The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)created the LicensedSite Remediation Professional (LSRP) program in 2009 to helpexpedite the cleanup of contaminated sites. The LSRP programwas created by the Site Remediation ReformAct (SRRA), which was signed into law in May 2009. Theprogram gives LSRPs the ability to oversee the day to daymanagement of remediation sites, rather than waiting for NJDEPapproval to proceed.

After over a year of growing pains in which far fewerremediation professionals applied to become licensed than wasinitially expected, the NJDEP is now putting on the pressure to speedup the remediation of 16,000 known contaminated sites. Responsible parties (those who caused the contamination or ownersof the property) of known polluted sites that are not under thedirect oversight of the NJDEP must hire an LSRP to oversee theremediation by May 2012. The NJDEP will require thatall existing spillsites, even those that have been under continuousremediation prior to the 2009 enactment of SRRA, will be requiredto enroll in the LSRP program by May 2012.

Licensed Site Remediation Professionals are required to meet thesame stringent cleanup standards as previously established and arebound by a strict code of ethics; however, the process ofremediation will proceed much more quickly under this new programas they do not need approval from the NJDEP for routinedecisions. This is a welcome change for industrial andcommercial property owners and developers that are eager to achieve site closure andreturn properties to highest and best use.