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Who Is Liable for Historic Environmental Contamination in New Jersey? Liability for historic environmental contamination in New Jersey depends on factors such as property ownership history, business operations, environmental laws, and responsibility for the release. A current property owner may face obligations even if they did not cause the contamination. Understanding potential liability before purchasing or redeveloping contaminated property is essential.

What Happens if Underground Storage Tanks Are Discovered During Redevelopment? Discovering underground storage tanks during redevelopment in New Jersey can create environmental, regulatory, and construction challenges. Property owners and developers may need to investigate the tanks, determine whether contamination exists, notify the appropriate agencies, and complete required remediation before continuing construction. Proper planning can help prevent costly delays and unexpected cleanup obligations.

How Can Environmental Contamination Delay a Commercial Real Estate Closing in New Jersey? Environmental contamination can delay a commercial real estate closing in New Jersey by creating regulatory requirements, unexpected cleanup costs, financing concerns, and uncertainty between buyers and sellers. Contaminated soil, groundwater issues, underground storage tanks, and historic industrial uses may require investigation, remediation, or NJDEP involvement before a transaction can move forward.

What Triggers ISRA Compliance in New Jersey? The Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) is a New Jersey environmental law that may require certain industrial businesses to complete environmental reviews and, if necessary, remediation before closing, selling, or transferring operations. ISRA compliance is generally triggered by events such as the sale of an industrial establishment, cessation of operations, or certain changes in ownership or business activities.

Environmental Law in the age of COVID-19: The Great Unknowns Businesses face not only economic uncertainties during the COVID-19 crisis, but also an environmental landscape filled with unknowns- and potential pitfalls. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) recently proposed three (3) sweeping changes to the current state environmental regulatory scheme: (1) a rule proposal to begin regulating “forever chemicals”; 2) a policy to […]

Info re: US Small Business Association (SBA) small business low-interest loans Small business owners suffering economic injury from the #COVID19 crisis may be eligible for small business low-interest loans. Check out the link below to review the many kinds of #coronavirus-related resources from the U.S. Small Business Association (#SBA), including how small business owners can apply for low-interest economic injury disaster loans.  https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources

Office closed, but we can still connect on Zoom or Webex. Although offices are closed throughout most of the U.S., I know that you still have pressing legal needs. But fear not: we can still discuss your #environmental, land use, and/or governmental affairs matters via secured #Zoom or #Webex video conferences. Pease email me to schedule an appointment.

SRRA 2.0- What you need to know (Part 1)- If you are an owner of a contaminated site in New Jersey If you are a current owner of a contaminated site or are considering purchasing a known (or suspected) contaminated property, you will need to pay attention to some of the key amendments contained in SRRA 2.0.

Access Issues- Part 2: When an adjacent property owner requests access to your property What to do when an adjacent property owner requests access to your property– Part 2 New Jersey commercial property owners- Beware! It’s likely that (at some point) in the next few years, you will receive a request from an environmental consultant (representing an adjacent property owner) to access your property to take soil samples or install […]

Access Agreements: What to do when an adjacent property owner requests access to your property If you own commercial property in New Jersey, it is likely that (at some point) you will receive a request from an environmental consultant representing an adjacent property owner to access your property to take samples. I caution my clients to never casually agree to permit this type of access. Instead, you must negotiate and […]

Wall Street Journal article about polluted sites (November 22) Great article by Wall Street Journal writer, Keiko Morris, regarding the keen interest in contaminated sites. Many of my clients believe that contaminated sites, or “Brownfields” sites, offer great value because of their location to highways, airports, and ports. These companies and individuals look to environmental attorneys (like me) for counselling on how best to […]

Diamond Direct Foods Newark facility ground-breaking Excellent article on nj.com regarding the construction of a new commissary owned by Diamond Direct Foods. This facility will provide food, ice, fuel and other necessities for food trucks hoping to operate in New Jersey and in NYC. Happy to be part of this exciting project. Read the article: http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/09/newark_officials_break_ground_on_facility_aimed_at.html#incart_river_home