[Adopted 9-3-2025 by Ord. No. B-807]
Unless defined differently herein, all terms used in this article shall be defined in accordance with N.J.S.A. 58:12A-40 to 58:12A-47, and N.J.S.A. 58:12A-39.
AGENTS
Shall mean properly identified and credentialed persons employed, contracted with or otherwise designated by the City or the Utility to design, investigate or carry out lead service line replacement, as well as those City employees designated by the Director of that Department of Municipal Services and the City Business Administrator to inspect, investigate and issue summonses for violations of this article.
CITY
Shall mean City of Hoboken.
CONTRACTOR
Shall mean a licensed vendor which contracts with the City of Hoboken or the Utility to replace LSLs.
DWELLING
Shall mean a building or structure or part thereof containing one or more dwelling units. "Dwelling" shall also apply to buildings and structures that are not used for residential purposes.
LSL
Shall mean that the water service line on private property which provides water service to the structure or building and is connected to a water main owned by the City, which is made of lead or galvanized iron or steel.
LSL REPLACEMENT PROGRAM
Shall mean the program that the Utility or its designee shall create to implement the lead service line replacement requirements of the N.J.S.A. 58:12A-40 et seq.
OCCUPANT
Shall mean a person or persons in actual possession of and living in the building or dwelling unit.
OWNER
Shall mean any person who has legal title to any dwelling, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or who has equitable title and is either in actual possession or collects rents therefrom; or who is executor, executrix, trustee, guardian, or receiver of the estate of the owner, or as mortgagee or as vendee in possession either by virtue of a court order or by agreement or voluntary surrender of the premises by the person holding the legal title, or as a collector of rents has charge, care, or control of any dwelling or rooming house.
RIGHT-OF-ENTRY FORM
Shall mean the standard form of right-of-entry agreement provided by the Utility, its agents, or its contractors to an owner, whereby an owner will confirm their agreement that the Utility, its agents, or its contractors may access the property for inspection and replacement of any LSL, and that the owner shall hold the Utility, its agents, or its contractors harmless from any and all liability related to the access.
SERVICE LINE
Shall mean any water service line on private property which provides water service to the structure or building and is connected to a water main owned by the City.
UTILITY
Shall mean the City of Hoboken Water Utility.
It is hereby established that the existence of LSL is prohibited in the City with replacement of same to be conducted as set forth herein. All property owners are subject to the provisions of this section until it is confirmed to the City, within 90 days of the effective date of this article, with written proof from a licensed and certified plumber, that an LSL does not exist on the property and/or that any LSL was previously replaced.
The officers, agents, contractors, and employees of the Utility, or its designee, shall have free access at all reasonable times in accordance with § 193-21 as follows, and in the event of an emergency at any time, to any premises within the City solely for the purpose of performing an LSL replacement evaluation and/or actual replacement. They shall have the power to reject all pipes and fixtures considered unsuitable for that purpose.
A. 
The City or its agents, as defined herein, shall provide notice to the owner and any occupant of a premises in the City being entered to perform activities related to LSL investigation at least 72 hours prior to accessing the premises, except in the event of an emergency.
B. 
The City or its agents as defined herein shall attempt to inform the owner and any occupant in person of the date and time of the LSL investigation or replacement, and if the owner or an occupant is unable to be reached in person, the City, its agent or designee shall send, by certified mail, a letter to the owner and any occupant or post a written notice in a prominent location on the property which shall include:
(1) 
The scheduled date and time of the planned access for LSL investigation or replacement and who will be performing the replacement; and
(2) 
The likely extent of water service disruption; and
(3) 
If a disruption to water supply of greater than two hours is expected, nearby locations, if any, where the City or its agents will be distributing or otherwise providing supplementary drinking water; and
(4) 
Any remedies that the City or its agents shall take if the City or its agents are unable to access the property.
The above notice shall be provided in English and any language that is determined by the City to be the primary language of 10% or more of the residents in the City.
