Redevelop NJ

Legislature Sends Bill Extending Remedial Investigation Deadline to Governor

The Assembly and the Senate passed a bill today extending the deadline for remedial investigation of contaminated sites to May 7, 2016 before the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) undertakes direct oversight. In the absence of the extension, a failure to comply with the statutory deadline would have triggered for many sites a requirement of direct NJDEP oversight of the remedial investigation, resulting in a large loss of control over remediation decision-making and possibly higher costs. The bill is waiting on Governor Chris Christie’s desk.

Legislature Approves Bill Extending Water Quality Management Planning Rules

Both the Assembly and the Senate passed a bill today which would avoid the withdrawal of many wastewater and sewer service areas (SSAs). Under this legislation, the current deadline of January 17, 2014 would be extended up to two years. The bill is currently awaiting approval from Governor Chris Christie.

The current Water Quality Management Planning rules (“WQMP rules”) require wastewater planning agencies, which are typically county governing bodies, to submit a wastewater management plan to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) by January 17, 2014. If the wastewater planning agency fails to submit a wastewater management plan by the statutory deadline, then the current SSAs would be withdrawn. Without SSAs in place, new development would essentially be prohibited.