[CPEO-BIF] New Jersey "can't require industrial sites to certify land as 'clean' before selling it"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

State appeals court: DEP can't require industrial sites to certify  
land as 'clean' before selling it

By MaryAnn Spoto
Newark Star-Ledger (NJ)
July 7, 201


TRENTON - In a ruling that could affect tens of thousands of  
contaminated sites in New Jersey, a state appeals court Friday said  
the Department of Environmental Protection does not have the  
authority to require owners or operators of industrial sites to  
certify the land is "clean" before they are sold and redeveloped.

Environmentalists called the decision a "major setback" in cleaning  
up contaminated sites in New Jersey and said this was an unintended  
consequence of legislation that was supposed to help less polluted  
sites get cleaned up quickly.

Acknowledging the gravity of its decision, the three-judge appellate  
panel said no action can be taken on the sites for 30 days, giving  
time for a potential appeal to the state Supreme Court.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/07/ 
state_appeals_court_dep_cant_r.html

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
 
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