13:1E-125.4 Hydrogen sulfide levels, odors; violations; adoption of standards.

4. a. Hydrogen sulfide levels emanating from a legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility shall not exceed 30 parts per billion averaged over a period of any 30 minutes to be measured at the property line of a legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility.

b. Upon verification by the department of complaints about hydrogen sulfide odors and a determination by the department that the legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility is the source of those odors, the department may order the person who is undertaking the closure of a legacy landfill or placement of materials at a closed sanitary landfill facility, or the owner or operator of the legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility to:

(1) develop a hydrogen sulfide monitoring plan to be approved by the department;

(2) purchase and install devices in accordance with this plan to monitor hydrogen sulfide levels at the property boundary of the legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility;

(3) operate and maintain these devices to record hydrogen sulfide levels in accordance with the plan; and

(4) provide periodic reports to the department on a schedule determined by the department on the levels of hydrogen sulfide emitted from the legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility.

c. The Department of Environmental Protection, a county, or a municipality in which a violation of subsection a. of this section occurs, or any person who resides or owns property within two miles of the boundary of the legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility, may institute an action or proceeding in the Superior Court for injunctive and other relief, for any violation of the air quality standard established in subsection a. of this section that is measured at the legacy landfill or the closed sanitary landfill facility, or within two miles of the property boundary of a legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility, and the court may proceed in the action in a summary manner. In any such proceeding the court may grant temporary or interlocutory relief. Upon a finding of a violation, the court shall require the owner or operator of the legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility to abate the violation immediately and may require that wastes or materials be mixed, rolled, or covered, or that odor shields be installed to abate the violation.

Such relief may also include, singly or in combination:

(1) a temporary or permanent injunction that requires that the wastes or materials that are the source of the violation be mixed, covered, or removed;

(2) assessment of the violator for the costs of any investigation, inspection, or monitoring survey that led to the establishment of the violation, and for the reasonable costs of preparing and litigating the case under this section;

(3) assessment of the violator for any cost incurred by the State, county, or municipality in removing, correcting, or terminating the adverse effects upon environmental quality or public health resulting from any violation for which the action under this subsection may have been brought;

(4) assessment against the violator of compensatory damages for any damages to health or property, loss or destruction of wildlife, fish or aquatic life, and for any other actual damages caused by any violation of subsection a. of this section; and

(5) assessment against the violator of the amount of any economic benefits accruing to the violator from a violation. Economic benefits may include the amount of any fees or charges paid for the placement of the waste or material that is the source of the violation; savings realized from avoided capital or noncapital costs resulting from the violation; any return earned or that may be earned on the amount of fees or charges or of the avoided costs; any benefits accruing to the violator as a result of a competitive market advantage enjoyed by reason of the violation; or any other benefits resulting from the violation.

Assessments under this subsection shall be paid to the party bringing the action, except that compensatory damages shall be paid by specific order of the court to any persons who have been aggrieved by the violation.

Recourse to any remedy available under this section shall not preclude recourse to any other remedies authorized in this act or by any other applicable law.

d. The department may adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), standards for hydrogen sulfide emanating from a legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility that, upon adoption, shall supersede the standard set forth in subsection a. of this section.

L.2013, c.69, s.4.