Many in New Jersey’s commercial real estate community are breathing a sigh of relief after the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) failed to adopt a recently proposed rule by its April 2026 deadline. As a result, the proposed rule expired by operation of law and did not take effect. That means, for now, it is business as usual for environmental diligence in connection with property sales.
About a year and a half ago, NJDEP surprised the regulated community when it proposed a new rule that would have required reporting certain Phase II due diligence sampling results to NJDEP before closing—a significant change to how environmental diligence would play out in transactions and a notable departure from long-standing practice. Additional details are available in our blog from last year.
