circumstances that might cause financial hardship; and

(3) a requirement that a local authority or municipal utility shall maintain or reconnect electric, sewer, or water service if a residential customer of a local authority, municipal utility, or rural electric cooperative can prove that they have submitted an application for assistance under the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program established pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, Pub.L.116-260 or any other State, local, or utility program that provides assistance or discounted rates specifically to help eligible customers pay electric, sewer or water bills, before such application has been approved, denied, or withdrawn, unless there is a utility emergency. Upon request, the residential customer shall provide the local authority, municipal utility, or rural electric cooperative with an update on the status of the application.

L. 2021, c.317, s.4.