New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) May 7 signed legislation (A. 2962) aimed at hastening the cleanup of the state's nearly 20,000 hazardous waste sites by giving licensed private consultants authority to oversee and certify most projects, limiting the role of state environmental regulators.

Supporters of the measure said the bill cuts red tape, which will pare the backlog of contaminated sites that has been growing because of state funding limitations, while imposing controls to protect against the potential for abuse due to conflicts of interest.

Corzine also issued an executive order (E.O. 140) he said will ensure the legislation revamping New Jersey's site remediation program is implemented with strong accountability, oversight, and transparency.

However, environmental groups said the additional safeguards provided under the governor's executive order do not address what they consider to be a fundamentally flawed approach of delegating the state's authority over cleanups to private consultants with limited liability who are hired by responsible parties.

The Sierra Club said it plans to file a legal challenge to the measure, claiming it violates the separation of powers and police powers clauses of the state constitution. “We believe the state's Department of Environmental Protection should have the power to pick the remedies for cleaning up these sites and public input should be required,” the Sierra Club said in a statement.

The Site Remediation Reform Act creates a program authorizing private-sector consultants who meet certain licensing standards, which will be established within 18 months by an independent advisory board, to certify that cleanup projects have met all state standards for approval.

The board will develop and conduct licensing exams, enforce a code of professional conduct, investigate and maintain records of complaints against licensed site remediation professionals, issue licenses valid for three years, prescribe fees, publish the names and contact information of all licensed consultants, set continuing education standards, and suspend or revoke the licenses of individuals who violate the law.

Until the board is established, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will issue temporary licenses.

Cleanup of sites requiring the highest priority under DEP's ranking system, chromium-contaminated sites, and those involving responsible parties with spotty compliance histories will remain under direct DEP oversight.

DEP also directly will oversee remediation of sites where contamination has damaged more than one environmentally sensitive natural resource and sites that have contributed to sediments polluted with arsenic, dioxin, mercury, or polychlorinated biphenyls in a surface water body.

Copyright 2009, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.