C. 
Upon completion of an LSL replacement, the City or its agent or designee shall provide the owner a letter stating the approximate time that the replacement occurred, and providing a brief summary of the work performed.
The owner of any dwelling, building or structure shall replace their LSL through either of the following methods:
A. 
Signing up for the Lead Service Line Replacement Program offered by the City and allowing any agent or contractor access to their property to conduct the replacement. The contractor will provide the owner with a right-of-entry form which will allow the City, Utility, its agents, or its contractors access to verify whether or not there is an LSL and to replace any LSL that is servicing the property; or
B. 
Replacing the LSL on their own and at their own expense. If any owner selects this option, then replacement must be completed within 180 days of the effective date of this article. An extension of time may be granted where the owner can demonstrate to the Utility that a good faith effort has been made to comply with this article. An owner is required to provide the Utility with proof that the LSL has been replaced. Proof must include at a minimum: a permit issued by the Construction Department to a licensed plumber authorized to do the work; an invoice from the contractor who completed the work; a copy of the estimate along with any report of the work completed; and an inspection report verifying the removal.
If an owner of the dwelling, building or structure does not sign up for the LSL Replacement Program or does not replace any LSL associated with their property within 180 days of the effective date of this article (or within the timeframe provided in an extension) or is inaccessible or otherwise denies access to the property to enable the replacement of the LSL, then the following procedure shall be followed:
A. 
The City shall attempt to secure entrance to the property from the owner or the current occupant of the dwelling, building or structure, and the City shall incur no liability from the owner. The contractor will provide the owner with a right-of-entry form for completion. The right-of-entry form shall provide the contractor with access to the property to verify the existence of an LSL.
B. 
If access is granted by the owner of the dwelling, building, or structure, and if the contractor verifies the existence of an LSL, and if the owner agrees to allow the City to replace it, the contractor shall make the replacement and restore the property to the same condition prior to the replacement, or as close to the condition prior to the replacement, and the owner shall hold the City and its contractor harmless.
C. 
If access is granted by the occupant of the dwelling, building, or structure, then the occupant shall be held harmless and no liability shall be incurred to the City or to the occupant due to the replacement of the LSL by the City.
D. 
If access is denied by the owner, then the City shall provide notice pursuant to § 193-21 and may then access the property pursuant to § 193-20.
E. 
The City may also commence any action at law or equity that it believes is desirable for the completion of its necessary inspection of and replacement of any LSL.
The local authorized official, to be designated by the Administration, shall have the authority to issue a notice of violation or a summons and complaint for failure to comply with this article. A court date and appearance shall be required.
A. 
Violations of this article by any person or corporation may be punishable by a fine of at least $250 but not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment of a term not exceeding 60 days or by a period of community service not to exceed 180 days.
B. 
A second or subsequent summons may be issued if the violation hereunder continues for more than 72 hours with a separate fine attributable to each summons for continued non-compliance. If access is provided prior to the court date or otherwise agreed upon at the hearing, the court may, in its sole discretion, suspend the applicable fine subject to it being eliminated and the matter dismissed upon confirmation of compliance with access. In the case of continued refusal of access (two or more violations for a period of more than 20 days from the first summons) the court may impose imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days or by a period of community service not to exceed 90 days. In addition to the above, the City may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to issue an order to allow access to comply with LSL replacement under the Lead Service Line Replacement Law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 58:12A-40 et seq.
In addition to and apart from the above judicial remedies and penalties, failure to allow premises access for replacement within 20 days of written notice requesting same may be cause for the discontinuation (shutoff) of water service to the property, as allowed by N.J.S.A. 40A:31-19, until compliance with the inspection and/or replacement demand is met. The property owner shall be responsible for the cost(s) incurred in executing any such shutoff of service and subsequent restoration of service.
If any part(s) of this article shall be deemed invalid, such part(s) shall be severed, and the invalidity thereof shall not affect the remaining parts of this article.