NJDEP Seeks Early Input on Revisions to Site Cleanup Rules

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is seeking input from all interested stakeholders as it develops proposed revisions to three separate sets of regulations that govern site cleanups: the Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites (“ARRCS”) rules,which were drafted to implement the Site Remediation Reform Act; the regulations covering cleanups under the Industrial Site Recovery Act (“ISRA”); and the rules for cleanups involving underground storage tanks. NJDEP’s call for public input represents an unusual opportunity to affect the agency’s plans as the proposals are being drafted. Three members of the Gibbons Environmental Team have already published a detailed analysis of important issues raised by NJDEP’s working drafts.

The stakeholder process is designed to incorporate the views and concerns of important segments of the public into the redesign of the regulations to make them consistent with the SRRA-created Licensed Site Remedial Professional (“LSRP”) program by the statutory deadline of May 2012. NJDEP anticipates publishing a formal proposal for revising the regulations in May 2011important issues raised by NJDEP’

A dedicated page on NJDEP’s website includes links to working drafts of the revisions, as well as instructions on how to submit comments. Comments must be submitted by January 14, 2011 in an e-mail to SRRA@dep.state.nj.us with a subject line that reads “Stakeholder Input.”