New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 26 - SOLID WASTE
Subchapter 5 - CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES AND REQUESTS FOR ADJUDICATORY HEARINGS
Section 7:26-5.10 - Grace period applicability; procedures

1. The violation is not the result of the purposeful, knowing, reckless or criminally negligent conduct of the person responsible for the violation;

2. The activity or condition constituting the violation has existed for less than 12 months prior to the date of discovery by the Department or local government agency;

3. In the case of a violation that involves a permit, the person responsible for the violation has not been identified in a previous enforcement action by the Department or local government agency as responsible for a violation of the same requirement of the same permit within the preceding 12-month period;

4. In the case of a violation that does not involve a permit, the person responsible for the violation has not been notified in a previous enforcement action by the department or a local government agency as responsible for the same or a substantially similar violation at the same facility within the preceding 12-month period; and

5. In the case of any violation, the person responsible for the violation has not been identified by the Department or a local government agency as responsible for the same or substantially similar violations at any time that reasonably indicates a pattern of illegal conduct and not isolated incidents on the part of the person responsible.

1. The Department or local government agency shall issue a notice of violation to the person responsible for the minor violation that:

2. If the person responsible for the minor violation corrects that violation and demonstrates, in accordance with (d)3 below, that compliance has been achieved within the specified grace period, the Department or local government agency shall not impose a penalty for the violation, and in addition, shall not consider the minor violation for purposes of calculating the "severity penalty component" under 7:26-5.4(f).

3. The person responsible for a violation shall submit to the Department or local government agency, before the end of the specified grace period, written information, certified in accordance with 7:26-2.4(e) or 7:26A-3.2(b), and signed by the person responsible for the minor violation, detailing the corrective action taken or compliance achieved.

4. If the person responsible for the minor violation seeks additional time beyond the specified grace period to achieve compliance, the person shall request an extension of the specified grace period. The request shall be made in writing no later than one week before the end of the specified grace period and include the anticipated time needed to achieve compliance, the specific cause or causes of the delay, and any measures taken or to be taken to minimize the time needed to achieve compliance, and shall be certified in accordance with 7:26-2.4(e) or 7:26A-3.2(b). The Department may, at its discretion, approve in writing an extension, which shall not exceed 90 days, to accommodate the anticipated delay in achieving compliance. In exercising its discretion to approve a request for an extension, the Department may consider the following:

5. If the person responsible for the minor violation fails to demonstrate to the Department or local government agency that the violation has been corrected and compliance achieved within the specified grace period or within the approved extension, if any, the Department or local government agency may, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, impose a penalty that is retroactive to the date the notice of violation under (d)1 above was issued.

6. The person responsible for a minor violation shall not request more than one extension of a grace period specified in a notice of violation.