Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Category: Environmental and Green Issues

N.J. Appellate Court Extends Time Limit for Bringing Strict-Liability Claim for Natural Resource Damages

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On June 2, 2011

Thanks to a special “extension statute” enacted in 2001, the statute of limitations that requires the State of New Jersey to commence a civil action within ten years of its accrual does not apply to an action for natural resource damages (NRDs) that is brought “pursuant to the State’s environmental laws.” The Appellate Division recently held that the Legislature intended “the State’s environmental laws” to include the common law — or at least the common law of strict liability — and revived a claim that otherwise would have been time-barred.

Updated Guidance From USEPA Concerning Brownfield Redevelopment

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On May 12, 2011

Encouraging development of environmentally challenged real estate — brownfields — is usually the task of state agencies. In New Jersey the Office of Smart Growth; the Economic Development Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection all offer programs intended to encourage redevelopment of brownfields. However, states are struggling to fund and support their brownfield programs and funds for outreach to potential developers and their allied professionals are in short supply.

Cost Recovery Under Superfund – The Eighth Circuit Fills the Void Created by the United States Supreme Court in the Atlantic Research Decision

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On April 29, 2011

The Eighth Circuit recently addressed an issue which the United States Supreme Court expressly side-stepped in 2007 when it decided United States v. Atlantic Research Corp., 551 U.S. 128 (2007). In Atlantic Research, the Court left open the question whether potentially responsible parties that incur response costs pursuant to an administrative consent order or a judicially approved consent decree may pursue a cost recovery claim under §107 of CERCLA, §113 of CERCLA or both sections.

DEP Launches Coastal E-Permitting Program

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On April 28, 2011

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) launched a new e-permitting program that will allow the public to apply on-line for certain coastal permits. The program is consistent with the Governor’s “Common Sense Principles” outlined in Executive Order No. 2 which focused on the need to reduce the high costs and regulatory burdens that are thought to impede growth and opportunity in the State of New Jersey.

Vapor Intrusion: Opportunity for Comment with EPA

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On April 26, 2011

Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency published a notice for “Public Comment on the Development of Final Guidance for Evaluating the Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air Pathway From Contaminated Groundwater and Soils (Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance)” in the Federal Register. The draft of the Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance was initially released for comment during 2002 and the EPA is planning on issuing final guidance by November 20, 2012.

Susanne Peticolas Spoke at the Institute for Supply Management – NJ Dinner on Greenwashing

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On April 15, 2011

Susanne Peticolas, a Director in the Gibbons Real Property & Environmental Department, was the Dinner Speaker at the April meeting of the Institute for Supply Management – New Jersey, Inc. on April 13, 2011. She addressed the issue of greenwashing, unjustifiable product claims of being environmentally sensitive and strategies to help companies avoid the problem.

NJDEP Licensing Board Sets April 18 Deadline for Comments on LSRP Audit Process

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On April 13, 2011

The Audit Committee of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Site Remediation Professional Licensing Board is soliciting comments on its draft process and questionnaire for the completion of statutorily required audits of the work of Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (LSRPs). The Committee is accepting comments until April 18, 2011. The Board intends to finalize the process and questionnaire at its May 2, 2011 meeting.

Proposed Legislation Will Require Shopping Center Developments in NJ to Provide Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues / Transactional Real Estate and Leasing

On March 30, 2011

One of the problems with electric cars (EVs) is – what do you do when the battery runs down? Currently there are 500 charging stations in the United States and 400 of them are in California. In an attempt to address the dead battery problem and encourage purchase of EVs, on March 21, 2011, the New Jersey State Senate introduced Bill S2784 (the “Bill”) which requires owners of shopping center developments to include charging stations. Under the Bill, owners of a “shopping center development” must equip not less than five (5%) percent of the parking spaces for the shopping center development with electric vehicle charging stations. Moreover, such stations must be available for use during the hours of operation of the shopping center development.

Proving Liability for Clean-Up Costs – Nexus; Circumstances and Experts – Lessons from Dimant and DVL

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On March 23, 2011

On May 18, 2011, the New Jersey Appellate Division upheld a trial court’s decision that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had failed to establish sufficient “nexus” or connection between the operator of a dry cleaner and regional groundwater contamination. In New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection v. Dimant, et al., (Docket A-3180-09T2), the Appellate Division soundly rejected New Jersey’s claim that “the Spill Act must be interpreted and applied very broadly to find that any discharge at any time, even a de minimis one, imposes liability on all operators handling that product, and that a direct causal connection between the discharge and the damages need not be established.” This sort of argument which asks the court to overlook critical connections is all too common in environmental cases. Indeed, governmental plaintiffs often invoke policy reasons when asking for relaxed nexus requirements whereas private parties seeking contribution frequently call on the courts to shift the burden to the alleged dischargers.

Paper Companies That “Created, Mobilized and Profited From” PCBs Must Bear 100% of Cleanup Costs in Fox River CERCLA Case, But May Not Be Liable for PCBs in Waste Paper Sold to Recyclers

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On March 21, 2011

The other shoe dropped on February 28 in the closely watched CERCLA case involving PCB contamination of the Fox River in Wisconsin. District Judge William C. Griesbach, who had previously ruled that the paper companies that made and discharged PCBs to the river could not seek contribution from recycling mills that unknowingly bought PCB-laden waste paper, called “broke,” and also discharged PCBs, held that those companies must reimburse those comparatively innocent companies for 100% of the costs they have incurred for most of the polluted river. But he held that it was too early to say whether the paper companies knew, and did, enough, to make them liable for “arranging for” disposal of the PCBs that ended up in the recycling mills’ discharges to an upstream stretch of the river.

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