On May 7, 2009, Governor Corzine signed into law the Site Remediation Reform Act (the “Act”) which introduces sweeping changes to the administration of site cleanups in New Jersey. Among other important changes to existing environmental laws, the Act introduces a licensed site remediation professional (“LSRP”) program modeled under a program that has been operating in Massachusetts for a number of years. One of the key objectives of the Act is to streamline the regulatory closure process for the more than 20,000 known contaminated sites across New Jersey by allowing LSRPs, instead of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”), to oversee site cleanups. The Act introduces many new issues that the regulated community will need to address over the months and years to come. The NJDEP is scheduled to adopt interim regulations in November 2009; however, it is anticipated that many issues may take years to mature since promulgation of permanent regulations is not projected until May 2011. The devil will be in the details of the implementing regulations to be issued by NJDEP. These details will need to be considered when negotiating purchase and sale, environmental services, and access agreements.
