S 3403 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Requires sellers of real property to disclose presence of dams.

This bill requires sellers of real estate in New Jersey to disclose on the property condition disclosure form whether a dam exists on the property, its hazard classification, recent inspection results, and any associated legal obligations. Sellers must answer specific questions about dams (including "unknown" as an option) and explain "yes" responses. Buyers will be directed to a Department of Environmental Protection website with updated dam safety information, including hazard classifications and ownership responsibilities. The disclosure requirements apply to all property sales occurring 90 days after implementing regulations are finalized.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 9, 2026 Last action Jun 30, 2026
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What changed between versions

Introduced Reprint · 4 edits
MODERATE
The First Reprint of S3403 makes several substantive amendments reported by the Senate Commerce Committee on June 8, 2026. It adds a formal definition of 'dam' with specific height and area thresholds, expands disclosure obligations to sellers (not just purchasers), creates a temporary website publication mechanism to accelerate implementation before formal rulemaking is complete, and changes the effective date trigger from regulation promulgation to publication of the revised disclosure form.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded to cover sellers in addition to purchasers for dam information access, and a new definitional threshold was added that could exclude small pinelands-area dams (under 8 feet height, under 1 square mile drainage, under 100 acres surface) from the disclosure requirements entirely.
DEFINITION

New section d defines 'dam' as an artificial dike, levee or other barrier that raises water level five feet or more above usual mean low water height. It excludes pinelands-area dams that raise waters less than eight feet where the drainage area is under one square mile and the water surface is under 100 acres.

SCOPE

Section c now requires that disclosure information about dam ownership responsibilities, removal, and hazard classification be made available to both sellers and purchasers (previously only purchasers). The website must also include notice that a seller or purchaser may contact the Bureau of Dam Safety to determine whether a dam is subject to the Safe Dam Act (P.L.1981, c.249) or Title 7 Chapter 20 regulations.

REQUIREMENT

Section b now requires the division to revise existing regulations under C.56:8-19.1 to incorporate the new requirements, but adds a stopgap provision: before formal rulemaking is complete, the division must publish the revised disclosure statement on its website so it can be used immediately.

TIMELINE

The effective date trigger changed from '90th day following promulgation of regulations implementing the requirements' to '90th day following publication of the revised property condition disclosure statement by the Division of Consumer Affairs pursuant to section 11.' This decouples the effective date from formal rulemaking and ties it to the simpler act of publishing the form.

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Total actions
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Feb 9, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of John Burzichelli
John Burzichelli
DDemocratic
NJ
3