N.J. Admin. Code § 7:1E-5.3

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 7:1E-5.3 - Discharge notification

(a) Except as delineated in (e) below, immediately after a discharge commences, any person or persons responsible for a discharge who knows or reasonably should know of the discharge, shall immediately notify the Department at (877) WARN DEP (927-6337). In the event that this number is inoperable, any person or persons responsible for a discharge shall immediately notify the State Police at (609) 882-2000.

(b) Notification received by the Department pursuant to (a) above within 15 minutes of the time that the person responsible for a discharge knew, or reasonably should have known, of the occurrence of a discharge shall be considered immediate. It shall be presumed that notification received by the Department more than 15 minutes after the person responsible for a discharge knew, or reasonably should have known, of the discharge is not immediate. The person responsible for the discharge may rebut this presumption by satisfying the requirement of N.J.A.C. 7:1E-5.6.

(c) Any notification performed by any person responsible for a discharge pursuant to (a) and (b) above shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:

1. The name, title, affiliation, address and telephone number of the person reporting the discharge;

2. The location of the discharge, with as much specificity as the Department requests, and in any event with sufficient specificity to enable the Department to direct its agents and employees and any other person to the discharge site, including:

i. For discharges from sites located on land, the name of the site, the street address, the municipality, and the county;

ii. For discharges on, under or into water, the name of the water body, location of the discharge with reference to a fixed point or points, and a description of the area which the discharge may reach.

3. The common name of the hazardous substance(s) discharged;

4. An estimate of the quantity of each hazardous substance discharged, including best estimates if the quantities are unknown;

5. The date and time at which the discharge began, and whether the discharge is continuing, intermittent or terminated;

6. The actions such person proposes to take to contain, clean up and remove the hazardous substance(s) discharged;

7. The name and address of any person responsible for the discharge.

(d) A copy of the requirements of (c) above, printed in a conspicuous format, shall be displayed by the owner or operator of any vessel which is ordinarily docked in this State in a prominent place on the bridge or pilot house of any such vessel.

(e) A discharge which is not required to be reported under any other State or federal statute, rule or regulation is not required to be reported to the Department pursuant to (a) above provided the discharge meets the conditions described in (e)1 or 3 below:

1. The discharge occurs at a facility for which a DPCC and DCR plan pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:1E-4.6, or a Risk Management Plan pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:31, or an Emergency Contingency Plan pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26G-8.1 or a Facility Response Plan pursuant to 40 CFR 112 has been approved; and

i. Has not entered any waters of the State or migrated off-site;

ii. Within 24 hours of when any person responsible for the discharge knows or reasonably should have known of the commencement of the discharge, is:

(1) Stopped and contained in conformance with the approved plan in (e)1 above; and

(2) Cleaned up and removed, including any contaminated soil, in accordance with the applicable State or Federal regulations for cleanup and remediation, including the storage and disposal of cleanup related materials; and

iii. The owner or operator of the facility documents his or her actions in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:26E, and maintains records in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:1E-2.15.

2. If the owner or operator determines that all requirements of (e)1i and ii above cannot be met, the owner or operator shall notify the Department immediately upon making such a determination, but in any case, within 24 hours of when any person responsible for the discharge knows or reasonably should have known of the discharge.

3. The discharge of transformer fluid from a transformer which does not contain polychlorinated biphenyls in concentrations of 50 parts per million or greater which either occurs during a state of emergency declared by the Federal, State or local government, provided such discharges are reported to the Department within 24 hours of the termination of the state of emergency, or:

i. The discharge is less than 25 gallons;

ii. The discharge has not entered any waters of the State, or any storm drain leading to any waters of the State;

iii. Within 24 hours of when any person responsible for the discharge knows or reasonably should have known of the discharge, the discharge is cleaned up and removed in accordance with the applicable State or Federal regulations for cleanup and remediation, including the storage and disposal of cleanup related materials; and

iv. The person responsible for the discharge documents his or her actions in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:26E, and maintains, and makes available for Department review at either the person's or the Department's offices at the discretion of the Department, such records for three years from the date of the discharge.

(f) The following conditions shall be met in order for any release of a hazardous substance consequent to a motor vehicle accident to be considered a leak not requiring notification pursuant to (a) above:

1. The hazardous substance has not entered any waters of the State, or any storm drain leading to any waters of the State;

2. The hazardous substance is contained on a paved roadway; and

3. Prior to its escape to lands or waters of the State, the hazardous substance is cleaned up and removed in accordance with the applicable State or federal regulations for cleanup and remediation, including storage and disposal of cleanup related materials.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:1E-5.3

Administrative correction to (a).
See: 24 N.J.R. 581(a).
Amended by R.1996 d.462, effective 10/7/1996.
See: 28 N.J.R. 2730(a), 28 N.J.R. 4424(b).
Amended by R.2000 d.352, effective 8/21/2000.
See: 31 N.J.R. 3561(a), 32 N.J.R. 3091(a).
In (a), amended Department phone number and in (e)3, substituted "50" for "500" preceding "parts per million".
Amended by R.2007 d.93, effective 4/2/2007.
See: 38 N.J.R. 4285(a), 39 N.J.R. 1253(a).
Rewrote (c)5 and (d); in the introductory paragraph of (e), substituted "A" for "For the purposes of this section, a"; in (e)1, inserted "Facility"; and rewrote (e)1iii.
Administrative correction and change.
See: 46 N.J.R. 438(a).