NJ Justices Reject Industry Rights to Remediation Waivers

New Jersey environmental regulators can yank a business’s pollution remediation waiver without hearing, the state high court ruled in a blow to businesses selling blighted properties.

There is no due process right to a state “Remediation In Progress” waiver. When the cleanup cash set aside for a polluted property runs out regulators can hold the original property owner accountable without a hearing or administrative review, the unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court ruled.

Just “as the presence of substantial agency discretion can defeat a claim of entitlement based on statutory or regulatory language, so can it defeat an alleged entitlement ...