The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has recently proposed a new rule to its site remediation rules that will severely hinder commercial real estate transactions.
The proposed rule “when a person performing remediation as defined at N.J.A.C. 7:26C-1.3, including performing all appropriate inquiry in accordance with N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11g, and obtains knowledge that a discharge has occurred at any location on a property, that person shall immediately notify the Department.”
This new proposed rule would certainly curtail owners of commercial real estate from allowing prospective purchasers in performing “all appropriate inquiries” including soil or groundwater sampling as part of their environmental due diligence when purchasing property. This is a significant change in NJDEP regulations and policy that has been in existence for decades and will have a chilling effect on commercial real estate transactions, if promulgated.
Click here to see the proposed rule.
Read more about our Environmental Law Practice Group attorneys here.