NJ Land Use Environmental Regulations

• Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act Rules

• Coastal Area Facilities Review Act Rules
• Flood Hazard Area Control Act Rules
• Stormwater Management Rules
• Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act Rules
• Other likely rules
 Test Info
• The exam package given to students still says
applicants must have:
– “Good Knowledge” of Fresh Water Wetlands Act and
Regulations
– “General Knowledge” of Coastal Area Facilities Review Act
and Regulations (NJSA 13:9-1; NJAC 7:7E-1; NJAC 7:7-1)
– “Limited number of questions” on Soil Erosion and
Sedimentation Control Act and Flood Hazard Area Control
Act (NJSA 58:16A-50)
• Test questions last updated in 2009, so material
adopted or amended after 2009 will not be on the
exam.
• Passing grade is 70%
 Coastal Zone Management Rules
(NJAC 7:7)
• Statutory Authority:
• Coastal Area Facility Review Act (CAFRA) (NJSA
13:19-1)
• Waterfront Development Law (NJSA 12:5-3)
• Wetlands Act of 1970 (Tidal Wetlands) (NJSA
13:9A-1)
• Water Quality Certification (Section 401 of the
Federal Coastal Zone Management Act)
• 90-day Construction Permit Law
 CAFRA
• Regulates development within the specified coastal
zone (INCLUDE MAP)
• Jurisdiction:
– Almost any activity on a beach or dune.
– Development Thresholds increase as distance from
shoreline increases.
– # of dwelling units; # of commercial parking spaces, or
public development
– Distance is measured from Mean High Water Line, beach
or dune, whichever is furthest landward
• 0’-150’: any first development
• 150’ +: after 1st development, 3 or more units
• 150’-500’ (500’+ in qualifying municipality): 25 units or more
 CAFRA Non-Regulated Activities
• Public recreation areas outside riparian buffer
• Educational facilities
• Hand-removal of debris along a reach of the
watercourse
• Open decks at residential structures that are properly
anchored in accordance with Uniform Construction
Code
• Minor repair, maintenance, or replacement-in-kind of
existing roads, bridge, culverts, gauging structures that
will not change cross-sectional area open to flow
during regulatory flood, or increase footprint.
 CAFRA Permits
• Exemptions:
– Complicated to explain
– Should be verified in an Exemption Letter issued by Land Use Regulation
Program
• Permit-by-Rule:
– For minimal impact activities
– No submission required to Program
– No permit issued by the Program
• General Permits:
– Residential and Commercial Voluntary Reconstruction, Single Family Home or
Duplex (expansion/reconstruction, new construction or revetment/gabions)
and Marina Support Facilities; Bulkhead reconstruction, new bulkheads in
lagoons, docks, pilings, boatlifts, etc. in a man-made lagoon; Maintenance
dredging in lagoon.
• Individual Permits
– Other development
Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control
Act (NJSA 4:24-1 et seq.)
• Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Standards -
Rules @ NJAC 2:90-1
• Permit required for >5,000 SF of soil
disturbance
• Run by County Soil Conservation Districts
• NJDOT project and SFH exempt
Title 58: Waters and Water Supply
• Chapter 1A: Water Supply Management Act
– Water diversion 100,000+ gallons per day requires
a permit; Water allocation
– Rules regulate:
• Counties as Water Quality Management Planning
Agencies
• Control Point and Non-point Sources of Pollution
• Wastewater Management Plans
• Sewer Service Areas
• Identify Treatment Works needed
 Brownfield and Contaminated Site
Remediation Act
• A brownfield is defined under NJ state law
(N.J.S.A. 58:10B-23.d) as "any former or
current commercial or industrial site that is
currently vacant or underutilized and on
which there has been, or there is suspected to
have been, a discharge of a contaminant.“

