Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Tagged: New Jersey

Governor Christie Vetoes Offshore Wind Bill

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On May 9, 2016

Recently, Governor Christie vetoed legislation designed to allow additional applications for offshore wind projects seeking approval from state regulators. The now-defunct bill, S988, sponsored by Senators Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) and Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic), sought to allow the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (“BPU”) to open a 30-day period for the submission of offshore wind project applications. More specifically, the bill would have allowed BPU to accept and approve “a qualified wind energy project that is located in territorial waters offshore of [a] municipality in which casino gaming is authorized,” i.e. a wind project offshore from Atlantic City.

Appellate Division Grants Leave to Appeal to Affordable Housing Decision, While Trial Courts Continue Towards Trial and Compliance Hearings

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On May 5, 2016

On April 11, 2016, the Appellate Division issued an order granting a motion by the Township of Barnegat for leave to appeal a decision by the Hon. Mark A. Troncone, J.S.C., designated Mt. Laurel judge for Ocean County, and also granted a number of motions for other municipalities from outside of Ocean County to appear as amici curiae in the case. The order returns the question of methodology – a hotly contested issue – to the Appellate Division. The counties comprising Region 4 (Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties) of the Council on Affordable Housing (“COAH”) were set to be among the first to hold trials regarding the methodology for determining the municipal fair share housing obligations of municipalities. The grant of leave to appeal in the Ocean County case will necessarily delay any trial in that vicinage until the resolution of the appeal. This post briefly reviews the trial court’s decision, and the potential impact the decision to grant leave to appeal may have on pending declaratory judgment cases.

Remedial Investigation Deadline Looms for New Jersey Contaminated Sites

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On April 21, 2016

In less than three weeks, the statutory deadline to complete a site-wide remedial investigation (“RI”) for many contaminated sites in New Jersey will pass. Any site for which an RI has not been completed will be subject to direct oversight of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”), which would come with additional costs, less control over the remediation, and other burdens for responsible parties. Accordingly, responsible parties and their Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (“LSRPs”) should do everything in their power to complete an RI by the statutory deadline: May 7, 2016.

“And/Or” – No More

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On February 23, 2016

The use of “and/or” in drafting or, for that matter, anything other than the most casual communications, is one of our pet peeves. It is a substitute for careful drafting and an invitation to ambiguity. Ken Adams, in his Manual of Style for Contract Drafting – which we highly recommend to any serious drafter – devotes two pages to using, or perhaps, better said, mis-using, “and/or.” Mr. Adams observes that since the mid-20th century, judges and legal-writing commentators have railed against the use of “and/or” to convey the meaning of the inclusive “or.”

NJ High Court Clarifies Standard for Revocation of Direct Access to State Highway from Commercial Property

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On February 11, 2016

In its recent decision in In Re Revocation of the Access of Block #613, the New Jersey Supreme Court clarified the standard governing the revocation of direct access from a State highway to a property used for commercial purposes under the State Highway Access Management Act and the State Highway Access Management Code. The case outlines the requisite procedure for revocation of a commercial property’s direct access to a State highway by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT).

No Further Extensions of New Jersey’s Permit Extension Act

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On January 26, 2016

The state legislature took no action to further extend New Jersey’s Permit Extension Act (“PEA”) during the recently concluded legislative session, which means that permits and approvals extended by the PEA’s tolling period either have expired or will expire soon. Pursuant to the terms of the act, the expiration date for most approvals covered by the PEA are tolled through June 30, 2016, with certain approvals expiring before that date, making right now the time to evaluate projects approaching construction to determine which existing approvals were extended by the PEA, the exact expiration date of such approvals, and whether further extensions are available under other laws. After such an evaluation, developers and project managers can then determine whether approval rights can be fully vested prior to their expiration date and, if not, whether an extension, amendment, or renewal of the approval is required.

Supreme Court Will Decide Whether State Can Face Liability Under Spill Act

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On January 20, 2016

The New Jersey Supreme Court has decided to hear the State’s appeal of a September 2015 Appellate Division decision that held the State potentially liable for cleanup costs at the Raritan Bay Slag Site. As we reported last fall, the Appellate Division held in NL Industries, Inc. v. State of New Jersey that the Spill Compensation and Control Act, which imposes liability upon both dischargers of hazardous substances and on parties “in any way responsible” for the hazardous substances, is applicable to the State. Under the Appellate Division’s ruling, the State could bear liability for all or some of the cleanup costs related to a seawall that was constructed using contaminated materials. The suit alleges that the State should be held liable because it owned the land under the seawall, approved its construction, issued a riparian grant to the developer that sought to build it, and issued a permit for it.

NJ Legislature Considers Invalidating NJDEP Regulations

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On November 11, 2015

On June 1, 2015, after significant outreach to the relevant stakeholders, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) released for public comment sweeping proposed changes to the rules governing Coastal Zone Management (CZM), N.J.A.C. 7:7E-1.1 et seq., Stormwater Management (SWM), N.J.A.C. 7:8-1.1 et seq., and the Flood Hazard Area Control Act (FHACA), N.J.A.C. 7:13-1.1 et seq. However, the New Jersey Legislature is poised to use its constitutional authority to find that the proposed regulations are inconsistent with the legislative intent of the enabling statutes.

New Jersey Appellate Court Rules Redeveloper Cannot Compel Amendments to Redevelopment Plan

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On November 10, 2015

Redevelopment agreements are the tool used to memorialize the respective obligations of the redeveloper and the municipality to effectuate a redevelopment project. Often, a concept plan has been agreed upon, but changes to the site-specific zoning embodied in the redevelopment plan are necessary in order for the project to advance. In an unpublished decision earlier this year, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, ruled in Fieldstone Associates, L.P. v. Borough of Merchantville, A-1239-13T3, that the municipality cannot be contractually compelled to adopt such amendments.

No Safe Harbor: State Can Face Liability Under Spill Act

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On October 13, 2015

Be careful what you wish for. That may be the message of the Appellate Division’s September 23 opinion in NL Industries, Inc. v. State of New Jersey, No. A-0869-14T3. Affirming a “thoughtful and erudite” 2014 Law Division opinion by Judge Douglas K. Wolfson, the appellate court held that the onerous liability regime of the 1976 Spill Compensation and Control Act (commonly known as the Spill Act), which imposes strict, joint, and several liability for cleanups on both the dischargers of hazardous substances and on the much broader class of parties “in any way responsible” for the hazardous substances, is equally applicable to the State. As a result, the State may be responsible for a portion of the remediation of a contaminated site on the shoreline of Raritan Bay that will likely cost more than $75 million.

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