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New JerseyDepartment of Environmental ProtectionSite Remediation andWaste Management ProgramTechnical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-SpecificCriteriaVersion 2.0July 2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS1.0INTENDED USE OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENT .52.0PURPOSE .63.0DOCUMENT OVERVIEW.64.0INTRODUCTION .75.0GENERAL CONCEPTS .105.1Site Investigation .105.2Remedial Investigation .105.3Remedial Action .116.0SOIL .126.1Direct Contact Exposure Pathways Soil Remediation Standards .126.1.1Direct Contact Remediation Standards or Criteria .126.1.2Alternative Remediation Standards .136.26.1.2.1Ingestion-Dermal Exposure Pathway .136.1.2.2Inhalation exposure pathway .13Migration to Ground Water Exposure Pathway Soil Remediation Standards .136.2.1Department Pre-Approval Not Required .146.2.2Department Pre-Approval Required .146.3Site-Specific Standards for Contaminants Not in the Table .146.4Ecological Soil and Sediment Screening Levels .146.5Petroleum Hydrocarbon Soil Screening Levels .146.6Vapor Intrusion Soil Screening Levels .156.7Compliance .156.7.1General .156.7.2Site Investigation .156.7.3Remedial Investigation - Delineation .156.7.3.1Delineation - Direct Contact Exposure Pathways .166.7.3.1.1Unrestricted Use Remedial Action .176.7.3.1.2Limited Restricted Use Remedial Action .176.7.3.1.3Restricted Use Remedial Action .176.7.3.26.7.4Delineation - Migration to Ground Water Exposure Pathway.17Remedial Investigation - Determine Need for Remedial Action .18Technical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 2 of 62
6.7.4.1Direct Contact Exposure Pathways.186.7.4.2Migration to Ground Water Exposure Pathway.196.7.5Remedial Action Verification .216.7.5.16.7.5.1.1Unrestricted Use Soil Remedial Actions .226.7.5.1.2Limited Restricted Use Soil Remedial Actions .236.7.5.1.3Restricted Use Soil Remedial Actions .236.7.5.27.0Direct Contact Exposure Pathways.21Migration to Ground Water Exposure Pathway.23GROUND WATER .257.1Ground Water Remediation Standards .257.2Vapor Intrusion Exposure Pathway .267.3Compliance .267.3.1General .267.3.2Site Investigation .267.3.3Remedial Investigation .277.3.4Remedial Action .287.3.5Receptor Evaluation – Ground Water .298.0SURFACE WATER .298.1Surface Water Quality Standards .298.2Ecological Surface Water Screening Levels .308.3Compliance .309.08.3.1Site Investigation .308.3.2Remedial Investigation .308.3.3Remedial Action .31EXTRACTABLE PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS.3110.0 ECOLOGICAL .3111.0 VAPOR INTRUSION .32REFERENCES .33Technical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 3 of 62
TABLESTable 4-1: Summary of Media, Pathways, Standards/Criteria .9APPENDICESAppendix ACompliance Averaging Options for the Ingestion-Dermal,Inhalation, and Migration to Ground Water Pathways .34Appendix BUse of Rounding to Demonstrate Compliance withRemediation Standards and Screening Levels .49Appendix CGlossary .59Appendix DAcronyms .62Technical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 4 of 62
1.0INTENDED USE OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTThis guidance is designed to help the person responsible for conducting the remediation tocomply with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (Department)requirements established by the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation (TechnicalRequirements), N.J.A.C. 7:26E. This guidance will be used by many different people involvedin the remediation of a contaminated site, such as Licensed Site Remediation Professionals(LSRP), Non-LSRP environmental consultants and other environmental professionals.Therefore, the generic term “investigator” will be used to refer to any person who uses thisguidance to remediate a contaminated site on behalf of a remediating party, including theremediating party itself.The procedures for an investigator to vary from the technical requirements in regulation areoutlined in the Technical Requirements at N.J.A.C. 7:26E-1.7. Variances from a technicalrequirement or departure from guidance must be documented and adequately supported with dataor other information. In applying technical guidance, the Department recognizes thatprofessional judgment may result in a range of interpretations on the application of the guidanceto site conditions.This guidance supersedes previous Department guidance issued on this topic. This guidancesupersedes previous Department guidance issued on this topic. Technical guidance may be usedimmediately upon issuance. However, the Department recognizes the challenge of using newlyissued technical guidance when a remediation affected by the guidance may have already beenconducted or is currently in progress. To provide for the reasonable implementation of newtechnical guidance, the Department will allow a six-month “phase-in” period between the datethe technical guidance is issued final (or the revision date) and the time it should be used.This guidance was prepared with stakeholder input. The following people were on thecommittee who prepared this document:New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection representatives:Dr. Barry Frasco, ChairmanDr. Swati ToppinGreg NeumannDr. Haydar ErdoganExternal representatives:Adam Hackenberg, Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.James Kearns, Kinder MorganStephen Posten, Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc.Theodoros “Ted” Toskos, Woodard & CurranTechnical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 5 of 62
