52:27D-25hh Emblem on residential dwelling to identify persons with disabilities.

1. a. The Director of the Division of Fire Safety in the Department of Community Affairs shall issue a person with a disability identification emblem upon the proper application therefor by a qualified person with a disability. The emblem, when affixed to the window of a residential dwelling, shall serve to alert firefighters, medical, rescue or law enforcement personnel, when responding to an emergency situation, that a person with a disability may be present therein and may require special assistance. The director, in consultation with appropriate State agencies and organizations representing individuals with disabilities, shall determine the design and size of the emblem and the location and manner in which it shall be affixed to the dwelling. The director shall promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

b. A person with a disability may apply for an emblem to the Director of the Division of Fire Safety. After due investigation of the qualifying status of each applicant, the director shall issue the emblem. An emblem issued pursuant to this section shall be nontransferable and shall be removed from a dwelling when a qualified person with a disability no longer resides in that dwelling.

As used in this section, "person with a disability" means a person who is severely and permanently disabled and cannot ambulate without the use of assistive devices, such as a cane, crutch, wheelchair, prosthetic device or other person, or someone who suffers from lung disease or uses portable oxygen, or someone who has a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as a class III or class IV, according to the American Heart Association, or someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, or an individual who has permanent sight impairment in both eyes as certified by the New Jersey Commission for the Blind or whose ability to walk is severely and permanently limited due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition. The disability must be certified by a licensed medical doctor, podiatrist or physician licensed to practice in New Jersey or a bordering state.

L.2001,c.453,s.1.