Jay A. Jaffe

Partner, Environmental Department
Member, Environmental Practice Group

Practice Focus

Mr. Jaffe represents developers, property and business owners, landlords and tenants, manufacturers and other clients on a broad range of environmental legal issues. He joined the firm in January 2012, and was previously a partner in the Environmental & Brownfields practice group at Farer Fersko.

Mr. Jaffe’s practice is focused on the assessment and management of liability under federal and state environmental laws, as well as transaction-triggered regulatory proceedings. He guides clients through environmental submissions under New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) and counsels them on obligations under the state’s new Site Remediation Reform Act and its Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) program.

Mr. Jaffe is highly knowledgeable in the acquisition, cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties and brownfield sites. He has extensive experience in overseeing and coordinating environmental due diligence in portfolio real estate transactions involving multiple properties in New Jersey and around the country, and has coordinated numerous environmental due diligence investigations involving multi-million dollar transactions. He negotiates on behalf of clients with regulatory agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and also advises clients on potential cost recovery options.

Representative Matters

• Mr. Jaffe was part of the team and provided environmental related support in the firm’s successful representation of plaintiff Des Champs Laboratories in Des Champs Laboratories, Inc. v. Martin, 2012 N.J. Super. LEXIS 115 (App. Div. 2012), in which the Court struck down an unauthorized regulation of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) which threatened to significantly increase clean up obligations under the Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) for businesses using very small amounts of hazardous substances. The case was argued in court by Daniel L. Schmutter, partner in the Litigation Department.

Professional Activities / Honors

• Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the Environmental Law practice area.
• Listed in New Jersey Super Lawyers in the Environmental practice area, since 2006.
• Member of the New Jersey Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Association.

Publications / Articles / Presentations

• Instructor, "Working wih your LSRP: Changing Roles and Responsibilities under the NJDEP’s New Site Remediation Program," Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, April 2012.
• Co-Author, “What’s Your Number? NJDEP’s New Remedial Priority Scoring System,” Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP Client Alert, April 2012.
• Co-Author, "'NJDEP to Adopt Common Sense Waiver Rule," Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP Client Alert, March 2012.
• Co-Author, “Critical Environmental Deadlines Fast Approaching,” Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP Client Alert, February 2012.
• Contributing Author, “Commercial Real Estate Transactions in New Jersey: Volume I and II – Chapter 6; Environmental Issues,” New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 3rd Edition 2010.
• Faculty, “Environmental Law Update: Hot Topics for In-House Counsel,” New Jersey Law Journal In-House Counsel CLE Seminar, November 2010.
• Faculty Member, “Site Remediation Reform and the New LSRP System: Transactional, Technical and Brownfield Impacts,” NJICLE; March 2010.
• Contributing Author, “ISRA Compliance: Environmental Issues in Transactions and Brownfield Redevelopment,” NJICLE Seminar Materials, 7th Edition 2010.
• Faculty Member, “ISRA 2009: Environmental Issues in Transactions & Brownfield Redevelopment & the New Site Remediation Reform Act,” NJICLE; May 2009.
• Guest lecturer, “Hot Topics in Environmental Law,” Middlesex County Bar Association, September 2008.
• Faculty Member, “Business Law Symposium – Environmental Aspects of Commercial Real Estate Leasing & Hot Topics in New Jersey Environmental Law,” NJICLE, April 2008.
• Author, “Negotiating Brownfields Contracts of Sale,” NJPA Real Estate Journal, June 2007.
• Faculty Member, “Acquiring, Developing, and Disposing of Brownfields Sites – Negotiating Brownfields Contacts of Sale,” American Conference Institute Seminar, May 2007.
• Faculty Member, “Business Law Symposium – Environmental Issues in Business and Commercial Real Estate Transactions,” NJICLE October 2003.
• Co-Author, “CERCLA Amendment Creates New Exemptions and Defenses,” New Jersey Law Journal, February 2002.

Bar Admissions

• New Jersey, 1989