New Jersey Future Statement on Enactment of Laws to Address Lead Crisis

Trenton, July 22, 2021—New Jersey Future Managing Director of Policy and Water Chris Sturm released the following statement on Governor Murphy’s enactment of three laws to put New Jersey at the national forefront of childhood lead poisoning prevention:

“Today Governor Murphy put New Jersey on the track to a lead-free future for our state’s children by signing three groundbreaking pieces of legislation that will require the inventory and replacement of all lead service lines, facilitate the financing for those replacements, and require rental units to remediate lead-based paint.

This package of bills represents the implementation of the holistic approach to ensuring a lead-safe environment that is needed to fully tackle this public health crisis. By now we are all aware of the developmental and behavioral effects of lead poisoning on developing bodies and that these effects do not always go away when exposure ceases. Whether from inhaling or ingesting lead-based paint particles or from drinking lead-contaminated tap water, lead can wreak havoc on our children and immunocompromised adults. By addressing both sources of lead, we can ensure that no child is held back from achieving their full potential because they were exposed to lead.

This milestone was not accomplished in a vacuum, and includes the leadership and commitment in the Legislature, particularly from Senators Singleton, Greenstein, Gopal, Ruiz, and Cruz-Perez, and Assemblyman Schaer, Karabinchak, and Spearman, and Assemblywoman McKnight. Lastly, we would not be celebrating this success today if it wasn’t for the extraordinary organizing efforts from advocacy groups and communities across the state that raised awareness of this critical issue and pushed for solutions. We will continue to work with these partners until every child is free from the risk of lead exposure.”