Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Tagged: New Jersey

NJDEP Continues Environmental Justice Rulemaking Process With Second Stakeholders Meeting

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On January 15, 2021

As we previously reported, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has embarked on a robust process for soliciting public input on the regulations it will propose to implement in the state’s landmark environmental justice law, which was enacted last year (and which will not become effective until NJDEP promulgates its regulations). The first meeting was held remotely on October 22, 2020. The process goes well beyond the normal notice-and-comment rulemaking procedure and offers members of the public and the regulated community an unusually broad set of options for submitting their views to the NJDEP. Under the new statute, a company seeking to obtain or renew certain NJDEP permits for new or expanded facilities that fall within the statute’s scope and are located in overburdened communities must prepare an “environmental justice impact statement” and provide for expanded public hearings on its project. In addition to applying the requirements of other applicable statutes and regulations, NJDEP must then determine if the proposed new or expanded facility will cause a disproportionate impact on the affected community. If NJDEP makes such a finding, it must deny the application if it seeks a new permit (unless the facility addresses a “compelling public interest” in the community) or impose extra conditions if the application seeks a permit renewal or...

NJ’s New Economic Incentive Legislation Includes Supplement to Brownfields Program

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On January 14, 2021

The New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020 (NJERA), recently signed into law by Governor Murphy, includes an important new tax incentive for Brownfields called the “Brownfields Redevelopment Incentive Program Act” (BRIPA),  included as Sections 9 through 19 in the act. BRIPA supplements the existing “Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act” (BCSRA), which provides funds for reimbursement of varying components of remediation costs at Brownfield sites based on certain eligibility criteria, including the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund and the Brownfield Site Reimbursement Fund. Under BRIPA, as under BCSRA, a “Brownfield site” is any commercial or industrial site that is “vacant or underutilized and on which there has been, or there is suspected to have been, a discharge of a contaminant.” BRIPA further expands the definition of Brownfield sites to include sites where there is or suspected to be contaminated building materials. BRIPA takes an approach similar to that of the New York Brownfields Cleanup Program by awarding tax credits of up to the lesser of 40 percent of remediation costs or $4 million under redevelopment agreements entered into by the state and a developer. There is a cumulative cap of $50 million that can be awarded annually under BRIPA. Projects that are eligible for tax credits under BRIPA are those that are located at...

CREMA Provides the Framework for the Regulated Recreational Cannabis Industry in New Jersey, but Disincentivizes Businesses From Seeking to Achieve Certain Legislative Goals

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Posted in Development/Redevelopment

On January 13, 2021

In November 2020, New Jersey voters passed the referendum to add an amendment to the State Constitution for the legalization of recreational cannabis by a resounding margin of 2 to 1. The amendment went into effect as of January 1, 2021; however, implementation and the establishment of the legal recreational cannabis market requires further legislative and regulatory action. As the first step in this process, the State Assembly and Senate each passed the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (“CREMA”). CREMA is the result of tireless legislative negotiation that began well before the November 2020 vote. The end result includes provisions aimed at public policy and social justice considerations, and at creating a competitive business marketplace. For example, under CREMA, the Legislature takes effort to address the disproportionate negative impacts that cannabis prohibition has had on Black New Jerseyans and other minority communities. With the goal of promoting social equity and redressing the historical impact of unequal application of drug laws on minority communities, CREMA provides priority for license applications to businesses located in “impact zones,” which are defined as municipalities that have a population of 120,000 or more or that rank in the top 40 percent for cannabis-related arrests, and mandates that at least 70 percent of tax revenue on...

NJABC Extends Time Period for COVID-19 Expansion Permit

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Posted in Liquor Licensing

On October 30, 2020

On October 19, 2020, the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“Division”) issued a new special ruling (the “October Special Ruling”) that allows the currently issued COVID-19 Expansion of Premises Permit (“COVID-19 Expansion Permit”) to be extended to March 31, 2021. We previously discussed the Division’s special ruling issued on June 3, 2020 (the “June Special Ruling”) that coincided with Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 150, which allowed licensees or permittees with on-premises retail consumption privileges to reopen and serve patrons in “outdoor areas.” The COVID-19 Expansion Permit established through the June Special Ruling allowed licensees and permittees to expand their licensed premises into outdoor areas, either contiguous or non-contiguous to their permanently licensed premises. Applications for an extension of the COVID-19 Expansion Permit will be available later this month and must be submitted no later than November 23, 2020. The June Special Ruling originally set the expiration of the COVID-19 Expansion Permit as November 30, 2020. However, due to the continuing effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the alcoholic beverage industry, and the continued requirements for indoor capacity limits and social distancing, the Division found it appropriate to allow licensees to apply to renew the COVID-19 Expansion Permits. The Division noted that, to date, it has issued more than 2,300 COVID-19 Expansion Permits....

Jordan Asch to Participate in Upcoming NJSBA Panel Discussion – “Resolving Everyday Environmental Problems” – November 5

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On October 29, 2020

Jordan M. Asch, an Associate in the Gibbons Environmental Department, will participate in an upcoming panel discussion presented by the New Jersey State Bar Association, in cooperation with its Environmental Law Section. The panel, “Resolving Everyday Environmental Problems,” will take place virtually on Thursday, November 5 from 9:00 – 10:30 am. The discussion will cover some of the complex, and often expensive, environmental issues that small businesses and homeowners may face, including site remediation issues, funding sources, environmental permitting, and the permitting process. Attorneys who represent small business owners that own or lease real property, or that may develop or improve real property, as well as homeowners that may face environmental remediation or permitting issues are encouraged to attend. For additional information or to register, click here.

