The bill, if passed by the full Senate, would require buildingowners to warn prospective tenants of business complexes orapartment buildings that a facility lies in a flood zone. Undercurrent NJ law, prospective building owners can find out aboutflood danger, usually through the title search process, but tenantshave no such protection. A tenant not notified of the flood dangercould seek damages from a building owner if the business orresidence subsequently suffers flood damage. The proposal passedthe State Assembly in June, and is now on its way to the fullSenate, where approval is expected.

A second bill, also en route to the full Senate, would give theCity of Cranford, Union County, $3.25 million to fund flood controlmeasures. That legislation was actually proposed some 14 monthsbefore Floyd to control flood-prone portions of the city.

In the wake of Floyd, some $331 million in flood control-relatedconstruction is finally underway--some 27 years after it was firsttalked about--in communities hard-hit by the 1999 storm. The workwill create a system of bridges, levees and dams in and aroundBound Brook, Manville, plus Plainfield, North Plainfield and theborough of Middlesex. The work is aimed at controlling the RaritanRiver, the largest waterway entirely within the state's borders,and a branch of the river called Green Brook.