New administrative guidance has been released to clearly define the Spill Act Lien and outline the procedures for property owners to contest a lien. The Spill Compensation and Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11F, also known as the Spill Act Lien, was put in place to compensate the State of New Jersey for any monies spent cleaning up contaminated properties. 

These liens can be levied against property owners, not only on the contaminated properties but also on any other property they own in New Jersey. Once the state has decided to move forward with the lien, the property owner(s) are notified within 30 days. If the property owner(s) would like to contest the lien, they can do so pursuant to the new procedures within 60 days from notification of the lien. 

During this process, the property owner must have specific and factual information that was not available to the State of New Jersey at the time of the issuance of the lien, along with a list of many other items of description of the property. 

The agency has the right to deny the request for lack of information, or may decide to respond to the property owners request. During that time, with all of the information available, an administrators decision will be made and is final.

PM Environmental’s New Jersey staff can guide owner(s) through the process and assist with gathering the correct and pertinent information. PM’s LSRP team specializes in NJDEP Regulatory Compliance, Operations and Maintenance, Remedial System Construction and Specialty Environmental Mechanical Services.