The new Licensed Site Professional (LSP) program enacted by Governor Jon Corzine will expedite cleanups at thousands of contaminated properties across the State and in the process help both the economy and the environment, NJBIA President Philip Kirschner said today.
  "The Licensed Site Professional program is exactly the kind of forward-thinking problem-solving we need in New Jersey," Kirschner said. "It harnesses the resources of the private sector in a way that will provide a tremendous benefit to the public, both in cleaning up polluted properties and stimulating the economy."
  NJBIA Vice President David Brogan, who works on environmental issues for the Association, worked closely with the Corzine Administration, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the chairs of both the Senate and Assembly Environment Committees to craft a workable plan to tackle the backlog of contaminated sites in need of remediation.
  "New Jersey has a backlog of more than 20,000 contaminated sites," Brogan said. "The fact is the current system isn't working, so we needed to try something new."
  Under the LSP program, private-sector environmental engineers and consultants will be licensed and given the authority to clean up many contaminated sites without having to get DEP approval every step of the way. This will dramatically lessen the time spent dealing with government red tape.
  "More sites would get cleaned up more quickly and be brought back to productive use, which in turn creates jobs and generates tax revenues for municipalities," Brogan said.
  The program contains several safeguards to ensure that sites are cleaned up to State standards. First, no environmental standards were changed.  The cleanup standards that were in place before this program remain in place.  Second, consultants and engineers will be licensed as LSPs by the department and held to a higher ethical standard than they are now.  Violations could result in the loss of their license and their ability to do business in this State, as well as in stiffer penalties. Third, while the LSPs would not have to get approval from DEP every step of the way on certain sites, the department will still be reviewing all documents submitted, and they can require that any deficiencies be corrected. Finally, the DEP will take a greater role in the cleanup of the State’s most complex and contaminated sites.
  "The alternative is that the pollution just sits there," Brogan said.  "The public would continue to be exposed to it and the property would continue to be a drag on our economy.  With this program, we can get things moving in the right direction."