Requires sellers of real property to disclose presence of dams.
What changed between versions
New subsection 1(d) defines 'dam' as an artificial dike, levee or other barrier that raises water level five feet or more above usual mean low water height. Excludes pinelands-area dams raising waters less than eight feet where the drainage area is under one square mile and the water surface is under 100 acres.
Section 1(c) now requires that dam safety information be made available to both sellers and purchasers, not just purchasers as in the introduced version. The language 'the purchaser may obtain' was changed to 'the seller or purchaser may obtain.'
Added Assemblyman Stanley (District 18) and Senator Burzicelli (District 3) as sponsors/co-sponsors, expanding the bill's legislative support base.
Section 1(b) adds a requirement that the division revise existing regulations under P.L.1999, c.76 (C.56:8-19.1) to incorporate the new requirements, but before that rulemaking is complete, the division must publish the revised disclosure statement on its website for immediate use.
Section 1(c) website requirements were narrowed: removed the requirement to include information about dams gathered through the property condition disclosure statement, and changed 'property owners' to 'sellers.' Added a new requirement that the website include notice that a seller or purchaser may contact the Bureau of Dam Safety to determine whether a dam is subject to the Safe Dam Act (P.L.1981, c.249) or Title 7 chapter 20 regulations.
The effective date trigger changed from 'the 90th day following promulgation of regulations implementing the requirements' to 'the 90th day following publication of the revised property condition disclosure statement by the Division of Consumer Affairs pursuant to section 11.' This could bring the law into force sooner since it no longer depends on full rulemaking.
