13. a. The owner or operator of an industrial establishment planning to close operations or transfer ownership or operations of an industrial establishment may, in lieu of complying with the provisions of subsection b. of section 4 of P.L.1983, c.330 (C. 13:1K-9), apply to the department for an expedited review. An application for an expedited review pursuant to this section shall include:

(1) the notice required pursuant to the provisions of subsection a. of section 4 of P.L.1983, c.330 (C. 13:1K-9);

(2) a certification that for the industrial establishment, a remedial action workplan has previously been implemented and a no further action letter has been issued pursuant to P.L.1983, c.330, a negative declaration has been previously approved by the department pursuant to P.L.1983, c.330, or the department or the United States Environmental Protection Agency, pursuant to the “Resource Conservation and Recovery Act,” 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq. or the “Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980,” 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq., or any other law, has previously approved a remediation of the industrial establishment equivalent to that performed pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1983, c.330;

(3) a certification that the owner or operator has performed remediation activities at the industrial establishment that are consistent with current regulations established by the department in order to identify areas of concern that are new or have continued in use since the issuance of a no further action letter, negative declaration approval, or remediation approval as described in paragraph (2) of this subsection, and, based on those remediation activities, that there has been no discharge of a hazardous substance or hazardous waste at the industrial establishment subsequent to the approval of the negative declaration, the issuance of the no further action letter, or the equivalent remediation; or, if any discharge has occurred, a certification listing any discharge, describing the action taken to remediate the discharge, a certification that the remediation was performed in accordance with procedures established by the department, a certification that the remediation was approved by the department and a copy of the document evidencing the departmental approval;

(4) a certification that for any underground storage tank covered by the provisions of P.L.1986, c.102 (C. 58:10A-21 et seq.), an approved method of secondary containment or a monitoring system as required by P.L.1986, c.102, has been installed;

(5) a copy of the most recent negative declaration, or no further action letter, or other approval, as applicable, approved by the department for the entire industrial establishment; and

(6) a proposed negative declaration.

b. Upon the submission of a complete and accurate application and after an inspection, if necessary, the department shall approve or disapprove the negative declaration. The department shall approve the negative declaration upon a finding that the information in the certifications submitted pursuant to subsection a. of this section is accurate. Upon a disapproval of the proposed negative declaration by the department pursuant to this section, the owner or operator shall comply with the provisions of section 4 of P.L.1983, c.330.

L.1993,c.139,s.13.