Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024
(a) Immediately
after a discharge commences, any person or persons responsible for a discharge
who knows or should reasonably know of a discharge shall immediately notify the
Department by following the requirements of the Discharge of Petroleum and
Other Hazardous Substances rules at N.J.A.C. 7:1E-5.
(b) The person responsible for conducting the
remediation shall immediately notify the Department hotline at 1-877-WARNDEP
(1-877-927-6337) when any of the following are identified at a site:
1. Contamination that has been caused by a
discharge that is not already known to the Department;
2. An immediate environmental concern;
or
3. Contamination, which was
previously reported to the Department, has been determined to have migrated
onto the site from another site.
(c) Notwithstanding (b) above, the person
responsible for conducting the remediation is not required to notify the
Department hotline at 1-877-WARNDEP (1-877-927-6337) if the only discharge that
has occurred at the site is historic fill.
(d) The person responsible for conducting the
remediation shall notify the Department in writing, on the Confirmed Discharge
Notification form available from the Department at
www.nj.gov/dep/srp/srra/forms,
within 14 days after the occurrence of any of the following events:
1. A discharge of a hazardous substance, or
the discovery of a discharge of a hazardous substance pursuant to 7:1E-5.7;
or
2. The owner or operator of a
regulated underground storage tank determines that there has been a discharge
from the regulated underground storage tank, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14B-6 or
7.
(e) The person
responsible for conducting the remediation shall provide the notification and
any updates, and the fact sheet and any updates required in (h), (k),
(l), (n) and (o) below in English.
Additionally, where the person responsible for conducting the remediation
determines that a language other than English is predominantly spoken by
property owners or tenants in the area within 200 feet of the site boundary,
the notification and any updates, and the fact sheet and any updates shall also
be provided in that predominant non-English language.
(f) The person responsible for conducting the
remediation shall include contact information for the person responsible for
conducting the remediation, the name and telephone number for the licensed site
remediation professional hired pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
7:26C-2.3(a)1, the
Department program interest number for the site in the notification and any
updates thereto, and the fact sheet and any updates required in (h), (k), (l),
(n), and (o) below.
(g) To document
compliance with this section, the person responsible for conducting the
remediation shall submit one copy of each of the following to the Department
within 14 days after the timeframes set forth in (h) and (l) below, with the
appropriate form found on the Department's website at
www.nj.gov/dep/srp/srra/forms:
1. The notification letter and any updates,
and the list of recipients required at (h) and (
l)
below;
2. The public notification
fact sheet and any updates, and the list of recipients required at (h) below
and (l) below; and
3. The display
advertisement required at (l)3 below or a photograph of the notification sign
required in (h) below. If the display advertisement cannot be provided to the
Department within 14 days after the timeframes set forth in (h) and (l) below,
then:
i. Within 14 days after the timeframes
set forth in (h) and (l) below, provide a copy of the advertisement that has
been submitted to the newspaper, the name of the newspaper, and the date the
advertisement is to be published; and
ii. Provide proof of publication of the
display advertisement in the subsequent applicable remedial phase
report.
(h)
The person responsible for conducting the remediation shall:
1. Provide site specific information and
documents related to the remediation at a site or area of concern when
requested by the Department, including information pertaining to field sampling
activities; and
2. Within 14 days
prior to commencing initial field activities associated with the remedial
investigation:
i. Provide notification to any
local property owners and tenants who reside within 200 feet of the
contaminated site, and to the government entities noted in (h)2iv below. The
notification shall summarize site conditions and describe the activities that
are to take place to remediate the site and shall either be in the form of
written correspondence or the posting of a sign visible to the public, which
shall be located on the boundaries of the contaminated site;
ii. Send a notification letter to each local
property owner and tenant to whom notification was sent pursuant to (h)2i above
that describes the current condition and progress of the remediation every two
years until the required remediation is completed and the final remediation
document is filed with the Department;
iii. If a sign is utilized, post and maintain
the sign until such time as the required remediation is completed and the final
remediation document is filed with the Department; and
iv. Submit one copy of the notification
letter and list of recipients required in (h)2ii above or a photograph of the
notification sign required in (h)2iii above, and one copy of the fact sheet
required in (l)1 below and the display advertisement required in (l)3 below, to
the local government entities as follows:
(1)
The municipal clerk of each municipality in which the site is located;
and
(2) The county health
department and the local health agency.
(i) The person responsible for
conducting the remediation shall provide a copy of the remedial action workplan
and any updates or status reports, and a copy of the site health and safety
plan to the clerk of the municipality, county health department, and local
health agency for the municipality and county in which the site is located,
when requested.
(j) The person
responsible for conducting the remediation of any heating oil tank system in
accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:26F, except as provided in
N.J.A.C.
7:26C-1.4(c)4, or the person
responsible for conducting an emergency response action, shall comply only with
the notification requirements of (a) through (c) above.
(k) If the person responsible for conducting
the remediation proposes to bring alternative fill, as defined in the Technical
Requirements for Site Remediation at
N.J.A.C.
