ASSEMBLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND UTILITIES COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 5079
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 12, 2025
The Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5079.
As amended and reported, this bill designates electrical linemen and certain utility workers as first responders (first responders) during weather-related states of emergency and establishes several benefits to these first responders during a weather-related state of emergency.
Under the bill, first responders, during a weather-related state of emergency, as declared by the Governor or the President of the United States, are not liable for any civil damages as a result of any act or omission undertaken in good faith that arise out of and in the course of providing or restoring electric or water service. The immunity provided for in this bill does not apply to a first responder that causes damage by a willful, wanton, or grossly negligent act or omission or causes damage to any person as the result of the negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
Additionally, this bill permits the Division of State Police (State Police) to issue special decals for motor vehicles owned, leased, or used by first responders during a weather-related state of emergency. The decals are required to be displayed in a manner determined by the State Police, in consultation with the Division of Highway Traffic Safety in the Department of Law and Public Safety, and to be clearly visible to law enforcement officers. First responders are prohibited from displaying the special decals at any time except in the course of providing or restoring electric or water service during a weather-related state of emergency. The decals are required to be removed after the weather-related state of emergency has ended.
Abuse of any privilege, benefit, use or consideration granted to any person to whom the special decals are issued is sufficient cause for revocation of the special decals, and the person is subject to any penalties imposed by this bill. First responders are required to return the special decals to the State Police when the first responder is no longer employed or utilized to provide electric or water service during a weather-related state of emergency. If a first responder fails to return the special decals within 30 days of no longer being employed or utilized to provide electric or water service during a weather-related state of emergency, the first responder is subject to a fine of $100 to be imposed by the State Police. The State Police are required to determine a method for distributing and returning the special decals to and from a first responder to establish any regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this bill. Additionally, any person who submits a false statement or provides false information to obtain or facilitate the receipt of the special decals or the misuse of the special decals is subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 to be assessed by the State Police.
This bill also amends current law to require public safety answering points, which are facilities that receive and dispatch or transfer 9-1-1 calls, to be capable of dispatching and forwarding emergency calls for electric or water utility services to a first responder during weather-related states of emergency.
As defined in the bill, a “first responder electrical lineman or first responder utility worker” means a person that installs, maintains, or repairs electrical transmission and power distribution systems or water infrastructure during a weather-related state of emergency, as declared by the Governor or by the President of the United States.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
(1) replace the defined term “first responder electrical lineman” under the bill with “first responder electrical lineman or first responder utility worker”;
(2) update references to utility service throughout the bill to include water service;
(3) update the title; and
(4) update the synopsis.