New Jersey § 58:10b-1

§ 58:10b-1.

As used in sections 23 through 43 and section 45 of P.L.1993, c. 139 ( C.58:10B-1 et seq. ), as may be amended and supplemented: “ Area of concern ” means any location where contaminants are or were known or suspected to have been

discharged, generated, manufactured, refined, transported, stored, handled, treated,

or disposed, or where contaminants have or may have migrated; “ Authority ” means the New Jersey Economic Development Authority established pursuant to P.L.1974,

c. 80 ( C.34:1B-1 et seq. ); “ Brownfield development area ” means an area that has been so designated by the department, in writing, pursuant

to the provisions of section 7 of P.L.2005, c. 223 ( C.58:10B-25.1 ); “ Brownfield site ” means any former or current commercial or industrial site that is currently vacant

or underutilized and on which there has been, or there is suspected to have been,

a discharge of a contaminant; “ Contamination ” or “ contaminant ” means any discharged hazardous substance as defined pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1976,

c. 141 ( C.58:10-23.11b ), hazardous waste as defined pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1976, c. 99 ( C.13:1E-38 ), or pollutant as defined pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1977, c. 74 ( C.58:10A-3 ); “ Department ” means the Department of Environmental Protection; “ Discharge ” means an intentional or unintentional action or omission resulting in the releasing,

spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping of a contaminant

onto the land or into the waters of the State; “ Engineering controls ” means any mechanism to contain or stabilize contamination or ensure the effectiveness

of a remedial action. Engineering controls may include, without limitation, caps, covers, dikes, trenches,

leachate collection systems, signs, fences and physical access controls; “ Environmental opportunity zone ” has the meaning given that term pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1995, c. 413 ( C.54:4-3.152 ); “ Final remediation document ” means a no further action letter issued by the department pursuant to P.L.1993, c. 139 ( C.58:10B-1 et al.), or a response action outcome issued by a licensed site remediation professional

pursuant to section 14 of P.L.2009, c. 60 ( C.58:10C-14 ); “ Financial assistance ” means loans or loan guarantees; “ Institutional controls ” means a mechanism used to limit human activities at or near a contaminated site,

or to ensure the effectiveness of the remedial action over time, when contaminants

remain at a contaminated site in levels or concentrations above the applicable remediation

standard that would allow unrestricted use of that property. Institutional controls may include, without limitation, structure, land, and natural

resource use restrictions, well restriction areas, and deed notices; “ Licensed site remediation professional ” means an individual who is licensed by the Site Remediation Professional Licensing

Board pursuant to section 7 of P.L.2009, c. 60 ( C.58:10C-7 ) or the department pursuant to section 12 of P.L.2009, c. 60 ( C.58:10C-12 ); “ Limited restricted use remedial action ” means any remedial action that requires the continued use of institutional controls

but does not require the use of an engineering control; “ No further action letter ” means a written determination by the department that based upon an evaluation of

the historical use of a particular site, or of an area of concern or areas of concern

at that site, as applicable, and any other investigation or action the department

deems necessary, there are no discharged contaminants present at the site, at the

area of concern or areas of concern, at any other site to which a discharge originating

at the site has migrated, or that any discharged contaminants present at the site

or that have migrated from the site have been remediated in accordance with applicable

remediation regulations; “ Person ” means an individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm, or other private business

entity; “ Person responsible for conducting the remediation ” means (1) any person who executes or is otherwise subject to an oversight document

to remediate a contaminated site, (2) the owner or operator of an industrial establishment

subject to P.L.1983, c. 330 ( C.13:1K-6 et al.), for the remediation of a discharge, (3) the owner or operator of an underground

storage tank subject to P.L.1986, c. 102 ( C.58:10A-21 et seq. ), for the remediation of a discharge, (4) any other person who discharges a hazardous

substance or is in any way responsible for a hazardous substance, pursuant to section