2.0PURPOSEThis guidance presents recommended procedures for demonstrating compliance with applicableremediation standards, alternative remediation standards, and/or site-specific criteria pursuant tothe Department’s Remediation Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:26D, and in accordance with the TechnicalRequirements for Site Remediation, N.J.A.C. 7:26E. The investigator should follow thisguidance to determine if remediation is necessary and to demonstrate if remediation satisfiesregulatory requirements including the Department’s Remediation Standards.This guidance applies to the Site Investigation (SI), Remedial Investigation (RI) and RemedialAction (RA) phases of the remedial process. Specific recommended procedures are provided forapplying this guidance to soil, ground water, sediment, and surface water in each of these phasesto assess remedial requirements, i.e., to demonstrate compliance with remediation standards. Inaddition to the procedures presented in this guidance, the investigator is also referred toadditional media-specific and pathway-specific technical guidance for detailed methodologies(e.g., vapor intrusion, light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL), soil site investigation/remedialinvestigation (SI/RI), ground water SI/RI, etc.). These technical guidance documents areavailable for viewing and downloading on the Department website NT OVERVIEWThis technical guidance provides the investigator with several options to demonstrate compliancewith the applicable remediation standards throughout the remediation process (i.e., siteinvestigation, remedial investigation, remedy selection, remedial action), including ‘point bypoint’ compliance at individual sampling points, relatively simple statistical tests to allow foridentification and elimination of data outliers, and more robust numerical and spatial statisticalmethods. In addition, this technical guidance includes, where noted, the option to use roundingof analytical data in conjunction with the options noted above. In order to determine whichoption would be used to demonstrate compliance with the Department’s Remediation Standards,the investigator should evaluate the data available and apply professional judgment.The use of this guidance does not replace the need for documenting procedures and/ormethodologies for proper remediation in accordance with Department regulatory requirements.The demonstration of attainment of the Department’s Remediation Standards must bedocumented in the appropriate remediation document(s) and submittal(s) pursuant to theTechnical Requirements and the Administrative Requirements for the Remediation ofContaminated Sites (ARRCS) N.J.A.C. 7:26C.Detailed procedures for demonstrating attainment with the Department’s Remediation Standardsare presented in the following sections of the guidance:Section 5.0 - General Concepts: This section presents the technical approach for applyingRemediation Standards during the site investigation, remedial investigation, and remedial actionphases.Technical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 6 of 62
Section 6.0 - Soil: This section identifies each of the exposure pathways for soil impactsincluding 1) the Direct Contact Soil Ingestion – Dermal exposure pathway, 2) the Direct ContactSoil Inhalation Exposure Pathway, and 3) the Migration to Ground Water Exposure Pathway. Inaddition, this section references the methodologies for developing alternative remediationstandards for each exposure pathway. This section also discusses Ecological Soil and SedimentExposure Pathways, as well as alternatives for demonstrating attainment of the Soil RemediationStandards during the Site Investigation, Remedial Investigation and Remedial Action Phases.This includes procedures for determining the need for remedial action for each of the soilexposure pathways.Section 7.0 - Ground Water: This section reviews applicable Remediation Standards and VaporScreening Levels for ground water and alternatives for demonstrating attainment of theStandards during the Site Investigation, Remedial Investigation and Remedial Action Phases.This