ISRA

Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) (N.J.S.A. 13:1K and N.J.A.C. 7:26B), which is implemented by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) imposes certain preconditions on the sale, transfer, or closure of "industrial establishments" involved in the generation, manufacture, refining, transportation, treatment, storage, handling or disposal of hazardous substances or wastes. Senate Bill No. 1070 was introduced on July 23, 1992 and represented the Legislature's efforts to reform the process by which contaminated sites are remediated. On July 16, 1993, Senate Bill No. 1070 was signed into law as P.L. 1993, c.139. Sections 1 through 22 of P.L. 1993, c.139, supplement and amend the 1983 Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act (ECRA), including renaming the law to ISRA. Additional provisions of P.L. 1993, c.139 established the Hazardous Discharge Remediation Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10B-1 et seq. and amended the Spill Compensation and Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11, et seq.

The Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act was signed into law on January 6, 1998 and provides for the latest changes in New Jersey’s environmental cleanup structure. The Act, formally a part of Senate Bill Number 39 (Public Law 1997, c.278), adds new provisions that advance brown fields reuse as part of a comprehensive program for urban redevelopment. The overall law amends the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Act, Spill Compensation and Control Act, Industrial Site Recovery Act, Environmental Opportunity Zone Act and other key statutes. As a result of the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) replaced the SIC coding system with a new, international North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) coding system. Consequently, it became necessary for the Department to redefine the ISRA regulated community in terms of NAICS codes. Legislation was enacted effective August 15, 2003, directing the Department to adopt rules identifying with the NAICS codes the generally equivalent universe of employers and facilities that have been to date covered by the SIC codes listed in ISRA and the Department’s implementing rules at N.J.A.C. 7:26B.

The most recent ISRA Regulations (N.J.A.C. 7:26B) were re-adopted and published in the September 20, 2004 New Jersey Register and are available at  http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp