Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed legislation to reform the clean-up of contaminated sites. Licensed professionals will take over many of the more time-consuming functions that have bogged down the DEP, helping to expedite the review and approval process for contaminated sites across the state. The Licensed Site Remediation Professional will investigate sites to assess potential contamination, develop and oversee remediation approaches, and determine when a remediation is complete. They will make this determination through the issuance of a “response action outcome†(RAO) upon completion of the remediation activities. RAOs, except in cases where no contamination is detected, must be submitted to NJDEP and maybe audited
Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed legislation to reform the clean-up of contaminated sites. The Governor also issued an Executive Order to provide oversight, and accountability to the new law. Licensed professionals will take over many of the more time-consuming functions that have boggled down the DEP, helping to expedite the review and approval process for contaminated sites across the state.
The Licensed Site Remediation Professional will investigate sites to assess potential contamination, develop and oversee remediation approaches, and determine when a remediation is complete. They will make this determination through the issuance of a "response action outcome" (RAO) upon completion of the remediation activities. RAOs, except in cases where no contamination is detected, must be submitted to NJDEP and maybe audited.
The program is designed to streamline the clean-up process and allow more than 19,000 contaminated sites to be evaluated more quickly. This will benefit not only the environment by reducing the continued spread of certain types of contamination were it to remain in soil or groundwater. It will also potentially benefit property owners by making the process of studying a property and cleaning up confirmed contamination quicker and less expensive.
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The Govenor's Executive Order establishes additional oversight and transparency on projects of significance, such as sites that may be redeveloped for housing, schools, playgrounds, child care centers as well as sites where groundwater has been impacted by pollutants above remediation standards. The Executive Order also calls for every report submitted by licensed site remediation professionals to be posted online once such an internet site is established.
The licensing board to be established under the legislation is given 18 months from the effective date of the new law to adopt its rules and
regulations. Prior to that time, NJDEP is granted authority to establish a temporarylicensing program, a step that the department must take within 90 days of enactment. Remediations commenced before or within 180 days of the effective date are not required to be conducted by an
LSRP except in certain circumstances involving NJDEP enforcement actions. By three-years following enactment, all remediations must comply with the statute regardless of when commenced.
For more information from NJ DEP on this new program: http://www.nj.gov/dep/srp/