NJDEP Solicits Input as It Begins Process of Drafting Regulations to Implement Landmark Environmental Justice Legislation

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On October 27, 2020

As we reported, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed the nation’s first environmental justice law, which seeks to address the unfair distribution of the environmental and public health impacts of polluting activities by imposing additional requirements on parties seeking to site, expand, or renew permits for various types of facilities in “overburdened communities,” which are defined in the statute in terms of economic and demographic criteria. The statute requires the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to promulgate regulations to implement its requirements. NJDEP began the public process of developing those regulations on October 22 when Olivia Glenn, Deputy Commissioner for Environmental Justice and Equity, and Sean Moriarty, Chief Advisor for Regulatory Affairs, hosted an online public information session in which they sought the public’s input on how the regulations should address numerous definitional and procedural issues. (The statute will not take effect until NJDEP promulgates its regulations.) Companies seeking to obtain or renew certain NJDEP permits for new or expanded facilities that fall within the statute’s scope and are located in overburdened communities must prepare an “environmental justice impact statement” and provide for expanded public hearings on their project. In addition to applying the requirements of other applicable statutes and regulations, NJDEP must then determine if the proposed new or expanded facility...

That Mine Is Yours, Not Theirs: Ninth Circuit Holds That WWII Shutdown Order Did Not Make Federal Government the CERCLA “Operator” of California Gold Mine

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On October 13, 2020

One perennially vexing issue for federal courts in cases brought under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund law, is what makes someone an “operator” of a facility, and thus strictly (and, in most cases, jointly and severally) liable for cleanup costs. In particular, what degree and nature of control over a facility exercised by the government make it an operator? (We recently blogged on this issue.) In its recent decision in United States v. Sterling Centrecorp Inc., a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit held that a World War II-era federal order that shut down a gold mine in California did not give the government sufficient control over the operations of the mine to make it a CERCLA operator. Upon entering World War II, the United States faced a serious shortage of nonferrous metals, especially copper, and a corresponding shortage of the machinery and materials needed to produce them. Scarce resources needed to be redirected from nonessential operations to essential ones, and gold mines, such as the Lava Cap mine in Nevada County, California, were deemed nonessential. An order of the War Production Board required the mine to cease operations in 1943. While the order was revoked in 1945, operations at the mine never resumed. It was...

Insurer Alleges Pollution Policy Void Because of Policyholder’s Failure to Disclose

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On October 7, 2020

AIG Specialty Insurance Co. (“AIG”) recently asserted in a New Jersey Federal District Court Complaint that it owes no coverage to Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (“Thermo Fisher”) for cleanup costs associated with contaminated groundwater at a facility owned by Thermo Fisher in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The crux of AIG’s claim is the fact that Thermo Fisher failed to disclose to AIG that the company had been monitoring groundwater pollution at its site for nearly three decades. AIG alleges the existence of two consent orders relating to groundwater contamination at the site and, more specifically, the presence of PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals” detected in a wellfield affected by the site. Both of these consent orders were in existence when Thermo Fisher sought a pollution liability policy with AIG. AIG asserts that Thermo Fisher either knew or should have known about the groundwater pollution conditions at its facility and the claims against the facility by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) prior to seeking the pollution liability policy at issue, facts that should have been disclosed in the application. AIG alleges that Thermo Fisher’s failure to disclose these consent orders and the fact that the Thermo Fisher plant was part of a Superfund site is sufficient to trigger a number of exclusions in the pollution...

New Jersey Governor Signs Environmental Justice Legislation

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On September 23, 2020

On September 18, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation intended to address the disproportionate environmental and public health impacts of pollution on overburdened communities. The legislation, versions of which have been proposed several times over the past decade, imposes additional requirements on companies seeking permits for new or expanded facilities under a variety of environmental statutes. It also requires the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to evaluate how the proposed permitted activities would impact those communities determined to be “overburdened” under the new law. Earlier this summer, marking the “Juneteenth” anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in the United States, Governor Murphy had indicated his support for the legislation, which some environmental advocates have dubbed the “holy grail” of the environmental justice movement. Although critics of the law raised concerns about its effect on manufacturing and business investment in New Jersey, the bill passed the state legislature in late August, with votes of 49-28-1 in the state Assembly and 21-14 in the state Senate. The types of facilities covered by the new law include certain power plants, incinerators, sewage treatment plants, solid waste facilities, and landfills, as well as other facilities deemed to be “major sources of air pollution” (as determined by the federal Clean Air Act). Governor Murphy stated that,...

Susanne Peticolas Elected to Serve as President of the Justice Stewart G. Pollock Environmental American Inn of Court

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Posted in Environmental and Green Issues

On September 22, 2020

Susanne Peticolas, a Director in the Environmental Department at Gibbons P.C., has been elected to serve as President of the Justice Stewart G. Pollock Environmental American Inn of Court (“Pollock Inn”) for the 2020-2022 term. The Pollock Inn is named for former Justice Stewart G. Pollock, who sat as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of New Jersey from 1979 to 1999 and was the author of numerous landmark environmental cases, including NJDEP v. Ventron. The Pollock Inn is one of only two American Inns of Court focused on environmental law. Previous Pollock Inn presidents include retired Judge Deanne Wilson of the New Jersey Superior Court, former NJDEP Commissioner Jerry English, and Stephanie Brand, Director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel. On being introduced as the new Pollock Inn president, Ms. Peticolas commented, “I am honored to be selected by my Inn colleagues to lead this wonderful organization, and I am humbled to follow in the footsteps of such extraordinarily talented predecessor presidents. I am committed to carrying on their legacy of leadership and promotion of the goal of the Inn – to foster the highest levels of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring.” The American Inns of Court organization grew out of discussions in the 1970s among the American members of...

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