• Brownfields are properties that are

abandoned or underutilized because of
either real or perceived contamination.
 Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act
Rules at NJAC 7:7A
• Jurisdiction of NJDEP, Land Use Regulation Program
• Identification Methodology: 1989 Federal Manual for
Identifying & Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands
• US Army Corps of Engineers Exceptions: (they use the
1987 Manual)
– Army Corps ceded jurisdiction of wetlands oversight to
NJDEP EXCEPT in:
• NJ Meadowlands Commission District
• Greenwood Lake
• Delaware River
 Defining a Freshwater Wetland
• 3 Parameters Must Be Present:
– 1. Hydric Soils
– 2. Hydrophytic Vegetation (Hydrophytes)
– 3. Presence of Hydrology
3 Wetlands Resource Classifications &
Their Transition Areas (a.k.a. Buffers)
• Ordinary = 0’ transition area
– Swales, ditches, detention basins, isolated
wetlands <5,000 SF and surrounded by > 50%
development
• Intermediate = 50’ transition area
– Neither Ordinary nor Exceptional.
• Exceptional = 150’ transition area
– Discharges to Trout Production Waters
– Habitat for Endangered or Threatened Species
 Transition Area Exceptions
• Highlands Preservation Area = 300’ transition
area
• NJ Pinelnads = 300’ transition area
• US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) regulated
wetlands – 0’ transition area
 State Open Waters
• SOWs are Regulated Similar to a Wetland
• All water of the State except,
– Groundwater
– Wetlands
– Artificial lakes
– Detention basins
 Freshwater Wetlands Permits
• General Permits
– Minor impacts to wetlands
– 27 different permits; activity specific; acreage specific
– Examples: GP#2 – Underground Utility Lines. Limit 1.0 acre
of impact.
– GP#10 – Minor Road Crossings. Limit 0.25 acres of impact.
• Individual Permit – only if no General Permit applies.
Requires mitigation.
– Creation, Enhancement, Restoration, Mitigation Bank
• Transition Area Permits – Impacts to TA only
– Waivers; Averaging Plans
 Regulated & Non-regulated Activities
in Wetlands & Transition Area
• See Pages 10-1 and 10-2 in Complete Guide to
Planning.
• Recommend you Commit to Memory
NJ Flood Hazard Area Control Act Rules

• A flood hazard area exists along

every regulated water that has a
drainage area of 50 acres or
more
• Floodplains and flood hazard
areas are often used together

SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-2.3(a)1

 Riparian Zone
• A riparian zone exists along every
regulated water, except there is no
riparian zone along:
– The Atlantic Ocean
– Any manmade lagoon or stormwater
management basin
– Any oceanfront barrier island, spit or
peninsula
– Any piped section of an otherwise
regulated water

SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-2.3(a)2

Flood Hazard Area
 Flood Hazard Area
 Approximately 35% of New Jersey lies in
a flood hazard area
 Flood Hazard Area
• The flood hazard area is comprised of the
floodway and flood fringe
 Flood Hazard Area
• Area inundated by the flood hazard area
design flood
• In tidal areas: equal to 100-yr (1%) flood
• In fluvial areas: equal to 100-yr (1%) flood
plus a factor of safety
– Previous rules required assumption of full
development of upstream watershed
– New rules add different factors of safety
depending on the mapping resources
available
 Floodway
• Conveys the majority of floodwater

• Structures & other materials can obstruct flow

and increase flooding

• Calculated using a 0.2-ft rise in the 100-year

flood elevation
 Flood Hazard Area
• Area inundated by the flood hazard area
design flood
• In tidal areas: equal to 100-yr (1%) flood
• In fluvial areas: equal to 100-yr (1%) flood
plus a factor of safety
– Previous rules required assumption of full
development of upstream watershed
– New rules add different factors of safety
depending on the mapping resources
available
 Floodway
• Conveys the majority of floodwater

• Structures & other materials can obstruct flow

and increase flooding

• Calculated using a 0.2-ft rise in the 100-year

flood elevation
Floodway
Floodway
 Flood Fringe
• The portion of the flood hazard area outside
the floodway

