Governor Phil Murphy • Lt. Governor Tahesha Way
  Search  
new jersey department of environmental protection
NJ Home Page Services A to Z NJ FAQs NJ Departments/Agencies departments
site remediation program

SRP Home | DEP Home

Guidance Documents Public Notification & Guidance Notification Letters

  

Guidance for Sending Notification Letters

If the remediating party (RP) chooses to provide notification by sending letters, the following parties shall receive notification letters:

  • Each property owner and tenant located within 200 feet of the site boundary.
  • Property owners can be identified by consulting the current municipal tax duplicate.

The RP must also submit one copy of the notification letter and list of recipients to the following local government entities:

  • The municipal clerk of each municipality in which the site is located; and
  • The county health department and the local health agency.

The letter must summarize site conditions and describe activities that are to take place to remediate the site. The letter must also include contact information for both the person responsible for conducting the remediation and the licensed site remediation professional of record for the site.

Although no additional wording is required, the following is recommended for inclusion in the letters:

  • Name and address of site
  • Tax block and lot
  • The Department's Preferred ID number as provided in the most recent edition of the "Department's Known Contaminated Sites in New Jersey" report found at https://www.nj.gov/dep/srp/kcs-nj/.
  • Description of contaminants detected, in common language and environmental media affected
  • Current remedial phase, date field activities are expected to begin, a schedule of future activities and hours of operation
  • Source of contamination and/or type of case
  • Statement that contamination has not left property of the discharge, if appropriate
  • Intended Reuse

The RP and their Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) should tailor the wording of the letter to best fit the site-specific circumstances.

Language Predominantly Spoken

All public notices, whether in the form of a notification sign or a notification letter, shall be in English. However, if the RP finds that a substantial portion of the local population is non-English speaking, it is important that those people receiving the notification be able to read and understand the information being provided. Therefore, the RP must also provide the notification in the non-English language that is predominantly spoken by the property owners and tenants in the area within 200 feet of the site boundary.

Information about the percentage of people speaking languages other than English in a given area is available by accessing census information at: http://www.census.gov/

The Department anticipates that most RPs are already aware of whether a language other than English is predominantly spoken in the neighborhoods surrounding their sites. Existing business and community signs can often identify neighborhoods where a language other than English is spoken. If the RP is unsure whether property owners and tenants predominantly speak a language other than English, they should contact the municipality.