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Via a New Jersey Register notice published on May 17, 2021, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has amended the remediation standards that govern all cleanups in the state. It is the most sweeping revision of the standards since they were first adopted in 2008.
NJDEP proposed the amendments in April 2020 and held a virtual public hearing on July 21, 2020. During an extended public comment period, NJDEP received more than 270 public comments on its proposal. The proposal itself was preceded by a series of stakeholder sessions stretching back to 2014.
The rulemaking makes significant changes to the remediation standards, including:
The creation of separate residential and non-residential soil remediation standards for the ingestion-dermal and inhalation exposure pathways; formerly, the applicable standard was the more stringent of the two, but now both pathways will need to be considered.
The adoption of new soil remediation standards for the migration to groundwater exposure pathway, replacing the former site-specific approach based on NJDEP guidance with enforceable standards.
The adoption of new standards for soil leachate (for the migration to groundwater exposure pathway) and indoor air (for the vapor intrusion exposure pathway); the vapor intrusion standards replace the former screening levels based on NJDEP guidance.
The tightening of some standards and the loosening of others.
The creation of new standards for some contaminants (e.g.,1,4-dioxane and extractable petroleum hydrocarbons) and the elimination of other standards that could no longer be…
NEW JERSEY – Gov. Phil Murphy vetoed three bills on Tuesday while signing 11 into law, approving legislation that would require water customers to be notified about possible elevated lead levels. He also sent legislation back that was intended to promote American-made products and, lawmakers said, boost the state’s economy.
Murphy signed legislation (S968/A2836) that will require public water systems to provide notice of elevated lead levels in drinking water to customers and local officials and require landlords to notify tenants of elevated lead levels.
“We must continue to take proactive action to protect our communities from the dangers of lead exposure,” said Murphy. “This legislation will ensure that community members are aware of the levels of lead in their drinking water, a critical step toward protecting our children and families from the dangers of lead exposure.”
The bill requires that written notice of elevated lead levels in drinking water be provided to all customers no later than 10 days after it is determined that lead levels are above the lead action level.
That notice must also include details of the lead action level, provide information on the health effects of lead in drinking water, and provide information about steps a customer can take to reduce risk. Landlords will be required to deliver the notice to all tenants served by the water system within three days of receiving the notice from the public water system.
Murphy also vetoed legislation called the “New Jersey Buy American Act,” which would require all state contracts over $1 million in value for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, maintenance or improvement of highways or bridges to contain a provision that any iron or steel products be made in in the United States.
“Requiring the purchase of American-made goods for public contracts is a matter of good economic sense,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney. “I believe that we have an obligation to use public funds in ways that help our workers and businesses. This is part of a national movement in support of American jobs that will help revitalize infrastructure across the state and bolster the strength of our manufacturing industries.”
Murphy said he applauds the sponsors of the legislation for exploring ways to ensure that the state is investing its taxpayer dollars in American businesses, including small businesses.
“Supporting American companies is particularly important as we emerge from the hardships wrought by the coronavirus disease,” Murphy said. “Using domestic goods and materials spurs the creation of well-paid, union jobs and increases investments in the manufacturing industry and workforce, which will aid our efforts to build a stronger and fairer economy.”
Murphy, however, said he’s concerned that some of the bill’s requirements could inadvertently jeopardize federal funding for bridge and highway projects and cause the state to incur additional costs for those projects.
“Consequently, I am recommending minor changes to the bill to ensure that DOT has maximum flexibility to secure federal funding for bridge and highway projects ,” he said.
LOWVILLE, NY — Lewis County has entered into an agreement with the New York Power Authority to explore the possibility of creating a community solar project on under-utilized county-owned land. The property adjacent to the county Solid Waste Facility at 7952 Route 26 not currently in use will be analyzed for solar suitability by the Authority through the Community Solar and Battery Storage program introduced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in February.
According to county Planning Director Casandra Buell, the program is designed to work with municipalities on creating ready-made sites for small-scale solar projects in the same way former brownfield, industrial and landfill sites are being prepped around the state for large-scale projects through the 94-C siting process that went into effect this year, replacing Article 10.
“Lewis County doesn’t (own) any of those large properties that aren’t forested and protected,” Mrs. Buell said. “The only opportunity that we had to lease land that we had available was the solid waste facility. There’s land surrounding that facility that’s under-utilized mainly because it’s wetlands and it’s kind of a wonky area.”
“Wonky” for most development could work well for a community solar project.
Mrs. Buell reached out to the Power Authority as soon as she learned of the new program with the solid waste property in mind.
This is not the county’s first foray into solar.
In 2019, the county’s solar array — built and owned by the Connecticut-based Greenskies Renewable Energy — began pumping power into the grid, decreasing the county’s energy bill by about 50%. About 25% of the energy produced goes to the county-owned hospital.
The 2-megawatt array was not expected to produce enough to cover all of the county’s and hospital’s energy needs.
A community solar project, however, will result in a number of benefits to the community that could not be part of the county’s existing solar array which was a simple power purchase agreement with National Grid giving credits toward each power bill, according to Mrs. Buell.
“This (would be a) community solar facility, so the county would have the ability to receive monthly lease payments for the property to be used for solar and on top of that we would have access to up to 60% of the energy produced from that solar farm. That’s amazing. We can have the best of both worlds,” she said. “We can have that energy localized and we would have a revenue stream coming in for the use of the land.”
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