History

• New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed the Site Remediation Reform Act, NJSA 58:10C-1, on May 7, 2009. Legislators and the state's Environmental Protection Department proposed it to deal with more than 20,000 sites needing environmental contamination cleanup.
  
  

Features

• The law established "licensed site remediation professionals" who oversee environmental investigation and cleanup. The state's Environmental Protection Department retains "significant authority" over the remediation process but remediation professional provide day-to-day management. State approval also no longer is necessary to begin a site remediation project.
  
  

Considerations

• Property owners also must clean up discharges covered by the Spill Compensation and Control Act. The new law discontinued the voluntary cleanup program. The Environmental Protection Department must establish timelines for key project phases and maintain direct oversight when the responsible party is uncooperative. The agency also must mandate its own cleanup remedies for schools, child cares and residential development as well as sites posing the greatest risk to the environment and human health.