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Pending Bills in the New Jersey Legislature Establish NJDEP
Licensed Site Professional Program
By John M. Scagnelli |
New Jersey State Senator Bob Smith and
Assemblyman John F. McKeon have introduced S-1897/A-2962 which
establish a licensed site professional program in the New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and make important
changes to NJDEP’s Site Remediation Programs. The changes to NJDEP’s
programs made by S-1897/A-2962 significantly change the way of doing
business with NJDEP and deserve attention.
NJDEP Licensed Site Professional
Program
Licensed Site Professionals (LSPs)
once licensed by NJDEP, will certify that remediation at
contaminated sites has been performed in conformance with NJDEP’s
technical requirements. Until the LSP program can get off the ground1,
LSPs will be issued interim licenses by NJDEP based on experience2.
The following are key components of the NJDEP LSP Program:
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Criteria are established for a
Tier 1 to Tier 4 ranking system for contaminated sites.
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NJDEP will select the remedy for
Tier 1 sites, review and approve all documents submitted for
Tier 2 sites, and review screening documents, certifications,
and checklists for Tier 3 and Tier 4 sites. NJDEP can audit
remediations at Tier 3 and Tier 4 sites.
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Most documents relating to the
remediation of Tier 1 to Tier 4 sites must be signed and
certified by an LSP, or by a certified subsurface evaluator3.
Responsible parties who employ persons not LSPs for remediation
projects are subject to penalties.
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NJDEP can issue interim LSP
licenses which will remain effective until 180 days after
NJDEP’s adoption of rules establishing permanent LSP
requirements.
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NJDEP will issue certificates of
authorization to firms providing remediation services and no
firm can provide licensed site professional services in the
state without the authorization.
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A code of professional conduct for
LSPs and subsurface evaluators will be established with
provisions for license suspension and revocation.
Changes to NJDEP’s Site Remediation
Programs
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NJDEP will impose a 5% surcharge
on the actual cost of a limited restricted use or restricted use
remedial actions with the surcharges deposited in a new
Remediation Guarantee Fund created in NJDEP. Moneys in the Fund
will be used by NJDEP to pay for remediation where the person
fails to conduct or properly conduct the remediation.
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NJDEP will establish mandatory
time frames for the conduct of remediations at contaminated
sites.
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Any person voluntarily conducting
remediation at a contaminated site (NJDEP’s MOA Program) must
establish and maintain a remediation funding source in the
amount of the estimated cost of remediation.
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Person(s) responsible for
conducting remediation at the site of an unregulated heating oil
tank, a childcare facility, an educational facility, or at Tier
4 sites are not required to establish a remediation funding
source.
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Upon submission of a remedial
action workplan which proposes implementing a limited restricted
use or restricted use remedial action, the person responsible
for performing the remediation must annually estimate the costs
of remediation for 20 years after the approval of the remedial
action workplan, including costs of operation, monitoring and
maintenance of the remedial action and include those costs in
the remediation funding source.
This Scarinci Hollenbeck Client Alert
has been prepared for the general information of clients and friends
of the firm. It is not meant to provide legal advice with respect to
any specific matter and should not be acted upon without
professional counsel.
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1LSP requirements include
the passing of an examination and meeting standards of training,
experience, professional conduct, education, financial
responsibility, and continuing professional requirements.
2Interim LSP standards will
require candidates to meet certain educational requirements, have
ten years of continuous full time employment in the field, have a
minimum of 5000 hours of experience over the past five years of work
on contaminated sites within New Jersey and possess certain
professional certifications.
3“Certified subsurface
evaluator” means a person certified to perform services at the site
of an underground storage tank or an unregulated heating oil tank.
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