USA – NEW JERSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Nicole Dory, Christina Sartorio Ku, Meredith Rubin and Camryn Goldstein, Connell Foley LLP
Connell Foley LLP 56 Livingston Avenue Roseland New Jersey 07068 USA Tel: +1 973 535 0500 Fax: +1 973 535 9217 Email: events@connellfoley.com Web: www.connellfoley.com
to oversee the remediation of contaminated proper- ties. Finally, New Jersey has a robust regulatory permitting scheme for land use, especially focusing on environ- mentally sensitive areas such as coastal, flood hazard, wetlands, and waterfront areas. The permitting pro- cess for development in these areas can be long and arduous, depending on the scope of the project and the number of sensitive areas on site. Appeals of NJDEP decisions throughout the state, from penalty or violation determinations to permitting denials, must be first appealed to the Office of Admin- istrative Law, through a request for adjudicatory hear- ing before an Administrative Law Judge. The judge’s initial decision is thereafter approved or rejected by the Commissioner of the NJDEP in the issuance of a final decision, which can thereafter be appealed to the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division.
1. Regulatory Framework and Law 1.1 Environmental Protection Policies, Principles and Laws New Jersey enforces a broad range of both federal and state-level environmental laws and policies, from hazardous waste regulations to coastal permitting. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has delegated enforcement authority under a number of federal environmental programmes, such as the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA), to the New Jersey Department of Environ- mental Protection (NJDEP). In addition, New Jersey’s environmental standards for environmental remedia - tion and drinking water often surpass the applicable federal standards. In addition to the federal Comprehensive Environ- mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), New Jersey has adopted its own state- level law, known as the Spill Compensation and Con- trol Act, which governs liability of parties in any way responsible for the discharge or release of hazard- ous substances. Industrial establishments are further required, pursuant to the state Industrial Site Recov- ery Act (ISRA), to conduct an investigation, and reme- diation as needed, to address environmental condi- tions on-site upon transfer of the subject property or the ceasing of site operations. Site investigations and remediation for all programmes are governed by the state Site Remediation and Reform Act (SRRA), which authorises Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (LSRPs) to step into the shoes of the NJDEP in order
2. Enforcement Authorities and Mechanisms 2.1 Regulatory Authorities
At the state level, the key regulatory authority for environmental policy and enforcement is the NJDEP. NJDEP administers state environmental statutes and regulations over air, water, land use, waste, contami- nated sites and other related areas. The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (OAG) plays a signifi- cant role and co-ordinates with NJDEP to prosecute civil and criminal enforcement actions, including envi- ronmental crimes and environmental justice matters.
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