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A1638 • 2026

Designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.

Designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Kean, Sean T.
Last action
2026-01-13
Official status
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.

Designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.

What This Bill Does

  • Designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.
  • Topic: Public Safety and Preparedness Fiscal note: This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-13 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee

Official Summary Text

Designates open water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.
Topic:
Public Safety and Preparedness
Fiscal note:
This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
A1638

ASSEMBLY, No. 1638

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman SEAN T. KEAN

District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)

SYNOPSIS

���� Designates open water lifeguards as first responders
and emergency response providers.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning open water lifeguards and supplementing
Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� This act shall be known
and may be cited as the �Open Water Lifeguard Act.�

���� 2.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that:

���� a.���� Open water lifeguards
perform an essential public safety function by protecting countless lives from
death or serious injury, and they routinely do so at great risk to their own
lives.

���� b.��� Many open water
lifeguards are cross-trained in emergency medical response, marine fire safety,
law enforcement support, and water rescue craft operations, enabling them to
respond effectively to a broad range of emergencies.

���� c.���� Open water lifeguards respond
and attend to victims, treat victims, assist victims, and transport victims,
the four defined duties of an emergency response employee.

���� d.��� Open water lifeguards
not only protect life, but also property, evidence, and the environment, the
four tenants which define a first responder.

���� e.���� Current federal law,
without exception, allows open water lifeguards to qualify as first responders
and emergency response providers.

���� f.���� Accordingly, it is
altogether fitting and proper to recognize open water lifeguards as first
responders and emergency response providers.

���� 3.��� Any person who is
employed as an open water lifeguard in this State shall hereinafter be referred
to as a first responder and an emergency response provider.

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill designates open
water lifeguards as first responders and emergency response providers.� Under
the bill, any person who is employed as an open water lifeguard in this State is
to be referred to as a first responder and an emergency response provider.

���� Open water lifeguards perform
an essential public safety function by protecting countless lives from death or
serious injury, and they routinely do so at great risk to their own lives.� It
is the intent of the sponsor to recognize the essential, lifesaving work
performed by open water lifeguards.