Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Tagged: New Jersey

NJ LSRPs Open to Frivolous Claims

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On August 2, 2010

Despite the new licensing program for environmental consultants in New Jersey, they still remain open to professional tort claims without the necessity of an affidavit of merit. As required by N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-27, a plaintiff making a claim for malpractice or negligence against a “licensed person” must provide an, “affidavit of an appropriate licensed person that there exists a reasonable probability that the care, skill or knowledge exercised or exhibited in the treatment, practice, or work that is the subject of the complaint, fell outside acceptable professional or occupational standards or treatment practices.”

NJDEP and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – Trial Judge Rejects NJDEP’s Approach to Natural Resource Damages

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On July 29, 2010

New Jersey’s Natural Resource Damage (“NRD”) program is cobbled together from an aging policy directive issued in 2003, an Appellate Division decision, NJDEP v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, [393 N.J. Super 388 (App. Div. 2007)] and a handful of lower court rulings on various and sundry motions. There is no specific enabling statute and the agency has never adopted any formal regulations. In short, it’s the type of program which is bound to leave the regulators, the regulated community (and the lawyers who advise them) with plenty of questions. Because there are no clear rules, New Jersey’s NRD program has generated a significant amount of litigation.

When and Who?: New Jersey, U.S. Supreme Courts Grapple With Beachfront “Takings” Issues

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On July 28, 2010

“Beach nourishment” and “beach restoration” projects, where sand from other locations (often the ocean bottom) is dumped on a beach to retard erosion or to repair its effects, is expensive. It also raises complex issues of fairness and equity about who should pay for the projects and who should be compensated for their negative effects. In two decision handed down in June, the New Jersey and United States Supreme Courts grappled with another often controversial aspect of these projects: when can beachfront owners allege that the project has actually taken their property, triggering the requirement of “just compensation” found in the New Jersey constitution and the Fifth Amendment to the federal constitution?

New Jersey Proposes Addition of Solar Power Facilities to its Green Initiative

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

On July 26, 2010

Solar and Wind Energy Generation facilities may soon join the category of uses designated as permitted of right by New Jersey statute rather than by individual municipal ordinance, thus preempting municipal zoning powers granted under the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. (MLUL). Identical Bills, Senate S2126 and Assembly A3139 are pending before their respective house of the New Jersey’s legislature and would amend the MLUL to provide that Solar and or Wind Energy Generation Facilities, when installed on the sites of former landfills, quarries and other extractive industries, are permitted uses. This status would be equally applicable to both public and private sites where landfills, quarries or other extractive industries are closed or closing.

Tic, TAC, No Dough for Innocent Landowner in NJ Who Sells Property Before Brownfield Grant

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On July 20, 2010

Last year, the Appellate Division in TAC Associates v. NJDEP, 408 N.J. Super. 117 (App. Div. 2009) had held that an applicant under the NJ Brownfield Innocent Party Grant, N.J.S.A. 58:10B-5, need not be a landowner at the time of application for such Grant. In so ruling, the Appellate Division invalidated NJDEP regulations that imposed an ownership requirement, a requirement absent from the underlying statute.

Gulf Coast Spill Impacts Legislation in Trenton, NJ

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On July 15, 2010

This summer, the long shadow cast by the oil rig blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico seems to be everywhere. For example, we recently reported that EPA has written to Congress endorsing the concept of reinstating the Superfund tax which expired back in 1995. Thus, it was only a matter of time before New Jersey got into the act. On July 15, 2010, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee in Trenton took up S-2108. If adopted in its present form this bill would raise the limit on liability pursuant to the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act from $50 million to $1 billion.

“Standing” Up for Yourself: Landowner Can Appeal Denial of Use Variance When a Contract Purchaser Filed the Variance Application

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On July 12, 2010

Agreements for the sale of real property are commonly contingent upon the contract purchaser’s obtaining some sort of development approval. If the approval is not granted, the contract purchaser can walk away from the deal. But what if the landowner wants to challenge the denial? Does the landowner have a sufficient interest in the dispute to step into the contract purchaser’s shoes? Last month, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court answered in the affirmative. In Campus Associates, L.L.C. v. Zoning Board of Adjustment of the Township of Hillsborough, No. A-0690-08T2, — N.J. Super. — (App. Div. June 4, 2010), the court held that a landowner can appeal the denial of a use variance that was sought by a contract purchaser, as long as the application depended on property-specific proofs, and not on factors unique to the applicant.

Site Remediation Process – NJ to Develop Remedial Priority System

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On June 28, 2010

New Jersey is pressing forward with its efforts to privatize the site remediation process. Since adoption of the Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) in May 2009, there has been a steady stream of new regulations, new guidance documents and revised forms. Because of these changes, practitioners must constantly check the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s website.

Bill on Affordable Housing Approved by NJ Senate, Heads to Assembly

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On June 28, 2010

Senate Bill S-1, which revises and reforms many of the statutes relating to affordable housing in New Jersey, was voted out of the Senate Economic Growth Committee on June 3rd with amendments. S-1 would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and would allow municipalities to administer their own affordable housing obligations. S-1 would eliminate State imposed calculations of affordable housing need and would permit local governments to take charge of planning for affordable housing.

The Fox River Cleanup Snares Insurers, Passaic River PRPs Should Take Note

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On June 28, 2010

On June 8, 2010, in Westport Insurance Co. v. Appleton Papers, Inc., the Wisconsin Court of Appeals for the First District held that two insurers, namely Munich Re Ag and Westport Insurance Co., are liable each for $5 million dollars to compensate Appleton Papers, Inc. (Appleton) for cleaning up the sediment contamination in the Fox River. The Fox River is undergoing a cleanup pursuant to oversight by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

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