§2

C.26:2P-7

&

Note To

R.S.26:9-30

P.L. 1997, CHAPTER 52, approved April 1, 1997

Senate, No. 560 (First Reprint)

An Act concerning the management of Lyme disease ¹and other tick-borne illlness¹, amending and supplementing P.L.1991, c.227, and amending P.L.1976, c.68.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Section 1 of P.L.1991, c.277 (C.26:2P-1) is amended to read as follows:

    1. The Legislature finds and declares that:

    a. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection which is spread by certain [arthropods] ticks, and is one of the fastest growing public health problems in New Jersey;

    b. [There is evidence that the disease may be transmitted through blood products, shared needles, raw milk and blood-sucking insects] Studies of Lyme disease treatment have shown that costs associated with long-term treatment of infected persons have often exceeded $100,000 per case and have a significant negative social impact;

    c. Lyme disease, which is the most common tick-borne disease in this country, is present in 48 states and five continents and is spreading, with New Jersey being one of the states in which the disease is most prevalent. New Jersey experienced the largest percentage increase in reported cases of Lyme disease of any state between ¹[1992 and 1993] 1993 and 1994¹ ;

    d. Lyme disease was not widely recognized in the United States until 1975 and was first identified in New Jersey in Monmouth county in 1978;

    e. [Because Lyme disease is still relatively unknown] Even though Lyme disease is receiving increased public attention among both the medical community and the general public, it is often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed, which results in more serious health problems for the

 affected person; [and]

    f. If untreated, Lyme disease, in its later stages, can result in neurological disorders, including, but not limited to, chronic and severe fatigue, encephalitis, meningitis, memory loss, dementia and seizures; severe arthritis; cardiac dysfunction; vision loss, gastrointestinal disorders, paralysis, strokes and death;¹[ and]¹

    g. ¹Other tick-borne diseases known or suspected to occur in New Jersey include Rocky Mountain spotted fever, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis and human babesiosis; and

    h.¹ County mosquito control agencies throughout the State are currently staffed and equipped to control nuisance and vector species of mosquitoes. These commissions or agencies provide a central operational unit within each county with the capability to advise and assist ¹[a State Lyme Disease Vector Management Board] the Department of Health¹ in the development and implementation of an integrated approach to ¹[the control of tick populations on public lands within each county] manage tick-borne disease vectors¹.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.277, s.1)

    ¹[2. (New section) a. There is established in the Department of Health a Lyme Disease Vector Management Board consisting of nine members, five of whom shall be public members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, and four of whom shall be the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Education, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection and the Director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, or their designees, who shall serve ex officio.

    b. Of the five public members to be appointed by the Governor, one shall be a physician or a veterinarian, one shall be a regular or honorary member of Associated Executives of Mosquito Control Work in New Jersey, one shall be a representative of the New Jersey Health Education Association, one shall be chosen from the regular membership of the New Jersey Recreation and Parks Association, and one shall be chosen from the public members of the Governor's Lyme Disease Advisory Council.

    c. Public members of the board shall serve four year terms, except that of the first public members appointed twoshall be appointed for a term of one year, one shall be appointed for a term of two years, one shall be appointed for a term of three years and one shall be appointed for a term of four years. Members whose terms have expired shall continue to serve until their successors have been appointed and qualified. Vacancies occurring other than by expiration of a term shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term.

    d. The board shall organize at the call of the Commissioner of Health within thirty days following the appointment of the five public members, and shall select a chairperson from among the appointed public members and a secretary, who need not be a member. Members shall serve without compensation.

    e. For the purpose of gathering data, sharing information and distributing public educational material, the board may call to its assistance and avail itself of the service of any State, county or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency. The board shall have appropriate offices and staffing within the Department of Health and that department shall supply the professional and clerical assistance necessary for the board to perform its duties. The board may incur miscellaneous expenses to perform its duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for those purposes.]¹

    ¹[3. (New section) The duties of the board shall include but not be limited to:

    a. Conducting a continuous study of ticks that transmit Lyme disease, which shall include:

    (1) Review of available epidemiological information;

    (2) Surveillance of known tick habitats;

    (3) Preparation of maps indicating Lyme disease case distribution and tick habitat; and

    (4) Development of a system for prioritizing the geographical areas of the State requiring the implementation of tick management measures;

    b. Developing a tick management protocol based upon the principles of integrated pest management (IPM), including but not limited to:

    (1) Surveillance and habitat assessment;

    (2) Public education;

    (3) Physical control measures, including habitat modification ;

    (4) Biological control measures; and

    (5) Chemical control measures;

    c. Overseeing the operation ofan ongoing work program within the Department of Health to:

    (1) Promote the prevention, detection and diagnosis of Lyme disease;

    (2) Manage the vectors of the disease in the State;

    (3) Establish a mechanism that will allow State, county and municipal agencies and educational facilities throughout New Jersey to share information about Lyme disease;

    (4) Determine the amount of State funding necessary to implement research activities required to develop a Statewide protocol for the management of ticks that transmit Lyme disease;

    (5) Develop a system for prioritizing those areas of the State where State funding should be utilized;

