NJ DEPARTMENT of ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
SITE REMEDIATION

Notice of Rule Proposal:
Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites, N.J.A.C. 7:26C, and related rules

Public Notice
Take notice that the NJ Department of Environmental Protection is proposing to readopt the Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites (ARRCS) rules, N.J.A.C. 7:26C, and various other Department rules that govern site remediation or that cross-reference the new ARRCS rules, collectively referred to as the “Interim Rules.”

The proposal to readopt the Interim Rules with minor amendments will ensure their continuation while the Department develops the Final Rules that will fully implement the Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) program.  The Interim Rules were specially adopted on November 4, 2009.  SRRA provides that the Interim Rules are effective for 18 months, until May 4, 2011, unless readopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

SRRA created a new paradigm for the remediation of contaminated sites in New Jersey, including the requirement that a person responsible for conducting the remediation employ an LSRP to supervise the remediation. This legislation provided for a three year phase-in period during which ongoing remediation projects may continue either under Department oversight or under the supervision of an LSRP (all new remediation projects must proceed under the supervision of an LSRP from inception).  However, SRRA requires that, within three years of the effective date of the Act, which is May 4, 2012, all remediation projects must be supervised by an LSRP, and the Department’s oversight role will be considerably curtailed at that time.

At the core of this proposal to readopt the Interim Rules is the readoption of the repeal of the former Department Oversight of the Remediation of Contaminated Sites rules (Oversight rules), and the readoption of the new ARRCS rules at N.J.A.C. 7:26C.  The ARRCS rules establish the criteria for determining whether a remediation project must be conducted under the supervision of an LSRP (new projects) or may transition from proceeding under direct Department oversight to proceeding under the supervision of an LSRP (ongoing projects).  The ARRCS rules also establish timeframes by which certain phases of remediation must be completed.  Fees to be paid and funding sources to be established by the person responsible for conducting the remediation are also codified in the ARRCS rules, along with how to obtain funding for remediation projects through various grants and funds, and how to obtain a permit for the remedial action phase of remediation.  The documents that are issued by the Department and the LSRP that signify that the remediation has been completed are also codified in the ARRCS rules.

The Interim Rules also contain amendments, repeals and new rules affecting fourteen other chapters of Department rules that are related to site remediation or that cross-reference the former Oversight Rules.  The Interim Rules comport these other chapters to the new ARRCS rules.  The most extensive amendments were to the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation rules, N.J.A.C. 7:26E, the companion set of rules that concern site remediation and prescribe how site remediation projects are to be conducted.

With this proposal to readopt the Interim Rules, the Department is also proposing additional minor amendments to correct grammar and cross-references and to substitute for all form names a cross-reference to the Department’s website on which these forms may be found.

The proposal is scheduled to be published in the New Jersey Register dated May 2, 2011.  A copy of the proposal is available from: the Department’s website (PDF), official repository libraries, and LexisNexis Customer Service at (800)223-1944 or www.lexisnexis.com/bookstore.  Be advised that there may be a fee for obtaining a copy of the proposal from some sources.

PDF copies of the notices of special adoption, administrative corrections, proposal and adoption of the Interim Rules, the various rules repealed by the Interim Rules special adoption, which repeals are now being proposed for readoption, are also available for download from the Department’s website,  http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices.html.

Written comments may be submitted by July 1, 2011 to:

Janis E. Hoagland, Esq.
ATTN: DEP Docket No. 08-11-03
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Legal Affairs, 4th Floor
Mail Code 401-042
PO Box 402
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402