8 of P.L.1976, c. 141 ( C.58:10-23.11g ), that was discharged at a contaminated site, or (5) any other person who is remediating

a site; “ Preliminary assessment ” means the first phase in the process of identifying areas of concern and determining

whether contaminants are or were present at a site or have migrated or are migrating

from a site, and shall include the initial search for and evaluation of, existing

site specific operational and environmental information, both current and historic,

to determine if further investigation concerning the documented, alleged, suspected

or latent discharge of any contaminant is required. The evaluation of historic information shall be conducted from 1932 to the present,

except that the department may require the search for and evaluation of additional

information relating to ownership and use of the site prior to 1932 if such information

is available through diligent inquiry of the public records; “ Presumptive remedy ” means a remedial action established by the department pursuant to paragraph (10)

of subsection g. of section 35 of P.L.1993, c. 139 ( C.58:10B-12 ); “ Recreation and conservation purposes ” means the use of lands for beaches, biological or ecological study, boating, camping,

fishing, forests, greenways, hunting, natural areas, parks, playgrounds, protecting

historic properties, water reserves, watershed protection, wildlife preserves, active

sports, or a similar use for either public outdoor recreation or conservation of natural

resources, or both; “ Remedial action ” means those actions taken at a site or offsite if a contaminant has migrated or

is migrating therefrom, as may be required by the department, including the removal,

treatment, containment, transportation, securing, or other engineering or treatment

measures, whether to an unrestricted use or otherwise, designed to ensure that any

discharged contaminant at the site or that has migrated or is migrating from the site,

is remediated in compliance with the applicable health risk or environmental standards; “ Remedial action workplan ” means a plan for the remedial action to be undertaken at a site, or at any area

to which a discharge originating at a site is migrating or has migrated; a description

of the remedial action to be used to remediate a site; a time schedule and cost estimate

of the implementation of the remedial action; and any other information the department

deems necessary; “ Remedial investigation ” means a process to determine the nature and extent of a discharge of a contaminant

at a site or a discharge of a contaminant that has migrated or is migrating from the

site and the problems presented by a discharge, and may include data collected, site

characterization, sampling, monitoring, and the gathering of any other sufficient

and relevant information necessary to determine the necessity for remedial action

and to support the evaluation of remedial actions if necessary; “ Remediation ” or “ remediate ” means all actions to investigate , clean up , or respond to any known, suspected, or threatened discharge of contaminants, including the preliminary assessment, site investigation, remedial investigation, and remedial

action, or any portion thereof, provided, however, that “remediation” or “remediate” shall not include the payment

of compensation for damage to, or loss of, natural resources; “ Remediation fund ” means the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund established pursuant to section

26 of P.L.1993, c. 139 ( C.58:10B-4 ); “ Remediation funding source ” means the methods of financing the remediation of a discharge required to be established

by a person performing the remediation pursuant to section 25 of P.L.1993, c. 139 ( C.58:10B-3 ); “ Remediation standards ” means the combination of numeric standards that establish a level or concentration,

and narrative standards to which contaminants must be treated, removed, or otherwise

cleaned for soil, groundwater, or surface water, as provided by the department pursuant

to section 35 of P.L.1993, c. 139 ( C.58:10B-12 ) in order to meet the health risk or environmental standards; “ Response action outcome ” means a written determination by a licensed site remediation professional that the

contaminated site was remediated in accordance with all applicable statutes and regulations,

and based upon an evaluation of the historical use of the site, or of any area of

concern at that site, as applicable, and any other investigation or action the department

deems necessary, there are no contaminants present at the site, or at any area of

concern, at any other site to which a discharge originating at the site has migrated,

or that any contaminants present at the site or that have migrated from the site have

been remediated in accordance with applicable remediation regulations, and all applicable

permits and authorizations have been obtained; “ Restricted use remedial action ” means any remedial action that requires the continued use of engineering and institutional

controls in order to meet the established health risk or environmental standards; “ Site investigation ” means the collection and evaluation of data adequate to determine whether or not

discharged contaminants exist at a site or have migrated or are migrating from the

site at levels in excess of the applicable remediation standards. A site investigation shall be developed based upon the information collected pursuant

to the preliminary assessment; “ Unrestricted use remedial action ” means any remedial action that does not require the continued use of engineering

or institutional controls in order to meet the established health risk or environmental

standards; “ Voluntarily perform a remediation ” means performing a remediation without having been ordered or directed to do so

by the department or by a court and without being compelled to perform a remediation

pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1983, c. 330 ( C.13:1K-6 et al.).