Revitalizing New Jersey's Brownfields

By: Terri Smith
Office of the Assistant Commissioner

Like many other states, New Jersey is at a policy crossroads in the development and implementation of a strategy to encourage the cleanup and redevelopment of abandoned or underutilized contaminated sites—commonly called "brownfields."

With the January 6, 1998 signing of P.L. 1997, Chapter 278 or the "Brownfield" Act, New Jersey now has the tools necessary to move its brownfields initiatives to the next level.

The Act accomplishes many things. It protects human health and the environment, assists municipalities in redeveloping vacant urban and suburban industrial sites, creates jobs, protects investors and lenders from uncertain liability and promotes economic vitality.

In addition, it establishes a Legislative Underground Storage Tank Remediation Task Force, a Brownfield Site Reimbursement Fund in the Department of Treasury and a Statewide Brownfield Redevelopment Task Force. The Statewide Brownfield Redevelopment Task Force is required to establish and update an inventory of brownfield sites in the state. Some of the other functions of this Task Force include coordination of State policy on brownfield redevelopment, use of the inventory to prioritize the development of sites based on their immediate economic development potential, preparation of a plan of action to return these site to productive economic use on an expedited basis, as well as actively market sites on the inventory to prospective buyers.

One of the incentives, which are outlined in the Act, is the covenant not to sue. This covenant, which will be issued with the no further action letter, is a reciprocal agreement, which releases the person who conducted the remediation from all civil liability to perform any additional remediation. It also requires the person or any subsequent owner/operator to maintain any engineering or institutional controls as well as bars persons from making claims against the Spill Fund or Sanitary Landfill Facility Contingency Fund.

The Act also amends current liability law to exempt lenders from liability for underground storage tanks provided certain actions are undertaken to empty the contents and close the tanks.

Another incentive is the liability protection and finality aspects of this important piece of legislation. This Act provides protection to non-responsible parties who buy contaminated property and clean it up. It extends protection to persons who buy property that was previously remediated and gives innocent purchasers protection from third party suits.

An additional incentive found in this Act is the continued preference for permanence in site remedial activities. To support this, the Act includes the availability of matching grants, the elimination of the requirement to post a remediation funding source and the allowance of property tax exemptions of up to 15 years in environmental opportunity zones. These incentives are for using either an unrestricted use remedial action or a limited use remedial action in the cleanup of a contaminated site. These same incentives are available to the person conducting the cleanup if they choose to use an innovative technology.

For those person(s) who are conducting cleanups within the State of New Jersey, this Act provides tax incentives for remediation. These tax incentives include the recovery of up to 75% of the cost of remediation, property tax exemptions of up to 15 years in environmental opportunity zones and the designation of the Department of Environmental Protection to issue statements pursuant to the Federal "Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997."

The inclusion of many of these incentives represents the strong commitment of the State of New Jersey in moving forward the cleanup of contaminated sites and putting them back on the tax rolls. The use of the provisions in this Act in concert with the provisions in the newly adopted Technical Rules Requirements for Site Remediation, N.J.A.C. 7:26E, should facilitate the remediation of all contaminated sites within the State.

By remediating abandoned, underutilized contaminated sites in areas where existing infrastructure can assist in their redevelopment, many of our cities can begin the process of rebirth.

For additional information contact Terri Smith at (609) 292-1250.  

NOTE: Additional information about Brownfields can be found on the SRP Brownfields Page.