As used in this act:
"Remedial action workplan" means a plan for the remedial action to be undertaken at an industrial establishment, or at any area to which a discharge originating at the industrial establishment is migrating or has migrated; a description of the remedial action to be used to remediate the industrial establishment; a time schedule and cost estimate of the implementation of the remedial action; and any other relevant information the department deems necessary;
"Closing operations" means:
"Transferring ownership or operations" means:
"Change in ownership" means:
"Change in ownership" shall not include:
"Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection;
"Hazardous substances" means those elements and compounds, including petroleum products, which are defined as such by the department, after public hearing, and which shall be consistent to the maximum extent possible with, and which shall include, the list of hazardous substances adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 311 of the "Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972" (33 U.S.C. s. 1321) and the list of toxic pollutants designated by Congress or the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 307 of that act (33 U.S.C. s. 1317); except that sewage and sewage sludge shall not be considered as hazardous substances for the purposes of this act;
"Hazardous waste" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 1 of P.L. 1976, c.99 (C.13:1E-38);
"Industrial establishment" means any place of business engaged in operations which involve the generation, manufacture, refining, transportation, treatment, storage, handling, or disposal of hazardous substances or hazardous wastes on-site, above or below ground, having a Standard Industrial Classification number within 22-39 inclusive, 46-49 inclusive, 51 or 76 as designated in the Standard Industrial Classifications Manual prepared by the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Those facilities or parts of facilities subject to operational closure and post-closure maintenance requirements pursuant to the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L. 1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), the "Major Hazardous Waste Facilities Siting Act," sections 1 through 43 of P.L. 1981, c.279 (C.13:1E-49 et seq.) or the "Solid Waste Disposal Act" (42 U.S.C. s. 6901 et seq.), or any establishment engaged in the production or distribution of agricultural commodities, shall not be considered industrial establishments for the purposes of this act. The department may, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), exempt certain sub-groups or classes of operations within those sub-groups within the Standard Industrial Classification major group numbers listed in this subsection upon a finding that the operation of the industrial establishment does not pose a risk to public health and safety;
"Negative declaration" means a written declaration, submitted by the owner or operator of an industrial establishment or other person assuming responsibility for the remediation under paragraph (3) of subsection b. of section 4 of P.L. 1983, c.330 to the department, certifying that there has been no discharge of hazardous substances or hazardous wastes on the site, or that any such discharge on the site or discharge that has migrated or is migrating from the site has been remediated in accordance with procedures approved by the department and in accordance with any applicable remediation regulations;
"Discharge" means an intentional or unintentional action or omission resulting in the releasing, spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping of a hazardous substance or hazardous waste into the waters or onto the lands of the State;
"No further action letter" means a written determination by the department that, based upon an evaluation of the historical use of the industrial establishment and the property, or of an area of concern or areas of concern, as applicable, and any other investigation or action the department deems necessary, there are no discharged hazardous substances or hazardous wastes present at the site of the industrial establishment, at the area of concern or areas of concern, or at any other site to which discharged hazardous substances or hazardous wastes originating at the industrial establishment have migrated, and that any discharged hazardous substances or hazardous wastes present at the industrial establishment or that have migrated from the site have been remediated in accordance with applicable remediation regulations;
"Indirect owner" means any person who holds a controlling interest in a direct owner or operator, holds a controlling interest in another indirect owner, or holds an interest in a partnership which is an indirect owner or a direct owner or operator, of an industrial establishment;
"Direct owner or operator" means any person that directly owns or operates an industrial establishment. A holder of a mortgage or other security interest in the industrial establishment shall not be deemed to be a direct owner or operator of the industrial establishment unless or until it loses its exemption under P.L. 1993, c.112 (C.58:10-23.11g4 et al.) or obtains title to the industrial establishment by deed of foreclosure, by other deed, or by court order or other process;
"Area of concern" means any location where hazardous substances or hazardous wastes are or were known or suspected to have been discharged, generated, manufactured, refined, transported, stored, handled, treated, or disposed, or where hazardous substances or hazardous wastes have or may have migrated;
