On February 1, 2021, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a Notice of Rule Waiver/Modification/Suspension pursuant to Executive Order No. 103, (which declared that a Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency exists in New Jersey as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic), extending certain timeframes for remediation activities.
Here are some of the highlights of the Notice:
- For sites that were not subject to the statutory timeframes set forth in the SRRA at N.J.S.A. 58:10C-27 and 27.1 to complete the remedial investigation by either May 7, 2014 or May 7, 2016, the Notice further extends certain timeframes for remediation activities for a total of 455 days, inclusive of the prior 270-day extension that was allowed by the April 24, 2020 and August 17, 2020 Notices of Rule Waiver/Modification/Suspension. This will shift the associated mandatory and any following regulatory and mandatory timeframes.
- For sites that were subject to the statutory timeframes set forth in the SRRA at N.J.S.A. 58:10C-27 and 27.1 to complete the remedial investigation by either May 7, 2014 or May 7, 2016 (and the timeframe to complete the remedial action, whether regulatory or mandatory, has not passed), the timeframes to complete the remedial action are extended from May 6, 2021 to May 6, 2022.
In order to qualify for either of the above noted extensions, the person responsible for conducting the remediation must have retained a licensed site remediation professional (LSRP) pursuant to the Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites (ARRCS) at N.J.A.C. 7:26C-2.3.
The DEP will be updating DataMiner to reflect the above noted extensions.
The DEP Notice does not extend timeframes applicable to circumstances where human or sensitive receptors are or may be impacted or where immediate environmental concerns (IEC) exist.
Contact
Michael Metlitz, LSRP
Senior Vice President
mmetlitz@whitmanco.com
(732) 390-5858
Posted on February 11, 2021
