You Can Go It Alone With NJDEP Compliance, But Why Bother?
It’s a fact that managing NJDEP compliance is becoming increasingly complicated. Year over year, the NJDEP adopts new rules and regulations that address a wide range of issues (air quality, water, and land use, waste management, etc.), and that leave commercial establishments and facilities in the Garden State with no other option than to make necessary adjustments to stay compliant.
Now more than ever, business owners and facility managers in NJ need a permit compliance expert with skills, knowledge, and experience with these ever-changing regulations. However, there are still those that take matters in their own hands and think that NJDEP compliance is simply about ticking boxes and getting documents signed.
The Risks of Doing NJDEP Compliance In-House
Keeping track of NJDEP permit applications, report submission deadlines, knowledge of which machinery, equipment, and processes require environmental permits, and establishing a good rapport with regulators – all these environmental compliance tasks warrant a significant amount of time and effort.
While possible, doing these tasks internally means putting the compliance viability of the business on one single, likely overworked in-house employee. It also adds to the risk if the company only adds the duties of “NJDEP compliance officer” to the already extensive responsibilities of one of the managers. This results in that particular individual lacking the time, knowledge, and skills to formulate an effective compliance program, which ultimately exposes the organization to higher risks of facing regulatory violations.
Hiring Professional Engineers – Key to Obtaining NJDEP Permit Compliance
Business owners and managers indeed wear many hats. But if they also assume responsibility as the “NJDEP permit compliance officer” of the company, the chances of that company to remain compliant over the long run is only as high as that staff’s compliance skills and capability to juggle multiple jobs at once.
What the owners and managers of NJ businesses and facilities can do instead is retain a professional engineer with in-depth knowledge and experience in obtaining various environmental licenses such as NJDEP air permits. Delegating NJDEP permit compliance tasks to these professionals can provide regulated establishments and facilities in NJ with powerful benefits, including:
1. Free Up Internal Resources
In order to remain efficient and stay afloat amidst the increasingly competitive NJ business landscape, facilities and commercial establishments need to focus all the time and budget they have on their primary functions.
Delegating non-business tasks such as environmental compliance will allow the staff to focus on their core business.
2. Improved Business Operations
Instead of wasting valuable time and money on training employees about NJDEP compliance, it’s a more strategic move to retain the expertise of an already-experienced professional that can complete the job in less time for less money. The time and money saved can, therefore, be used to improve the more crucial aspects of growing the business, such as its research and development department, or its marketing strategy.
3. Help with Expansion
As the facility expands, it may become subject to additional permit requirements. Professional engineers who have been contracted by numerous companies can provide in-depth insight as to what the facility should add to further improve their infrastructure, for instance, in accordance with the latest NJDEP air quality regulations and waste treatment options.
With their expert opinion, the company will able to identify the necessary capital investments they have to make and implement those during the expansion stage, thus cutting off any immediate need for further adjustments after the facility has just been newly configured.
4. Peace of Mind
Aside from ridding the staff of hard-to-manage compliance tasks, professional engineers also decrease the exposure of the company to non-compliance. Professional engineers in NJ have a wide range of experience in industrial compliance issues, which also means that they already have formed valuable relationships with the regulators.
Furthermore, these professional engineers always stay up-to-date with the latest NJDEP ruling adoptions, which means that the pressure for the company to keep themselves updated also diminishes significantly.
Conclusion
So why bother with NJDEP Permit Compliance?
It’s often said that compliance is a “necessary evil” in business, but it does not mean that businesses have to deal with this “evil” alone and use all their time and resources just to overcome it.
Achieving NJDEP compliance is like fixing a car’s automatic transmission. The driver has the choice to dedicate their time learning all the nitty-gritty of a transmission system, invest in necessary tools, identify the potential causes of the problem, rebuild the system by themselves, and hope that the problem will no longer persist.
The caveat, however, is that this will take the driver’s precious time and money which he/she could have used somewhere else that is more productive for their life. Furthermore, there’s also the uncertainty that some parts were missed out during the repair process or that the actual root of the problem was not addressed. Ultimately, this will result in the driver losing confidence in their car each time they use it.
Doing all the legwork of NJDEP compliance is just like that. The business owner or manager might learn a thing or two of what it takes to remain compliant, but in the process, they also lose a significant amount of time and money which they could have used to build and improve their business.
More importantly, the probability that they have ticked all the checkboxes in the state regulator’s priority list is even lower than if they have just retained the service of a professional engineer who has the experience with NJDEP permit compliance.
In the end, it’s the duty of business owners to grow their business, and to trust a qualified professional on aspects that are outside of their core functions and expertise.
In order to help commercial building owners and facility managers in NJ focus on more important aspects of their business, Lockatong Engineering provides assistance in obtaining NJDEP Permit Compliance. Contact us to learn more about our environmental consulting and evaluation services today.
