In May 2009, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) signed into law the New Jersey Site Remediation Act (SRRA). As of May 7, 1012, all owners or operators of a contaminated site (Responsible Parties) must hire an LSRP, who proceeds with site investigations and remediation, without prior NJDEP approval. The LSRP program drastically changed the system, the primary purpose of the change being to greatly expedite the remediation of sites from originally “years” to “months” processing time. It also changed the end product from a NO FURTHER ACTION LETTER (NFA) to a RESPONSE ACTION OUTCOME (RAO).
Prior to the LSRP Program, after contamination or a release was identified, and NJDEP had been notified, the Responsible Party (RP) was required to hire an environmental consultant who would develop a work plan to investigate into the contamination on the site, including determining the extent. The plan would be submitted to NJDEP for approval. Unfortunately, it would be months if not years before the NJDEP would respond and hopefully approve the plan. Otherwise, they would require modification of the plan. After its approval, the investigation would be implemented and findings as a report, submitted to the NJDEP along with a proposed remediation plan, if required. Unfortunately, it would be months if not years before the NJDEP would again respond and often the response was to require additional sampling. If and when, the remediation plan was approved, the consultant would implement said plan. Upon successful remediation, the consultant would prepare reports detailing the remediation and submit them to NJDEP. If remediation was deemed by NJDEP to the complete, NJDEP would issue a No Further Action Letter (NFA).
According to SRRA, as of May 7, 2012, all owners or operators of contaminated sites (Responsible Parties) must hire an LSRP. The NJDEP no longer oversees site remediation and under the program, the LSRP proceeds without prior NJDEP approval. Instead, LSRPs are responsible for managing the process of investigation through remediation, while complying with a multitude of guidance manuals. The LSRP program drastically changed the system, the purpose of which was to greatly expedite the remediation of sites from originally, “years” to, “months” processing time. The delays are no longer attributable to NJDEP’s review time but instead the requirements for investigation, remediation, preparation of required documentation and laboratory processing of samples.
Upon successful completion of remediation, the LSRP issues a RESPONSE ACTION OUTCOME (RAO). No NFA’s are issued any longer. The LSRP prepares documentation detailing the investigations and remediation and fills out NJDEP standard forms, submitting them to NJDEP with the RAO. NJDEP issues no validation but just files the documentation. They are required to administratively/roughly all submissions but detail review ten (10) percent of the RAO per year. They have up to three years to invalidate an RAO. Unless the NJDEP identifies missing documentation during their review or invalidates the RAO, the only documentation we receive from NJDEP concerning a case is the postal receipt for our submission.