Legal Blogs and Updates

On September 8, 2020, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) published a notice indicating that all State and local approvals eligible for extension under the Permit Extension Act of 2020 (the Act) — not just eligible NJDEP approvals—must be registered with NJDEP by October 8, 2020 to benefit from the Act.

The Act (available here and summarized here) required “State agencies” to publish a notice thereof in the New Jersey Register.  Additionally, it asserted that any government approval eligible for extension under the Act “shall be registered with the department within 30 days of the notice,” and that any unregistered approval shall not be deemed extended.

Because the Act did not define “department” and did not specify who must register with the “department,” the registration requirement caused some confusion.  However, NJDEP published a notice in the September 8, 2020 issue of the New Jersey Register (the Notice) that appears to provide answers.  The Notice states that “certain governmental permits, approvals, and deadlines” were extended by the Act “provided the holder of the permit or approval registers [it] with the Department of Environmental Protection.”  It further states that the “registration requirement applies to specified permits, approvals, and deadlines from a broad range of State and local entities — not just the Department,” and that “any government approval subject” thereto “must be registered with [NJDEP] by October 8, 2020.”  The Notice thus affects all approvals eligible for extension, not just approvals with environmental implications.

Registration can be completed here.