NJ DEPARTMENT of ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
SITE REMEDIATION

Notice of Rule Proposal
Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites, N.J.A.C. 7:26C and Technical Requirements for Site Remediation, N.J.A.C. 7:26E

PUBLIC NOTICE
Take notice that the NJ Department of Environmental Protection is proposing to amend the Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites (ARRCS rules), N.J.A.C. 7:26C, and other rules related to site remediation, including the Discharges of Petroleum and Other Hazardous Substances rules, N.J.A.C. 7:1E, the Underground Storage Tanks rules, N.J.A.C. 7:14B, and the Industrial Site Recovery Act rules, N.J.A.C. 7:26B, and to repeal and replace the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation (Technical Requirements), N.J.A.C. 7:26E.  The ARRCS rules contain the administrative requirements for conducting site remediation, and the Technical Requirements prescribe how site remediation projects are to be conducted.  All remediation, including remediation that is triggered by the ISRA Rules or remediation of an underground storage tank under the UST rules, must proceed pursuant to the ARRCS rules and the Technical Requirements.

The Department is proposing to amend the ARRCS rules, the UST rules and the ISRA Rules to remove all provisions related to the phase in period during which projects are currently allowed to transition from proceeding under direct Department oversight to proceeding under the supervision of an LSRP.  The Department is also proposing to recodify from the ISRA Rules and the UST rules to the ARRCS rules all administrative requirements.  The Department is also proposing to add to the ARRCS rules regulatory and mandatory time frames by which the remedial investigation must be completed and the remedial action must be implemented.

Additionally, with extensive help from internal and external stakeholders, the Department has worked to transform the Technical Requirements into a more performance-based set of rules that will allow more flexibility in addressing contamination and potential exposure pathways while continuing to ensure that remediation is conducted in such a way that the results are protective of human health and the environment.  The end result of the Department’s efforts to transform the Technical Requirements is this proposal to repeal the existing Technical Requirements, and to replace them with new Technical Requirements that contain performance based remediation goals.

The proposal is scheduled to be published in the New Jersey Register dated August 15, 2011.  A copy of the proposal is available from:  the Department’s website; Leslie W. Ledogar, Esq., Site Remediation Program, 401 E. State St., Mail Code 401-06, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, NJ  08625-0402, (609) 633-1493; official repository libraries; and LexisNexis Customer Service at (800)223-1944 or www.lexisnexis.com/bookstore.  Be advised that there may be a fee for obtaining a copy of the proposal from some sources.

A public hearing concerning the proposal is scheduled as follows:

September 13, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
First Floor Hearing Room
401 East State Street
Trenton, New Jersey

Directions to the hearing room may be found at the Department’s website, http://www.state.nj.us/dep/where.htm.

Written comments may be submitted by October 14, 2011 to:

Janis Hoagland, Esq.
ATTN: DEP Docket No. 12-11-07
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Legal Affairs
Mail Code 401-04L; PO Box 402
401 East State Street, 4th Floor
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402