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Stakeholders raise sampling, timeline and notification concerns at NJDEP lead-and-copper rule hearing
Summary
At a public hearing on proposed amendments to NJAC 7:10, utilities, labs and advocacy groups broadly supported stricter lead protections but faulted the proposal’s sampling protocols, compressed timelines, 1-hour notification requirement and potential costs for disadvantaged communities; written comments are due April 3, 2026.
At a public hearing, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection sought oral comments on a proposed amendment to the state’s safe drinking water rules (NJAC 7:10) to set New Jersey-specific requirements for lead and copper in drinking water, including monitoring, corrosion-control treatment, public education and lead service line replacement.
The proposal, summarized by hearing officer Samantha “Sam” Deglio of the Bureau of Water System Engineering, was published in the New Jersey Register on Feb. 2, 2026; the department said written comments will be accepted until April 3, 2026. “We will enter them into the official record and the department’s formal responses will be issued as part of the rule adoption process,” Deglio said.
Commenters generally supported the rule’s goal of reducing lead exposure but raised technical and practical concerns. Harvey Klene, laboratory director at Garden State Laboratories, pointed to typographical errors in the draft (noting that historical lead units were misstated as milligrams per liter rather than micrograms per liter) and urged clearer instructions for…
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