By NJ Spotlight
State lawmakers used the final full day of a two-year legislative session to send Gov. Phil Murphy dozens of bills seeking to update everything from protections for domestic workers to how much they themselves are paid.
Amid Monday’s flurry of legislative activity at the very end of a lame-duck portion of the calendar following last November’s elections, Murphy also announced dozens of bills he’s signed into law.
Those new laws include, among many others, efforts to combat an ongoing teacher shortage and to improve the treatment of those suffering from sickle cell disease.
Monday also served as a swan song for a large group of departing lawmakers, including, among others, former governor and Senate president Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) and former Senate Republican leader Steve Oroho (R-Sussex).
On Tuesday, the Legislature will reorganize based on the election results from November. In all, more than 30 new members of the Legislature will be sworn into office and another six are moving up to the Senate from the Assembly.
Murphy, a second-term Democrat, is also scheduled to deliver the annual state-of-the-state address at the State House on Tuesday.
Here’s a closer look at some of the new laws enacted by Murphy on Monday:
‘Forever chemicals’
A new law signed by Murphy bans the use of fire-fighting foam that contains perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — toxic substances known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in nature. Foam containing PFAS has for decades been used to fight chemical and oil fires, situations where water alone generally isn’t enough to extinguish a blaze.
A growing body of research has linked PFAS exposure to serious health conditions, including increased rates of testicular and kidney cancers, decreased birth weights in infants, and increased risk of preeclampsia in pregnant women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Firefighters — who are exposed to harmful substances in emergencies while wearing PFAS-containing gear and sometimes using this toxic foam — are experiencing rising cancer rates in their ranks.
The PFAS-containing foam remains an effective tool for dealing with intense fires, and work is still underway to find suitable nontoxic alternatives. Because of that, the new ban will be phased in with a two-year grace period, though certain industrial facilities will get a four-year grace period. But a controversial carve-out is made specifically for oil refineries and petroleum terminals in New Jersey — those facilities will have an eight-year grace period with the possibility of an additional four-year extension.
The bill also allocates $250,000 to the state Department of Environmental Protection, to create a grant program to help small, municipal fire departments dispose of any existing foam stocks. The bill was unanimously passed by both the Assembly and the Senate.
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