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 SRP Publications Annual Reports 1999
II.
Regulatory UpdateNJDEP continued its efforts in 1999 to promulgate the state's first soil
cleanup standards with plans to release a draft proposal by fall 2000.
In addition, the Department adopted several important rules to implement
legislative amendments that included the Brownfield and Contaminated Site
Remediation Act, and began new rulemaking efforts for its remedial priority
scoring and underground storage tank programs. The Site Remediation Program is leading the Department's rulemaking effort
to promulgate soil remediation standards that will be proposed at N.J.A.C.
7:26D. The Site Remediation Program is working closely with other Department
programs in the development of the rule. The Department is considering
human heath-based soil remediation standards that will be used to identify
and remediate contaminated sites in New Jersey. Also under consideration are soil standards that are appropriate for
residential and nonresidential use, as well as procedures for the development
of site specific standards and impact to ground water standards. The Site
Remediation Program plans to solicit public input concerning this rulemaking
through an interested party review in fall 2000. The process includes looking at procedures used by USEPA to develop cleanup
levels providing appropriate protection to human health. New Jersey still
employs a conservative public health risk standard that is very protective.
It requires that contamination be addressed if person's exposure to a
hazardous substance results in a cancer risk exceeding one in a million
and a non-cancer risk exceeding a hazard quotient of one. Current discussions about the cleanup standards include considering ingestion,
inhalation and dermal exposure pathways as well as surface water and ground
water impacts. Analytical detection limits and natural background levels
also will be considered in the development of the soil remediation standards.
The Department's Technical Requirements for Site Remediation rule may
also need to be amended if the cleanup standards are promulgated based
on anticipated changes to sampling requirements to meet new protocols. As guided by existing statute, the Department will continue to approve
on a site specific basis remedial measures that incorporate engineering
and institutional controls allowing contamination to be left in place
at certain levels if such controls prevent exposure to the public and
are maintained properly. In other regulatory action during 1999, the Site Remediation Program
adopted rule changes implementing legislative amendments to the renamed
Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act (formerly the Hazardous
Site Discharge Remediation Act), N.J.S.A. 58:10B-1 et seq., the Spill
Compensation and Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11, and the Industrial
Site Recovery Act, N.J.S.A. 13:1K-6. The legislative amendments and rule
changes provide incentives to facilitate the acquisition and remediation
of contaminated sites in New Jersey, especially those areas formerly used
for commercial and industrial purposes known as brownfield sites. On July
2, 1999, the Site Remediation Program adopted amendments to four of its
rules: the Industrial Site Recovery Act rule (ISRA rule), N.J.A.C. 7:26B;
the Department Oversight of the Remediation of Contaminated Sites rule
(oversight rule), N.J.A.C. 7:26C; the Technical Requirements for Site
Remediation rule (technical rule), N.J.A.C. 7:26E; and, the Underground
Storage Tanks rule (UST rule), N.J.A.C. 7:14B. On February 19, 1999, the Site Remediation Program readopted with amendments
the Processing of Damage Claims Pursuant to the Sanitary Landfill Closure
and Contingency Fund Act rule (SLF rule), N.J.A.C. 7:1I. In this same
rulemaking, the Site Remediation Program adopted amendments to the Processing
of Damage Claims Pursuant to the Spill Compensation and Control Act rule
(Spill Fund rule), N.J.A.C. 7:1J. The SLF rule provides the requirements for processing claims made to
the Sanitary Landfill Facility Closure and Contingency Fund (SLF Fund).
The SLF Fund was established in 1981. The purpose of the SLF Fund is to
provide compensation for damages proximately resulting from the improper
operation or improper closure of sanitary landfill facilities. The February 19, 1999 adoption also included amendments to the SLF rule
and the Spill Fund rule (which provides the requirements for processing
claims made to the Spill Compensation and Control Act Fund) based on amendments
to the Spill Compensation and Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10B23.11a et seq.,
and the Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10B
et seq. The adopted amendments to the SLF rule and the Spill Fund rule
provide that certain parties may be barred from making a claim against
the SLF Fund and/or the Spill Fund depending on whether the claimant is
the beneficiary of a covenant not to sue issued by the Department and
the type of remedial action implemented at the subject property. The Department has several rulemaking initiatives underway for the year
2000. In March 2000, the Site Remediation Program proposed a readoption
with amendments to the Remedial Priority System rule (RPS rule), N.J.A.C.
7:26F. The RPS rule, promulgated in 1996, establishes a system to evaluate
the relative risks associated with known contaminated sites in New Jersey.
The system characterizes those risks as numerical scores that can be organized
in ranked order. By defining the relative risk posed by these sites, the
Department shall be better able to determine its priorities for remediation
using public funds. Based on the program's experience in implementing the existing RPS rule,
the Department is proposing technical changes to the scoring system. The
emphasis of the amendments is to provide a better mechanism to evaluate
the limited analytical data available on some of the sites awaiting ranking.
In summer 2000, the Department is planning to propose a new Financial
Responsibility rule, N.J.A.C. 7:14B-15 and 16. The proposed rule will
establish the requirements for owners and operators of state regulated
underground storage tanks to maintain evidence of financial responsibility
for necessary remedial actions in the event of a discharges from an underground
storage tank, as well as for compensating third parties for damage caused
by the discharge. The rule will require owners and operators of underground
storage tanks who do not establish and maintain financial responsibility
to pay an annual surcharge to the Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Remediation,
Upgrade and Closure Fund. The purpose of this fund is to make low interest
loans and grants to eligible owners and operators of regulated petroleum
underground storage tanks for the purpose of financing costs associated
with the upgrade and closure of underground storage tanks as well as the
remediation of discharges from those tanks. The fund also will provide
loans and grants to eligible homeowners for remedial activities necessary
due to a discharge from their home heating oil underground storage tanks.
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