A New Jersey appeals court on Tuesday reinstated criminal charges against a solar energy development company and its director accused of violating an administrative consent order meant to assist in building a solar farm on the site of an old landfill.

In a published ruling, State v. Bernarndi, the three-judge Appellate Division panel said three of the six counts against the company, Strategic Environmental Partners, and its director and managing member, Richard Bernardi Sr., were wrongly dismissed based on the mistaken reasoning that an administrative consent order didn’t amount to a government contract.