Submitted by CohnAdmin on June 17, 2009 - 8:28pm
July 11, 2008
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Site Remediation Program
Soil Remediation Standards

The NJDEP promulgated the long-awaited Soil Remediation Standards (SRS) which were published in the NJ Register on June 2, 2008.  The new Rule, New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C.) 7:26D – Remediation Standards, serves to establish minimum remediation standards for not only soil, but (by reference) for ground water and surface water as well.  The new Rule did not alter the existing ground water or surface water quality standards.

A courtesy copy of the Rule can be found on the NJDEP Website at the following link: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/regs/rs/rs_rule.pdf

Items of note in the SRS which are further discussed below include:

  • The Rule has an effective date of  June 2, 2008, with “phase-in” guidance;    
  • The Rule includes promulgated standards for Residential and Non-Residential Direct Contact Pathways;
  • Alternate Remediation Standards (ARS) can be developed for the Ingestion/Dermal and Inhalation Pathways , as outlined in NJDEP Guidance:
    http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/rs/ing_derm_guidance.pdf
    http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/rs/compl_ars_inhalation.pdf
  • Does not include Impact to Ground Water Pathway, which will be treated on a site-specific basis in accordance with NJDEP Guidance;
  • Site-Specific IGW SRS will be required if impact to ground water is present or suspected;
  • A SRS for Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) was not included in the SRS.  Guidance for remediation of TPH will be forthcoming from the NJDEP;
  • Chromium was not included in the SRS – Chromium remediation guidance will be posted on the NJDEP website in the future.  For the interim, use the previous SCC or develop site-specific standards.
  • Tentatively Identified Compounds (TICs) are not in the new SRS – NJDEP has verbally indicated the prior guidance of 10,000 ppm total organics and 1,000 ppm total Volatiles should be used.
  • Special sampling procedures for volatiles must now be conducted (Encore) to meet the lower detection limits/SRS.

When Must the New SRS be Used?

  • Immediately unless you will be submitting a Remedial Action Work Plan (RAWP) or Remedial Action Report (RAR) by December 2, 2008.
  • A number of standards have been modified, both increasing and decreasing – A thorough evaluation of all site constituents of concern (COCs) and comparison to both the old SCC and the new SRS is recommended to determine if submission of a RAWP or RAR by December 2, 2008 could benefit a project.
  • If the SRS has decreased by more than an order of magnitude, it must be used immediately.

Phase-In Guidance can be found on the NJDEP website at the following link: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/rs/phasein.htm

Order of Magnitude Requirements

The parameters listed below have SRS that decreased by more than an order of magnitude.  At this time, the order of magnitude requirements do not apply to the Impact to Ground Water pathway.
 

SCC = Soil Cleanup Criteria
SRS = Soil Remediation Standards
Standards listed in milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg)

Implementation of the Order of Magnitude Requirements

  • If the case does not yet have a No Further Action (NFA) approval, it is the remediating party’s responsibility to identify the order of magnitude change, report it to the NJDEP and remediate to the new standard, if warranted.
    • If the case does not have an approved RAWP or RAR, the new SRS must be used
    • If the case has an approved RAWP, the NJDEP may require remediation to the new SRS.  Additional evaluation must be conducted by the responsible party to determine protectiveness of the approved remedy.
  • If the case has a conditional NFA (restricted use with institutional and/or engineering controls) and the non-residential SRS decreases by more than an order of magnitude, it will be identified the next time the biennial certification is performed.  Remedial measures will need to be conducted, if warranted, based on an protectiveness evaluation.
  • If the site has a limited restricted use (institutional controls only) and the only SRS to decrease by more than an order of magnitude is the residential standard, nothing further is required (as the site still has use restricted to non-residential).  The only 2 compounds to which this applies are:  Bromomethane and Hexachlorocyclopentadiene.  If a change in site use from restricted (industrial/commercial) to unrestricted (residential/day care/school) was ever implemented, the Order of Magnitude rule would apply and further remediation could be warranted.
  • If the site has an unrestricted NFA, additional actions could be required when/if the property enters the Site Remediation Program again at a future date (e.g.  Another ISRA trigger, daycare license renewal, property transaction/loan approval update, etc.).  At such time, an evaluation of the protectiveness of the remedy will be required and additional remediation conducted, if warranted.

