Ten years after passing the Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) in May 2009, the New Jersey legislature is amending SRRA based on the past decade of experience implementing the program. The new law will affect private entities and municipalities that have an affirmative obligation to remediate contaminated sites in New Jersey. The most notable changes found in the new rule include the following:
LSRP Retention – The new rule clarifies that a non-LSRP may not perform “remediation” without the oversight of an LSRP. There are exceptions to this requirement for the remediation of unregulated storage tanks and for due diligence investigations (PA/SI) at contaminated sites assuming that the person conducting the work is not responsible for the cleanup.
Immediate Environmental Concerns (IECs) at Unoccupied Buildings – The prior rule and other available technical documents did not exempt investigation of vacant structures under the IEC remedial requirements. However, the amended rule provides an exemption for structures that are not occupied and will ultimately be razed. The exemption requires written certification be submitted to NJDEP by the property owner.
Public Notification & Outreach – Responsible parties will now be required to notify municipalities and health departments of any remediation prior to the initiation of the Remedial Investigation (RI) phase of the cleanup, whereas it was previously required to be provided prior the Remedial Action (RA) phase.
Direct Oversight (DO) – The amended law reinforces that the Direct Oversight (DO) requirements will follow (“run with”) the site after the property is transferred or sold. The DEP will reduce the DO requirements for a site if the responsible party can prove financial hardship due to the requirements of DO itself or show that the delay was due to a public emergency. Furthermore, the NJDEP will exempt sites from the DO program if deadlines were missed due to problems obtaining access to off-site properties or when the site is subject to federal oversight and the delay was caused by the need for additional NJDEP review. The NJDEP will also enter into an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) with a prospective buyer of a contaminated site that can allow for extension of the existing remedial timeframes and modification of certain DO requirements.
Please call or email us to discuss your specific situation regarding how this new regulation may affect your site.