Beginning October 1st, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) announced it will issue notices of violation to responsible parties who fail to file post-NFA monitoring reports on NJDEP for remediation plan requirements.  These reports are commonly known as, Biennial Certifications, that monitor the condition of soil caps, classification exception areas for groundwater contamination, and status of deed notices.

Responsible parties face penalties up to $8,000 for every day out of compliance.  NJDEP estimates 950 parties have failed to submit their monitoring reports.  Many of them do not know that they are in violation due to changes in the requirements.  If a party received a No Further Action (NFA) letter in the mid-1990s, the NFA would not have included the Biennial Certification requirement.  If that party later sold its property it would not have received notice from the NJDEP of the new requirements and could face enormous penalties without knowing it.  Refer to the Site Remediation Program website where the parties and sites are listed at Site Remediation Program.  Current owners of properties are also responsible for these monitoring requirements.

EWMA highly recommends you review this list and call us if you have any questions or need assistance filing your monitoring reports.