Order of Magnitude Guidance can be found on the NJDEP website at the following link:  http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/rs/

Impact to Ground Water SRS

As the new SRS does not include promulgated impact to ground water (IGW) SRS, the responsible party is required to develop site-specific IGW SRS.  Based on discussions with NJDEP and published guidance on the NJDEP website, the following options will be entertained:
 

  • Sample ground water for the site-specific COCs found in soil.  If the spill is old and there are no exceedances of the GWQS, development of a site-specific IGW SRS should not be required.  This option is not currently available as guidance on the NJDEP website, but has been verbally stated at several public sessions held in June 2008 by the NJDEP.
  • If the release is of an immobile contaminant and there is 2 feet of clean soil between the ground water table and the impacted soil, nothing further may be required regarding IGW.  There will almost certainly be exceptions to this based on site-specific geology, distance to sensitive receptors, etc.   NJDEP Guidance can be found at:
    http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/rs/immobile_chemicals.pdf
  • Default “screening” IGW SRS values are provided as guidance on the NJDEP Website as follows:
    • For low-mobility organics and inorganics, a SPLP procedure will be required to compare impacted soil to the default SPLP screening value.  The default screening values can be found under the Synthetic Precipitation Leaching Procedure Guidance:
      http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/rs/splp_guidance.pdf
    • For high-mobility organics – the total soil concentration for a particular COC is compared to the default screening value.  For many high-mobility organics (e.g. benzene, TCE) the screening value is very low, and development of a site-specific IGW SRS would likely produce a higher value.  The default screening values can be found under the Soil-Water Partitioning Equation Guidance:
      http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/rs/partition_equation.pdf
  • Any one of the following 4 methodologies can be used to input site-specific data to develop an Alternate Remediation Standard for Impact to Ground Water.  General Guidance for development of IGW Standards can be found on the NJDEP Website: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/rs/igw_intro.htm#section04_1
  • As the responsible party has the option to utilize any of the options, if practicable, evaluating all 4 and selecting the one that produces the highest standard may be a prudent course of action.  A website link to the NJDEP Guidance for each methodology is provided below.

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons

  • TPH is not in the new SRS but will be posted as guidance on the NJDEP website as health-based criteria are developed.
  • According to the NJDEP, the TPH standard for No. 2/Diesel will be posted on the NJDEP website as guidance this summer, and will include the following:
    • 4,700 ppm SRS for direct contact with 25% of samples exceeding 1,000 ppm being analyzed for BN+15.
    • 1,700 ppm ecological screening value that would serve as both soil and sediment SRS in a sensitive receptor area (i.e. wetland, stream, etc.)
    • There will not be an IGW for TPH; however the “Sheen Policy” will still apply.  The following provides a link to the NJDEP Sheen Policy: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/srp/guidance/sheen/
  • For other grades of petroleum, a SRS for TPH will be determined by the NJDEP on a site specific basis until health-based standards are developed.  10,000 ppm will still be the maximum total organics, so at a minimum, remediation of soil above 10,000 will be required.  The NJDEP indicated that the TPH SRS for No. 4 fuel oil is expected to be around 4,000 ppm and No. 6 and lube oil is expected to be between 3,000 and 4,000 ppm.

Conclusions

The new SRS will impact many business sectors who deal with contaminated sites including industry/manufacturing; chemical/pharmaceutical, Brownfields Development and the insurance sector.  Items to consider over the short term, to better position your company/site for a smooth transition into the new regulations include:

  • Determine if your project has standards that are increasing for site COCs.  If so, it may be appropriate to immediately begin to use the new SRS to your benefit.   Evaluate if you should modify an existing RAWP or conceptual remedial model or alter future delineation plans to take the higher standards into consideration.  It is possible less will be required by the NJDEP to achieve NFA than initially anticipated.
  • Determine if your project has standards that are decreasing by less than an order of magnitude for site COCs.  If so, depending on where the project is in the investigative/remedial process, it may be appropriate to conduct additional work over the summer and submit a RAWP or RAR by December 2, 2008 to take advantage of the Phase In Period.
  • Determine if your project COCs have SRS that decrease by more than an order of magnitude and evaluate the most appropriate way to address the change in accordance with the Order of Magnitude Guidance (discussed above).
  • If your project includes TPH in soil, especially for No. 2 fuel oil/diesel, it could be advantageous to complete the remediation to the existing SCC of 10,000 ppm or submit a RAWP for the remediation by December 2, 2008.  This will avoid having to analyze BNs on 25% of samples that exceed 1,000 ppm and will avoid having to remediate to 4,700 ppm rather than 10,000 ppm.