By Ryan E. Gallagher, Esq. and Heidi S. Minuskin, Esq.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) will soon release a new proposal to address the backlog of Remedial Action Permit (“RAP”) Applications in response to the continued issues raised at the NJDEP’s RPII Stakeholders meeting. The License Site Remediation Professional Association (“LSRPA”) advised that the NJDEP has proposed having LSRPs submit a separate Certification in support of their RAP applications that pertain to sites without active remediation systems. The NJDEP will then conduct a quick inspection of the LSRP’s certification to make sure same is complete and, if deemed complete, the NJDEP will issue permits within a matter of days, not months. This will allow RAOs to be issued immediately thereafter.

In conjunction with the foregoing, NJDEP’s Contaminated Site Remediation & Redevelopment group (“CSRR”) re-established the Technical Review Panel (TRP) to address technical disagreements between LSRPs and CSRR staff as quickly as possible to ensure that the remediation of sites ensures the protection of public health and safety and of the environment and occurs in an expeditious manner.

Though much of the foregoing proposal is still in its infancy and the details have yet to be made public, this will expeditiously resolve the numerous outstanding RAP Applications and delays in obtaining permits. We will continue to monitor this groundbreaking development as the NJDEP discloses the full proposed plan.

If you have any questions or seek guidance, please reach out to Ryan E. Gallagher, Esq. at RG@spsk.com, or Heidi S. Minuskin, Esq. at HSM@spsk.com.

DISCLAIMER: This Alert is designed to keep you aware of recent developments in the law. It is not intended to be legal advice, which can only be given after the attorney understands the facts of a particular matter and the goals of the client.