includes procedures for determining the need for remedial action for each of the groundwater exposure pathways.Section 8.0 - Surface Water: This section reviews applicable Remediation Standards for surfacewater and alternatives for demonstrating attainment of the Standards during the SiteInvestigation, Remedial Investigation and Remedial Action Phases. This includes procedures fordetermining the need for remedial action.4.0INTRODUCTIONThe Department adopted the Remediation Standards (N.J.A.C. 7:26D) in June 2008 andamended the Remediation Standards in May 2021 for use at remediation sites. The RemediationStandards set forth numeric and narrative standards for soils, ground water, and surface water.Prior to adoption of the Remediation Standards, the Department had used “soil cleanup criteria”(SCC), Ground Water Quality Standards (N.J.A.C. 7:9C), and Surface Water Quality Standards(N.J.A.C. 7:9B) as site specific numeric remediation standards. Adoption of the RemediationStandards served to administratively document the process that the Department has beenimplementing for many years.The purpose of this guidance document is two-fold: to assist the investigator with identifyingand applying appropriate remediation standards, criteria, and conditions for detectedcontaminants in all media during each phase of a remediation (site investigation, remedialinvestigation, and remedial action); and, to determine compliance with these remediationstandards, criteria, and conditions to ensure protection of human health and of the environment.When determining appropriate remediation standards and criteria, it is critical that theinvestigator have an understanding of the intended use of the site once remediation is complete(“end use”). Questions to be considered include whether the site will be used for residential ornon-residential purposes, and whether the use of institutional and/or engineering controls isacceptable at the site. While compliance has traditionally been based on single-pointdeterminations (see definition in Appendix C), the number of points required to demonstrate thatTechnical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 7 of 62
the remediation is protective of human health and of the environment, and the manner in whichthe data are evaluated, may vary depending on the remedial phase and the intended end use ofthe property. It should be noted that this document will not set forth guidelines for determiningthe technical aspects of the sampling investigation (i.e., appropriate sampling strategies, numberof samples to be collected, etc.). The investigator is referred to the Technical Requirements, aswell as the applicable guidance documents prepared by the Department that address these issues.The investigator is encouraged to develop a conceptual site model (CSM) following Departmentguidance to develop and provide a framework that can be used to aid and document sitecharacterization and remedial action decisions throughout the life of the remediation. The CSMis a written and/or illustrative representation of the physical, chemical, and biological processesthat control the transport, migration and potential impacts to receptors. Development andrefinement of the CSM will help identify data gaps in the characterization process and canultimately support remedial decision making. The Department accepts the CSM as a validscientific approach when applied in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements andguidance documents.This Department technical guidance document will provide direction on how to comply with soilingestion-dermal remediation standards, soil inhalation remediation standards, migration toground water remediation standards, ground water remediation standards, surface waterremediation standards, and indoor air samples.Media include soil, ground water, surface water, sediment, and air. Soil exposure pathwaysinclude ingestion-dermal, inhalation, migration to ground water, and ecological. Ground waterexposure pathways include both drinking water and vapor intrusion. As defined in the “VaporIntrusion Technical Guidance” (www.nj.gov/dep/srp/guidance/vaporintrusion), vapor intrusionis the migration of volatile chemicals from the subsurface into overlying buildings. Surfacewater exposure pathways include both human health and aquatic.It should be noted that this document does not fully address compliance for the following: Petroleum hydrocarbons. Compliance issues regarding petroleum hydrocarbons can befound in the Department guidance document “Evaluation of Extractable PetroleumHydrocarbons in Soil Technical Guidance June 2019 Version tml#eph soil). Ecological. Compliance issues regarding ecological issues, with the exception of certainsurface water standards, can be found in the Department “Ecological EvaluationTechnical Guidance” o eval). Vapor intrusion. Compliance issues regarding vapor intrusion are found in theDepartment “Vapor Intrusion Technical sion).Table 4-1 below provides details on the above information.Technical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 8 of 62
