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Andrew B. Robins

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Andrew B. Robins uses his wide range of environmental law experience to counsel clients in regulatory compliance, cost recovery litigation, redevelopment, brownfields, transaction negotiation and risk analysis.

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The Appellate Division recently held equitable relief is available under the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act (“Spill Act”), N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11, et seq., for the investigation of contamination before relative responsibility for remediation is established.

The New Jersey Appellate Court, in Matejek v. Watson (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div., Mar. 3, 2017), upheld a judgment obligating five condominium owners to participate in and equally share the cost of investigating the cause of contamination without first requiring proof that property owners contributed to the contamination.Continue Reading Appellate Decision Upholds Requiring Contribution for Spill Act Investigations Prior to Adjudicating Ultimate Responsibility

Previously issued Response Action Outcomes (“RAOs”)  and No Further Action (“NFA”) letters (collectively known as “Final Remediation Documents” or “FRDs”) do not waive the requirement for a new RAO when there is a new triggering event under the Industrial Site Recovery Act (“ISRA”), N.J.S.A. 13:1K-6 to -14.
Continue Reading Don’t Live in the Past: Property Owners Can’t Use Prior Final Remediation Documents To Avoid New Response Action Outcomes

I.  In General

It seems unlikely that the New Jersey Legislature will further extend the “Extension Period” of the Permit Extension Act (the “Act”) beyond December 31st of this year. Therefore, property owners and developers, with approvals which the Act extends, need to determine when these approvals or their periods of protection expire and what they can do to further extend these approvals.Continue Reading Duration and Extensions of Permits and Approvals Extended by the New Jersey Permit Extension Act