In January, we blogged about the implementation of New Jersey’s 2009 Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) and associated Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) program meant to revolutionize the state’s environmental investigation and cleanup process. The program takes the majority of site remediation work out of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) hands and puts it into the hands of private environmental consultants certified as LSRPs. These professionals have the authority to issue “Response Action Outcome” closure documentation, which, in this new regulatory framework, is equivalent to a NJDEP-issued, “No Further Action” letter.

The date for final implementation of the LSRP program is May7, 2012—less than two months away!

The majority of the state’s contaminated sites will be transitioned from NJDEP to the LSRP program at this time. Responsible parties who have an affirmative obligation to conduct investigation and remediation activities on their sites will have to retain an LSRP to provide oversight of investigation and remediation activities.

Regulatory Update

The evaluation of human health risk stems from the Remedial Priority Scoring (RPS) system, a means by which the NJDEP is ranking approximately 12,000 contaminated sites relative to potential impacts to nearby receptors. The ranking itself is a numbering system ranging from one (a site with a high potential to impact on-site or neighboring receptors) to five (a site with low potential).

Over the past two years, NJDEP has sent letters to responsible parties of the low-priority sites recommending they opt into the LSRP program prior to May 2012. NJDEP expects these sites to move forward under LSRP oversight, limiting NJDEP’s involvement to auditing a percentage of the submissions. All of these sites will be required to enter the LSRP program by May 7, 2012.

All other sites with a potential impact to human health and the environment that have an identified responsible party will be ranked in March 2012. Sites not incorporated in the RPS at this time are:

• homeowner sites
• unregulated heating oil tank cases
• sites limited to operation and maintenance monitoring only
• initial notice cases
• child care facilities
• cleanup star
• unknown source cases