Table 4-1: Summary of Media, Pathways, Standards/CriteriaMEDIAPATHWAY(S)Direct Contact (ingestiondermal, inhalation)SoilMigration to Ground WaterGroundWaterSurfaceWaterGround WaterHuman HealthEcologicalHuman Health (DirectContact Soil)STANDARDS/CRITERIASoil Ingestion-DermalResidential and Nonresidential RemediationStandardsSoil Inhalation Residential andNon-residential RemediationStandardsMigration to Ground Water Soiland Soil LeachateRemediation StandardsGround Water RemediationStandardsHuman Health Surface WaterQuality StandardsAquatic Surface Water QualityStandardsCITATIONN.J.A.C. 7:26DN.J.A.C. 7:26D4N.J.A.C. 7:26D-2(N.J.A.C. 7:9C)*N.J.A.C. 7:26D-3(N.J.A.C. 7:9B)#N.J.A.C. 7:9BSee SoilN.J.A.C. 7:26D-4Ecological EvaluationTechnical html#eco evalExtractable idance/index.html#eph soilVapor Intrusion ion”Ground Water, Soil Gas,Indoor Air The Ground Water Remediation Standards reference the Ground Water Quality Standards,N.J.A.C. 7:9C.#The Surface Water Remediation Standards reference the Surface Water Quality Standards,N.J.A.C. 7:9B.Pursuant to the Technical Requirements, the person responsible for conducting the remediation isrequired to determine appropriate remediation standards, site-specific alternative remediationstandards (if desired), and/or site-specific criteria for each contaminant detected at the site orarea of concern (AOC) for all media and exposure pathways (as appropriate). For the purposesof this guidance document, the phrase “applicable remediation standard” is to be applied to theremediation standard, alternative remediation standard, and/or site-specific criterion.Technical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 9 of 62
The applicable remediation standard for a given contaminant depends upon the intended futureuse of the site (e.g., residential or non-residential), as well as potential exposure pathways thatare being remediated (e.g., ground water, surface water, migration to ground water). In general,attainment of compliance refers to the process by which analytical data from a site or AOC arecompared against all applicable remediation standards, and a determination made as to whetherexisting site conditions meet or exceed those standards. Based on this determination, a decisionis then made regarding the need for additional remediation at the site or AOC, including but notlimited to additional delineation sampling and/or remedial actions. Compliance determinationsshould be performed at the conclusion of each phase of a remediation (site investigation,remedial investigation, and remedial action).Specific to remedial actions, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 58:10B-12g(4), the person responsible forconducting the remediation is not required to remediate contamination to below backgroundconcentrations. Refer to the Technical Requirements for regulatory obligations regardingbackground investigations (N.J.A.C. 7:26E-3.8).5.0GENERAL CONCEPTS5.1Site InvestigationPursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26E-3.3(a), the purpose of the site investigation is to “determine ifadditional remediation is necessary because contaminants are present at the site or area ofconcern, or because contaminants have emanated or are emanating from the site or area ofconcern, above any applicable remediation standard or criterion.”In general, single point compliance is employed during the site investigation, using the mostconservative applicable remediation standard. Rounding of single point compliance data isacceptable. Rounding should be carried out to the number of significant figures expressed in theapplicable remediation standard as described in Appendix B. The Technical Requirements allowthe person responsible for conducting the remediation to either conduct a remedial investigationor to immediately commence with a remedial action. This decision is made by the personresponsible for conducting the remediation, based on the appropriate Department guidance, andis not discussed in this document.5.2Remedial InvestigationPursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26E-4.1(a)1, the purpose of the remedial investigation is to “Delineate thehorizontal and vertical extent of contamination to the remediation standard, in eachenvironmental medium at a contaminated site ”.The goal of the remedial investigation should be to achieve delineation and characterization ofthe nature and extent of contamination as appropriate to determine the necessity for and theproposed extent of a remedial action, in order to support the development and evaluation ofproposed alternatives in the remedy selection process.Technical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 10 of 62
