Environmental law and policy in New Jersey have seldom remained in a static condition. Rather, they have continued to evolve due to judicial, executive, and legislative decisions. The most significant of those developments in 2022 are reviewed in this article.

10. Access Statute Clarified

The 1993 Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act recognized the possibility that some landowners would be unwilling to consent to having their property accessed for environmental investigations. If good-faith efforts were unsuccessful, the remediating party could apply to the Superior Court for an order "directing the property owner to grant reasonable access to the property." N.J.S.A. 58:10B-16(a)(1).

Applying for involuntary access and having it granted are not the same thing as the plaintiff in Solvay Specialty Polymers USA v. Paulsboro Refining Co., was to learn. 2022 WL 4392064 (App. Div. 2022). Access was denied due to its failure to satisfy the statutory grounds for relief: N.J.S.A. 58:10B-16(b)(1) (proof of a reasonable possibility that contamination from an offsite source had migrated onto the owner's property), or (b)(2) (proof that access to the offsite property was reasonable and necessary for remediation). The takeaway is that those seeking involuntary access need to satisfy the statutory requirements. For additional discussion of this decision, see L. Goldshore, "Limits to Accessing Property for Remediation," 228 N.J.L.J. 2890 (Nov. 7, 2022).