Mark your calendar for May 7, 2012; the Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) is changing the way contaminated sites in New Jersey are being remediated. Starting on this date, if you are a remediating party in New Jersey, you will be required to hire a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) to work on your site. The LSRP is a new type of environmental consultant that speeds up the clean up process. You will no longer need pre-approval from the NJDEP to proceed with a remediation project. However, use of an LSRP will be required to remediate any site, regardless of when the cleanup was initiated.
The LSRPs role in the LSRP program is to oversee the remediation of contaminated sites according to NJDEPs applicable standards and regulations for responsible parties. LSRPs are subject to a strict code of conduct established by statute and regulation and must ensure that remediation of contaminated sites are performed in a protective manner of human health, safety and the environment. The conduct of LSRPs is overseen by the Site Remediation Professional Licensing Board. http://www.nj.gov/lsrpboard/
The LSRP will oversee the daily management of the remediation site while the NJDEP will still have authority on the overall process ensuring that high standards are being kept. Milestone documents submitted by the LSRP will be reviewed by the NJDEP, including the Response Action Outcome (RAO) which is filed when remediation is complete. LSRPs will not be required in the remediation of unregulated heating oil tanks (a subsurface evaluator can be used) and may not be needed when someone is conducting due diligence at a site.
Other regulations will apply to site remediation projects, such as RCRA and OSHA. All employees working on these site need to be properly trained.