On May 6th, 2024, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) released updated residential soil remediation standards for the ingestion-dermal exposure pathway for lead.
These changes have been made due to revisions that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recently made to their Integrated Environmental Uptake Biokinetic Model for Lead in Children (IEUBK). The IEUBK model is the primary tool used to determine residential risk-based soil cleanup levels throughout the United States.
The updated standards are being applied by NJDEP as of May 6th, 2024, but those conducting the remediations may continue to use the prior standards if specific circumstances permit it. Specifically, the person conducting the remediations may continue to use the prior standards, specified in a remedial action workplan (RAW) or remedial action report (RAR), if:
- The RAW/RAR is submitted no later than 6 months (November 6th, 2024) after the effective date of the updated standard.
- The RAW/RAR is certified by an Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) or approved by the NJDEP.
- The remediation standard specified in the RAW/RAR for a given contaminant is not greater by an order of magnitude than the update remediation standard.
- The Remedial Action will comply with all the applicable regulatory timeframes pursuant to the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation at N.J.A.C. 7:26E-5.
The updated standards can be found below, and the official New Jersey Register publication on this change can be found here.
| Contaminant | CAS No. | Residential Carcinogenic Ingestion-Dermal Human Health-based Criterion (mg/kg)¹ | Residential Non-carcinogenic Ingestion-Dermal Human Health-based Criterion (mg/kg)¹ | Reporting Limit (mg/kg)¹ | Soil Remediation Standard Ingestion-Dermal – Residential (mg/kg)¹ |
| Lead (total) | 7439-92-1 | N/A | N/A | 0.50 | 200² |
1mg/kg is equivalent to parts per million (ppm).
2This number has been reduced from the prior standard of 400 mg/kg.
Contact
For more information about these changes, or to find out how your site might be impacted, please contact:
Michael Metlitz, LSRP
Principal LSRP
mmetlitz@whitmanco.com
(732) 390-5858
Posted on May 14th, 2024