7:26E-1.8, on to the site that does not meet
the requirements of the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation at
N.J.A.C.
7:26E-5.2(b), the person
shall:
1. Obtain the Department's prior
written approval through the submission of a proposal and completion of the
Remedial Action Workplan Form available from the Department at
www.nj.gov/dep/srp/srra/forms;
and
2. Provide notification, which
includes the type and concentrations of contaminants in the alternative fill,
the proposed use and volume of the alternative fill, and the controls designed
to reduce or eliminate exposure, to the following:
i. Each owner of real property and the
tenants of those properties, located within 200 feet of the site
boundary;
ii. The mayor of each
municipality where the site located;
iii. The county designated solid waste
coordinator;
iv. The municipal
clerk of each municipality in which the site is located; and
v. The county health department and local
health agency.
(l) Except as provided in
(l)4ii and (m) below, if contamination migrates off site in
any environmental medium, the person responsible for conducting the remediation
shall prepare, distribute and publish a fact sheet, which shall include a
description of the site's industrial history, source(s) of contamination,
description of contamination, current remedial status, proposed remedial
actions with a schedule, extent of contamination, actions performed to minimize
the impact to the public, and a list of online resources for information about
the contaminants, as follows:
1. Prepare and
distribute the fact sheet within 14 days after the determination that
contamination has migrated off site;
2. Distribute the fact sheet to each owner of
real property, as shown on the current municipal tax duplicate, and the tenants
of those properties, located within 200 feet of the site boundary and to the
following government entities:
i. The
municipal clerk of each municipality in which the site is located;
and
ii. The county health
department and local health agency;
3. Publish the fact sheet, or a fact sheet
template available at
www.nj.gov/dep/srp/srra/guidance
that has been updated with site specific information, as a display
advertisement in a daily or weekly newspaper of general circulation in the
vicinity of the site, within 30 days after the determination that contamination
has migrated off site;
4. For soil
contamination:
i. The fact sheet shall be
updated to include current contaminant extent, redistributed to the parties
listed in (
l)2 above and republished as described in
(
l)3i above within 90 days of complete delineation;
and
ii. If the contamination has
affected only one adjoining property and the affected contaminated medium is
limited to the soil, the person responsible for conducting the remediation
shall notify only that adjoining property owner and tenant in writing. The
notice shall describe the nature and extent of the contamination; and
5. For ground water contamination,
conduct the public notification pursuant to the requirements of 7:26C-7.3 when
the Department establishes a ground water classification exception
area.
(m) If only
contamination from historic fill migrates off site onto an adjacent property,
the person responsible for conducting the remediation is exempt from the
requirements of (l) above.
(n) Unless under direct oversight pursuant to
N.J.A.C. 7:26C-14, the person responsible for conducting the remediation may
implement a public notification and outreach plan that is different from the
requirements set forth in (g), (h), and (l) above if that plan is prepared by a
licensed site remediation professional and adequately provides notifications
and public outreach substantially equivalent to the public notification
otherwise required in (g), (h), and (l) above. The person responsible for
conducting the remediation shall include in the applicable remedial phase
report that is submitted to the Department the rationale for the alternative
plan and a discussion of how the alternative plan provides adequate public
notice.
(o) The person responsible
for conducting the remediation shall conduct additional public outreach based
on the needs expressed by the community if the Department determines that:
1. Additional outreach is needed due to
site-specific circumstances. This shall include responding to public inquiries,
including inquiries from the news media, either received by the person
responsible for conducting the remediation directly or received by the
Department and sent to the person responsible for conducting the remediation;
or
2. There is substantial public
interest based on a petition containing the signatures of 25 or more people who
live or work within 200 feet of the extent of contamination or the property
boundary, whichever is greater, and the Department notifies the person
responsible for conducting the remediation of its determination and posts a
summary of this determination on the Department's web site at
www.state.nj.us/dep.
(p) If the person responsible for
conducting the remediation is in compliance with the public participation
requirements applicable to sites subject to the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act,
42
U.S.C. §§
9601 et seq., and the
National Contingency Plan regulations, 40 CFR Part 300, then that person shall
only comply with (a) through (d) above.
(q) The person responsible for remediating a
contaminated site located within the jurisdiction of the Pinelands Commission
as defined pursuant to 13:18A-1 et seq. shall:
1. Submit copies of all reports or workplans,
for preliminary assessments, site investigations, remedial investigations and
remedial actions, to the Pinelands Commission concurrently with submission of
each such document to the Department;
2. Submit, for approval, a copy of the
remedial action workplan or remedial design and construction documents and a
completed Pinelands application to the Pinelands Commission prior to
implementing a remedial action;
3.
Not commence any construction activity at the site until the Pinelands
Commission approves the remediation in writing; and
4. Send the information required pursuant to
this subsection to the Pinelands Commission at the following address:
The Pinelands Commission
P.O. Box 359
15 Springfield Road
New Lisbon, NJ 08064
