New Jersey industrial business sales trigger state cleanup duties, with notice due five days after signing
Selling or closing a covered industrial business requires state notice within five days and remediation or a funded remediation certification before transfer, and noncompliance lets the buyer void the deal.
Under the Industrial Site Recovery Act (“ISRA”), N.J.S.A. 13:1K-6 et seq., and its implementing rules at N.J.A.C. 7:26B, the owner or operator of an “industrial establishment” that plans to close operations or to transfer ownership or operations must notify the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) in writing and remediate the establishment, and may not complete the transfer until a specified approval, agreement or certification is in place. On April 7, 2025, the New Jersey Supreme Court held, in In re Appeal of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s September 6, 2022 Denial of Request for Adjudicatory Hearing (A-42-23), that a remediation in progress waiver issued under ISRA confers no constitutionally protected property interest and may be rescinded when a site falls out of compliance.
N.J.S.A. 13:1K-6 et seq.; N.J.A.C. 7:26B; In re Appeal of NJDEP’s Sept. 6, 2022 Denial of Request for Adjudicatory Hearing (N.J. 2025) (A-42-23)