Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Tagged: Remediation

Final ARRCS Rules Adoption Published in NJ Register

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On May 7, 2012

To fully implement the Site Remediation Reform Act, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has published a notice of adoption of amendments to the Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites (ARRCS rules), N.J.A.C. 7:26C in the New Jersey Register today, May 7, 2012. This adoption also amends several other rules related to site remediation in New Jersey, including the repeal and replacement of the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation, N.J.A.C. 7:26E, and amendments to the Industrial Site Recovery Act rules, N.J.A.C. 7:26B. This rule adoption is concurrent with the final May 7, 2012 deadline for almost all remediating parties to engage a Licensed Site Remediation Professional to conduct remediations in NJ.

NJDEP Clarifies Impact of Site Remediation Reform Act on Requirements of Administrative Consent Orders and Remediation Agreements

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On February 14, 2012

With full implementation of the Site Remediation Reform Act on the horizon, the New Jersey Department Environmental Protection (NJDEP) recently clarified that for parties currently proceeding with remediation under NJDEP oversight pursuant to an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) or Remediation Agreement (RA), such parties will be expected to engage a Licensed Site Remediation Professional no later than May 7, 2012. Any ACO/RA requirements to obtain NJDEP pre-approval of reports and workplans will be held in abeyance. Likewise, any ACO/RA specific timeframes will also be held in abeyance. Instead, responsible parties must meet all regulatory and mandatory timeframes prescribed in applicable rules. However, the ACO/RA will otherwise remain in effect until the remediation is complete or covered by a remedial action permit and parties will be subject to, among other requirements, the remediation funding source requirements and stipulated penalties.

NJDEP Proposes New Rules for Site Cleanups

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On August 16, 2011

On August 15, 2011, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued proposed Final Rules to implement the Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) adopted in May 2009. These rules are intended to be the final implementation step in the phased transition of New Jersey’s site remediation process from NJDEP command and control to private oversight by Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (LSRPs). Instead of NJDEP overseeing every step of a cleanup, the LSRP, licensed by a 13-member Licensed Site Remediation Professional Board with investigative and disciplinary powers, is responsible for making day-to-day decisions about a clean-up. Certain categories of cleanups remain under NJDEP oversight, such as where the responsible party has a history of non-compliance or has failed to meet mandatory deadlines. The rule proposal appeared in the New Jersey Register on August 15, 2011 and can be viewed online. Comments can be submitted until October 14, 2011.

EPA Outfoxed on Fox River

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On August 4, 2011

In what is described as the country’s biggest Superfund site, Judge William Griesbach of the Eastern District of Wisconsin on July 5, 2011, rejected the United States’ attempts to compel defendants Appleton Papers Inc. and NCR Corporation to comply with an EPA directive requiring sediment remediation in the Fox River at a rate substantially similar to the rate at which they had remediated sediment over the last few years.

NJICLE Holds its Annual Environmental Law Section Forum

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On August 2, 2011

On the weekend of June 24-26, 2011, the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education (“NJICLE”) in cooperation with the New Jersey State Bar Association (“NJSBA”), and New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association, held its annual Environmental Law Section Forum Weekend (“the Forum”). Taking place in Avalon, New Jersey, the Forum featured three days of seminars covering various hot-button environmental topics including, Funding for Remediating Sites, Vapor Intrusion, the LSRP Program, Non-Governmental Organizations’ Perspectives on Issues and Resolutions, the well-known NJDEP v. Occidental case also referred to as the Lower Passaic River litigation, Climate Change, and rounded out the weekend with two programs on Ethical Issues including Alternative Fee Arrangements and Multi-Party Settlements.

EPA to Announce the Possibility of Adding Vapor Intrusion as a Component to the Hazard Ranking System

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On June 21, 2011

On Monday, January 3, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency published in the Federal Register, 76 Fed. Reg. 5,370 (Jan. 31, 2011), a Notice of Opportunity for Public Input on the Potential Addition of Vapor Intrusion Component to the Hazard Ranking System (the “HRS”). Should this proposal become a rule it would add another contamination pathway to analyze in connection with listing sites on the National Priorities List (the “NPL”).

U.S. Supreme Court to Montana: “Stay Thirsty, My Friend.”

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On June 9, 2011

The Supreme Court in Montana v. Wyoming –U.S.–, 131 S.Ct. 1765 (2011), rejected Montana’s claim that Wyoming’s usage of water depleted the amount of water available to it under the Yellowstone River Compact between Montana and Wyoming. Montana contended that Wyoming breached Article V(A) of the Compact which provided that “appropriative rights to the beneficial uses of the water of the Yellowstone River System existing in each signatory State as of January 1, 1950, shall continue to be enjoyed in accordance with the laws governing the acquisition and use of water under the doctrine of appropriation.”

New Jersey Program to Fund Brownfield Clean Ups Closed Temporarily

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment / Environmental and Green Issues

On June 8, 2011

The Brownfield Reimbursement Program (the “Program”), a New Jersey State initiative designed to reimburse developers up to 75% of costs incurred to remediate a brownfield site, has run out of money and is temporarily shut down. This development arrives on the heels of a recent New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) announcement that, effective May 3, 2011, applications to the Underground Storage Tank Fund, a similar initiative to help homeowners remove USTs, will not be reviewed or processed due to insufficient funds.

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.

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.

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