New Jersey Right to Know Requirements

New Jersey's Worker and Community Right to Know Act (N.J.S.A. 34:5A-1 et seq.) and its rules (N.J.A.C. 8:59) make covered employers do five things: report the hazardous substances at each facility, label containers, keep a central file, put up a poster, and give information to employees and emergency responders. Public employers (state and local government) carry all of these duties. Covered private employers mainly have container labeling (enforced by NJDOH) and the Community Right to Know Survey (filed with and enforced by NJDEP). For private-sector workers, information and training come from federal OSHA Hazard Communication rather than from the Act. The NJDOH fact sheets put it this way: the Act and the PEOSH Hazard Communication Standard (N.J.A.C. 12:100-7) "requires most employers to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public employers to provide their employees with information concerning chemical hazards and controls," while federal OSHA (29 CFR 1910.1200) "requires private employers to provide similar information and training" ^[1].

Who is covered

• Public employers: the state and local governments and any agency, authority, department, bureau or instrumentality of them (N.J.A.C. 8:59-1.3).
• Private employers: only those in the listed NAICS industry codes (Subchapter 11). Examples include chemical and petroleum wholesalers, hospitals, schools and colleges, auto repair, dry cleaning plants, testing labs, hazardous waste facilities and pipelines. NJDOH publishes the NAICS list separately.
• Exemption: a public facility whose survey reports no hazardous substances is exempt, except that it must still update the survey every year and remains subject to enforcement (8:59-1.4).

1. Survey (inventory reporting)

• Who files where: public employers send the Right to Know Survey to NJDOH; private employers send the Community Right to Know Survey to NJDEP. Copies go to local fire and police departments, county Right to Know agencies and Local Emergency Planning Committees (NJDOH brochure).
• Frequency: public employers must report every listed substance present every five years, and in each of the four years in between report any new ones (8:59-2.1(b)-(c)).
• Deadline: the survey must be completed and sent within 90 days of receipt or by July 15, whichever is later. It goes to NJDOH, the county health department or lead agency, the local health department, the LEPC, and the local fire and police departments (8:59-2.1(d)).
• What to report for each product: container type, the greatest amount on site in the prior 12 months, physical state, number of employees exposed, and exact location. For each ingredient: Right to Know substance number, CAS number, DOT number, percentage, and Special Health Hazard codes.
• Mixture thresholds: an ingredient must be reported at 1% or more of a mixture, or if 500 lb or more is present in a container, whatever the percentage (8:59-2.2(a)).
• Supporting records: employers must obtain SDSs (the rules still say MSDS) for all products on site. Where an ingredient's identity is unknown, they must make a documented good-faith effort to get it from the supplier: two contacts by letter or documented phone call (8:59-2.2(e), (i)).
• Requests from local agencies: employers must answer requests for more information within 30 days (8:59-2.3).

2. Container labeling (public and private employers)

• "Universal labeling": every container must show the chemical name and CAS number of all hazardous substances in it, plus the five most predominant substances, or a trade secret registry number (8:59-5.1(c)). For private employers, the rule refers to "environmental hazardous substances" (8:59-11.6(b)).
• Timing: labels must go on before a container is opened or within five working days of its arrival, whichever is sooner. No employer may use a container's contents until it is properly labeled (8:59-5.1(d)).
• Unknown contents: a container with more than 1% unknown contents must be labeled "Contents Unknown" or "Contents Partially Unknown" (8:59-5.1(b)).
• Pipelines: labels are required at the entry valve and at normally operated valves, outlets, vents, drains and sample points (8:59-5.2).
• Main exclusions:
  • containers of 2 kg (4.4 lb) or 2 L (0.53 gal) or smaller;
  • process containers;
  • office areas;
  • substances under 1% of a mixture, or under 0.1% for carcinogens, mutagens and teratogens.
• Exception to the small-container exclusion: containers under 2 kg/2 L must still list carcinogens, mutagens and teratogens, and any flammable, reactive or corrosive substances on the Special Health Hazard Substance List (8:59-5.6(g)).
• Alternative labeling: labeling under other federal schemes (FIFRA, DOT, RCRA, FDA, NRC and others) is accepted in certain cases (8:59-5.5). Approved R&D laboratories may use a code system or the OSHA Laboratory Standard instead (8:59-5.3).

3. Central file (public employers)

• Each facility must keep a Right to Know Central File containing the completed survey, the relevant Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets and SDSs, and the Right to Know Hazardous Substance List (8:59-7.2(a)).
• SDSs must be kept alongside the fact sheets, not in place of them (8:59-4.1(f)).

4. Poster (public employers)

• The NJDOH poster must be displayed on bulletin boards that employees can readily reach (8:59-6.3(d); 8:59-7.2(b)).
• Where any employees' native language is Spanish, the notice must also be posted in Spanish (8:59-7.2(c)).

5. Employee access, training and non-retaliation (public employers)

• Copies on request: on written request, employers must provide the survey, fact sheets and SDSs free of charge, at the latest within five working days. The same deadline applies to the chemical name behind a common-name label or the contents of an unlabeled container (8:59-7.2(d)-(f)).
• Right to refuse work: if the employer misses the five-day deadline, the employee may refuse to work with that substance without loss of pay. This does not apply where the employer is only waiting for a fact sheet from NJDOH (8:59-7.5(b)-(c)).
• Training: this now falls under the PEOSH Hazard Communication Standard, N.J.A.C. 12:100-7 (8:59-6.1(a)). Records of earlier Right to Know training must be kept for the length of each employee's employment (8:59-6.1(e); 8:59-6.4).
• Retaliation: employers may not discipline or discriminate against an employee for exercising rights under the Act (8:59-7.2(i)).

Enforcement

• Penalties: up to $2,500 per violation, plus up to $1,000 per day if the violation continues after an order to stop (8:59-8.2(a)).
• "Major" violations include:
  • missing the survey deadline;
  • leaving more than 5% of substances off the survey;
  • labeling fewer than 95% of containers;
  • failing to post the poster;
  • failing to keep the central file;
  • missing the five-working-day deadline on employee requests.

Approach: I checked the NJDOH Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets and the official NJDOH Right to Know pages, then read the N.J.A.C. 8:59 rule text. The NJDOH copy of the rules is marked "current through August 2, 2010" and the program page describes the rules as readopted in August 2010. I did not open the 2024 survey instructions' due dates or check the New Jersey Register for later amendments.

Sources:

• NJDOH Right to Know program page
• NJDOH: RTK Act and Regulations
• N.J.A.C. 8:59 (NJDOH PDF)
• NJDOH brochure "You Have the Right to Know"
• NJDOH 2024 RTK Survey Instructions