"Licensed site remediation professional" means an individual who is licensed by the Site Remediation Professional Licensing Board pursuant to section 7 of P.L. 2009, c. 60(C.58:10C-7) or the department pursuant to section 12 of P.L. 2009, c. 60(C.58:10C-12);
"Owner" means any person who owns the real property of an industrial establishment or who owns the industrial establishment. A holder of a mortgage or other security interest in the industrial establishment shall not be deemed to be an owner of the industrial establishment unless or until it loses its exemption under P.L. 1993, c.112 (C.58:10-23.11g4 et al.) or obtains title to the industrial establishment by deed of foreclosure, by other deed, or by court order or other process;
"Operator" means any person, including users, tenants, or occupants, having and exercising direct actual control of the operations of an industrial establishment. A holder of a mortgage or other security interest in the industrial establishment shall not be deemed to be an operator of the industrial establishment unless or until it loses its exemption under P.L. 1993, c.112 (C.58:10-23.11g4 et al.) or obtains title to the industrial establishment by deed of foreclosure, by other deed, or by court order or other process;
"Preliminary assessment" means the first phase in the process of identifying areas of concern and determining whether hazardous substances or hazardous wastes are or were present at an industrial establishment or have migrated or are migrating from the industrial establishment, and shall include the initial search for and evaluation of, existing site specific operational and environmental information, both current and historic, to determine if further investigation concerning the documented, alleged, suspected or latent discharge of any hazardous substance or hazardous waste is required. The evaluation of historic information shall be conducted from 1932 to the present, except that the department may require the search for and evaluation of additional information relating to ownership and use of the site prior to 1932 if such information is available through diligent inquiry of public records;
"Remediation" or "remediate" means all actions to investigate, clean up, or respond to any known, suspected, or threatened discharge of hazardous substances or hazardous wastes, including the preliminary assessment, site investigation, remedial investigation, and remedial action, or any portion thereof, provided, however, that "remediation" or "remediate" shall not include the payment of compensation for damage to, or loss of, natural resources;
"Remediation standards" means the combination of numeric standards that establish a level or concentration and narrative standards, to which hazardous substances or hazardous wastes must be treated, removed, or otherwise cleaned for soil, groundwater, or surface water, as provided by the department pursuant to section 35 of P.L. 1993, c.139 (C.58:10B-12) in order to meet the health risk or environmental standards;
"Remedial action" means those actions taken at an industrial establishment or offsite of an industrial establishment if hazardous substances or hazardous wastes have migrated or are migrating therefrom, as may be required by the department to protect public health, safety, and the environment. These actions may include the removal, treatment, containment, transportation, securing, or other engineering measures, whether to an unrestricted use or otherwise, designed to ensure that any discharged hazardous substances or hazardous wastes at the site or that have migrated or are migrating from the site, are remediated in compliance with the applicable health risk or environmental standards;
"Remedial investigation" means a process to determine the nature and extent of a discharge of hazardous substances or hazardous wastes at an industrial establishment or a discharge of hazardous substances or hazardous wastes that have migrated or are migrating from the site and the problems presented by a discharge, and may include data collection, site characterization, sampling, monitoring, and the gathering of any other sufficient and relevant information necessary to determine the necessity for remedial action and to support the evaluation of remedial actions if necessary;
"Response action outcome" means a written determination by a licensed site remediation professional that the contaminated site was remediated in accordance with all applicable statutes and regulations, and based upon an evaluation of the historical use of the site, or of any area of concern at that site, as applicable, and any other investigation or action the department deems necessary, there are no contaminants present at the site, or at any area of concern, at any other site to which a discharge originating at the site has migrated, or that any contaminants present at the site or that have migrated from the site have been remediated in accordance with applicable remediation regulations, and all applicable permits and authorizations have been obtained;
"Site investigation" means the collection and evaluation of data adequate to determine whether or not discharged hazardous substances or hazardous wastes exist at the industrial establishment or have migrated or are migrating from the site at levels in excess of the applicable remediation standards. A site investigation shall be developed based upon the information collected pursuant to the preliminary assessment.
N.J.S. § 13:1K-8