As with the site investigation, in general, single point compliance is employed during theremedial investigation, using the most conservative applicable remediation standard. Put simply,if contamination is determined to be present at the site during the remedial investigation abovethe applicable remediation standard, the person responsible for conducting the remediation isrequired to determine whether it is necessary to conduct a remedial action. Rounding of singlepoint compliance data is acceptable. Rounding should be carried out to the number of significantfigures expressed in the applicable remediation standard as described in Appendix B.In lieu of discreet sampling, the LSRP may use other means for determining the extent of thecontamination. As such, samples indicating contaminant concentrations that are at or below theapplicable remediation standards (i.e., clean zone samples) are not required for all environmentalmedia to complete the remedial investigation. See “Interpretation of Technical Requirements forSite Remediation requirement to “complete the remedial investigation” (N.J.A.C. /srra/ri complete policy statement 202001.pdf).While the remedial investigation does not need to include actual clean zone sampling data todemonstrate contaminant delineation to the applicable remediation standards, such sampling dataare required to demonstrate attainment of the applicable remediation standards and screeningcriteria at the conclusion of the remedial action and prior to the Department issuing a remedialaction permit, if applicable, and the LSRP issuing the Response Action Outcome (RAO).Sections 6 (soil) and 7 (ground water) detail alternatives for demonstrating that compliance hasbeen achieved for each specified pathway using compliance averaging. Rounding may beapplied in conjunction with compliance averaging, as specified in Sections 6 and 7.5.3Remedial ActionIf through the site investigation and/or remedial investigation it is determined that contaminationis present at a site or AOC at concentrations not in compliance with the applicable remediationstandard, a remedial action is required. Requirements pertaining to the type of remedial actionare contained in the Department guidance “Ground Water Technical Guidance: SiteInvestigation/Remedial Investigation/Remedial Action Performance index.html#pa si ri gw) and “Soil InvestigationTechnical Guidance - Site Investigation/Remedial Investigation/Remedial Action index.html#si ri ra soils).After completion of the remedial action if contaminants are still present above the applicableremediation standard, compliance averaging as specified in Sections 6 and 7 may be used (foreach pathway) to determine if the site or AOC is in compliance or if additional remedial action iswarranted. Rounding may be applied in conjunction with compliance averaging, as specified inSections 6 and 7.Technical Guidance for the Attainment ofRemediation Standards and Site-Specific Criteria Ver 2.0Page 11 of 62
6.0SOILThis section presents the process for determining the applicable remediation standard, and isorganized as follows: 6.1 - Direct contact soil exposure pathways soil remediation standards6.2 - Migration to ground water soil exposure pathway soil remediation standards6.3 - Site-specific standards for contaminants not in the table6.4 - Ecological soil and sediment screening levels6.5 - Petroleum hydrocarbon soil screening levels6.6 - Vapor intrusion soil screening levelsThe final subsection (6.7) discusses how to demonstrate attainment of compliance with thosestandards and screening levels, again by pathway.6.1Direct Contact Exposure Pathways Soil Remediation StandardsDirect Contact Pathways include both the soil Ingestion-Dermal Exposure Pathway as well as thesoil Inhalation Exposure Pathway. In addition, for each of these pathways, there are bothresidential and non- residential exposure scenarios.6.1.1 Direct Contact Remediation Standards or CriteriaApplicable numerical remediation standards for the two direct contact exposure pathwaysinclude: Ingestion – dermal remediation standards promulgated in Tables 1 and 2 of Appendix 1in the Remediation Standards (N.J.A.C. 7:26DInhalation remediation standards promulgated in Tables 3 and 4 of Appendix 1 in theRemediation Standards (N.J.A.C. 7:26D)Alternative remediation standards developed pursuant to the Remediation Standards(N.J.A.C. 7:26D-8, and either Appendix 6 [ingestion-dermal exposure pathway] orAppendix 7 [inhalation exposure pathway]).All direct contact soil remediation standards (residential and non-residential) are rounded to twosignificant figures using the rounding rules cont
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Site Remediation and Waste Management Program Technical Guidance for the Attainment of Remediation Standards and Site-Specific