    (6) Develop a formula for determining the amount of money required to be made available in the form of State aid to counties for implementation of management activities; and

    (7) Develop a Statewide educational program for boards of education, local health agencies, county Lyme disease vector management agencies and the public at large; and

    d. Submitting an annual report to the Governor and Legislature on the progress made toward the prevention, detection and diagnosis of Lyme disease, on the progress made in managing the vectors that transmit Lyme disease, and on the financial impact of Lyme disease on the residents of the State of New Jersey. The annual report shall also include the amount of State funding that the board deems necessary to be appropriated for:

    (1) Research on the management of the vectors of Lyme disease;

    (2) State aid to counties for the performance of tick management activities by the various county boards of chosen freeholders that have established a comprehensive Lyme disease vector management program; and

    (3) Monitoring and managing vectors of Lyme disease on State lands.]¹

    ¹[4.] 2.¹ (New section) The Board of Chosen Freeholders of a county may designate any county mosquito ¹[control agency] commission¹ or other agency or any combination thereof to ¹[undertake Lyme disease management activities. An agency or agencies that are designated to undertake such activities shall conduct a management program that is consistent with the Lyme disease vector management protocol established by the board pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill)] provide surveillance, education, training and recommendations on integrated pest management for the management of Lyme disease or other tick-borne disease vectors¹.

    ¹In the event of a public health necessity, the designated commission or agency may conduct other tick management activities in accordance with tick management protocols established by the Department of Health.¹

    ¹[5.] 3.¹ Section 4 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.4) is amended to read as follows:

    4. In the preparation of its budget, a county may not increase the county tax levy to be apportioned among its constituent municipalities in excess of 5% or the index rate, whichever is less, of the previous year's county tax levy, subject to the following exceptions:

    a. The amount of revenue generated by the increase in valuations within the county, based solely on applying the preceding year's county tax rate to the apportionment valuation of new construction or improvements within the county, and such increase shall be levied in direct proportion to said valuation;

    b. Capital expenditures, including appropriations for current capital expenditures, whether in the capital improvement fund or as a component of a line item elsewhere in the budget, provided that any such current capital expenditures would be otherwise bondable under the requirements of N.J.S.40A:2-21 and 40A:2-22;

    c. (1) An increase based upon emergency temporary appropriations made pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-20 to meet an urgent situation or event which immediately endangers the health, safety or property of the residents of the county, and over which the governing body had no control and for which it could not plan and emergency appropriations made pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-46. Emergency temporary appropriations and emergency appropriations shall be approved by at least two-thirds of the governing body and by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services, and shall not exceed in the aggregate 3% of the previous year's final current operating appropriations.

    (2) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)

    The approval procedure in this subsection shall not apply to appropriations adopted for a purpose referred to in subsection d. or f. below;

    d. All debt service;

    e. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)

    f. Amounts required to be paid pursuant to (1) any contract with respect to use, service or provision of any project, facility or public improvement for water, sewerage, parking, senior citizen housing or any similar purpose, or payments on account of debt service therefor, between a county and any other county, municipality, school or other district, agency, authority, commission, instrumentality, public corporation, body corporate and politic or political subdivision of this State; and (2) any lease of a facility owned by a county improvement authority when the lease payment represents the proportionate amount necessary to amortize the debt incurred by the authority in providing the facility which is leased, in whole or in part;

    g. That portion of the county tax levy which represents funding to participate in any federal or State aid program and amounts received or to be received from federal, State or other funds in reimbursement for local expenditures. If a county provides matching funds in order to receive the federal or State or other funds, only the amount of the match which is required by law or agreement to be provided by the county shall be excepted;

    h. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1987, c.74.)

    i. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)

    j. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)

    k. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)

    l. Amounts expended to meet the standards established pursuant to the "New Jersey Public Employees' Occupational Safety and Health Act," P.L.1983, c.516 (C.34:6A-25 et seq.);

    m. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)

    n. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)

    o. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)

    p. Extraordinary expenses, approved by the Local Finance Board, required for the implementation of an interlocal services agreement;

    q. Any expenditure mandated as a result of a natural disaster, civil disturbance or other emergency that is specifically authorized pursuant to a declaration of an emergency by the President of the United States or by the Governor;

    r. Expenditures for the cost of services mandated by any order of court, by any federal or State statute, or by administrative rule, directive, order, or other legally binding device issued by a State agency which has identified such cost as mandated expenditures on certification to the Local Finance Board by the State agency;

    s. That portion of the county tax levy which represents funding to a county college in excess of the county tax levy required to fund the county college in local budget year 1992;

    t. Amounts appropriated for the cost of administering a joint insurance fund established pursuant to subsection b. of section 1 of P.L.1983, c.372 (C.40A:10-36), but not including appropriations for claims payments by local member units;

    u. Amounts in a separate line item of a county budget that are expended on ¹[Lyme] tick-borne¹ disease vector management activities undertaken pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.1993, c.269, s.17)

    ¹[6.] 4.¹ This act shall take effect immediately.

Authorizes Boards of Chosen Freeholders to designate mosquito commissions and others to undertake tick-borne disease vector management programs.