Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024
(a) A person may
request a hearing to contest:
1. A revocation
of a no further action letter pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26C-6;
2. An invalidation of a response action
outcome pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26C-6;
3. A new or modified remedial action permit
or a denial of an application to transfer a remedial action permit pursuant to
N.J.A.C. 7:26C-7;
4. An
administrative order pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26C-9;
5. An assessment of a civil administrative
penalty pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26C-9;
6. An assessment of cleanup and removal costs
pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26C-9; or
7.
Any other document when the Department determines that the matter constitutes a
contested case under the Administrative Procedure Act,
N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq.
(b) The person requesting a hearing on a
document listed in (a) above, shall, within 20 calendar days after that
person's receipt of the document for which the hearing is sought, deliver, to
the Department at the addresses in (e) below, a copy of the document for which
the hearing is sought, a completed Administrative Hearing Request Checklist,
which accompanied the document being contested, and the following information:
1. The date the person received the document
for which the hearing is sought;
2.
The name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of:
i. The person the Department named in the
document for which the hearing is sought;
ii. A contact person or authorized
representative, if the person the Department named in the document is other
than an individual; and
iii. The
person's attorney, if any;
3. An admission, a denial, or an averment of
insufficient knowledge or information of each of those findings in the document
being contested that the Department listed on the Administrative Hearing
Request Checklist, which accompanied the document for which the hearing is
sought. The person shall base any denial or averment of insufficient knowledge
or information on all knowledge and information in that person's possession,
custody, or control, or in the possession, custody, or control of any other
person whom that person has the legal right to obtain such knowledge or
information. The person shall make each admission, denial, or averment of
insufficient knowledge or information as follows:
i. If the person is without knowledge or
information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of a specific finding,
the person shall so state and this shall have the effect of a denial;
ii. If the person intends to deny any finding
or portion of any finding in the document:
(1)
The person shall specify what part of the finding is denied. A general denial
of some or all of the findings shall have the effect of an admission of each
finding generally denied;
(2) For
each finding or portion of any finding the person denies, the person shall
explain the factual and legal basis of the denial. Any failure to provide a
factual and legal basis for a denial shall have the effect of an admission of
the finding; and
(3) The person
shall ensure that each denial fairly meets the substance of the finding or
portion of any finding denied. A denial that does not meet the substance of the
finding denied shall have the effect of an admission of the finding;
and
iii. If a person
fails to either admit or deny any specific finding or portion of any finding,
this shall have the effect of an admission of that finding;
4. A list of all factual and legal
issues that the person is contesting, with each defense position stated in
short and plain terms;
5. If the
person's response to a Department allegation of noncompliance is that the
person has complied with some or all of the applicable requirements, a
description of all such compliance, including a specific citation to each
applicable requirement with which the person alleges it has complied, the facts
and circumstances of the compliance, including a copy of any submission that is
required by that applicable requirement, or otherwise provide evidence of
compliance, and the date of the compliance;
6. An estimate of the time required for the
hearing (in days and/or hours); and
7. A request, if necessary, for a
barrier-free hearing location for physically disabled persons.
(c) The Department shall deny a
request for a hearing if:
1. The Department
does not timely receive a complete request for a hearing pursuant to (b) above,
as applicable;
2. The person fails
to include in the request for a hearing all of the information required by (b)
above, as applicable; or
3. The
person seeks only to challenge a duly promulgated regulation and not the
Department's application of the regulation to the person in a particular
case.
(d) The Department
shall conduct all hearings granted pursuant to this section in accordance with
the Administrative Procedure Act,
N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq., and 52:14F-1 et seq., and
the Uniform Administrative Procedure Rules, N.J.A.C. 1:1.
(e) The person shall send the request for an
adjudicatory hearing pursuant to this section to both the:
1. New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection
Office of Administrative Hearings and Dispute
Resolution
ATTENTION: Adjudicatory Hearing Requests
401 E. State Street
Mail Code 401-07A
PO Box 420
Trenton, NJ 08625-0420; and
2. New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection
Site Remediation and Waste Management Program Bureau of
Enforcement and Investigation
Mail Code 401-06U
PO Box 420
Trenton, NJ 08625-0420
Attention: Hearing Request.