• Waters are less deep and move slower than in

floodway

• Structures, fill and other material can displace

flood storage volume and increase flooding
 Riparian Zone
• Measures 50, 150 or 300 ft from a regulated
water (previously 25 or 50 ft)
 Riparian Zone
• 300 ft along: Category One waters and
upstream tributaries within the same HUC-
14 watershed
• Category One waters are listed in the
Department’s Surface Water Quality
Standards at N.J.A.C. 7:9B
• Not exactly the same as the Special Water
Resource Protection Area

SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-4.1

 300-ft Riparian Zone
• Difference #1: The SWRPA applies only to
waters that are shown on a USGS quad or
County Soil Survey
• The riparian zone applies to regulated waters
regardless of any mapping

SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-4.1

 300-ft Riparian Zone
• Difference #2: The SWRPA applies only to
projects that are major developments
• The riparian zone applies to regulated waters
regardless of the size of the project

SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-4.1

 150-ft Riparian Zone

1. Trout production waters and all tributaries

2. Trout maintenance waters and all
tributaries within one mile
3. Waters that flow through an area that
contains documented T&E habitat (if
plant/animal is critically dependent on the
regulated water for survival) and all
tributaries within one mile
4. Waters that flow through an area that
contains acid producing soils
SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-4.1
 50-ft Riparian Zone

• Along all other waters

• Most common riparian zone width,

especially in urbanized areas (except where
acid producing soils exist)

SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-4.1

Riparian Zone
If a bank is present
 Regulated Activities
1. The alteration of topography through
excavation, grading and/or placement of fill;
2. The clearing, cutting and/or removal of
vegetation in a riparian zone;
3. The creation of impervious surface;
4. The storage of unsecured material;
5. The construction, reconstruction and/or
enlargement of a structure; and
6. The conversion of a building into a private
residence or a public building.

SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-2.4(a)

 Permit Requirement
• Before undertaking a regulated activity in a
regulated area, you must first obtain one of
the following for the work:

– A permit-by-rule (N.J.A.C. 7:13-7)

– A general permit (N.J.A.C. 7:13-8)
– An individual permit (N.J.A.C. 7:13-9,10 & 11)
– An emergency permit (N.J.A.C. 7:13-12)
– A coastal permit (N.J.A.C. 7:7 and 7:7E)

SEE N.J.A.C. 7:13-2.1(b)

 Stormwater Management Rules
N.J.A.C 7:8 et seq.
• Adopted on 2/2/04: www.njstormwater.org
• 300-foot buffer along C-1 water and certain
tributaries in same watershed
• Water quality standards
• Runoff quantity standards
• Groundwater recharge standards
• Low Impact Development (LID) checklist
 Stormwater Management for
New Development
• Flood control – same as existing, must reduce
peak flow of 2, 10 and 100-year storm to 50%, 75%
and 80% of pre-existing condition
• Quality – Must decrease post-development total
suspended solids load by 80%
• Infiltration – Must recharge 100% of the volume
recharged prior to the site’s development, provisions
included for redevelopment
 The 300-foot special water resource
protection area (N.J.A.C. 7:8-5.5(h))
• Along all C-1 waters
• Along streams flowing into C-1 waters if:
– Located in the same HUC-14 watershed AND
– Mapped by EITHER USGS or County Soil Survey
• 300-foot buffer measured from:
– Top of bank (if a bank exists)
– Centerline of feature (if no bank exists)
– Spring high water line (along tidal waters)
 Water Quality & Quantity
• Water Quality Standards (N.J.A.C. 7:8-5.5) :
– Stomwater runoff from site must meet 80% total
suspended solids (TSS) removal
– Rules and Best Management Practices manual describe
percentages given to different measures.
• Runoff Quantity Standards (N.J.A.C. 7:8-5.4(a)3) :
– Demonstrate one of the following:
• Post-construction hydrographs for 2, 10 and 100-year storms are
less than existing, or
• The existing peak flows for these storms will not increase, and any
extra runoff volume will not increase downstream flooding, or
• Post-construction 2, 10 and 100-year peak flows are reduced by
50%, 75% and 80%
 Groundwater Recharge Standards
(N.J.A.C. 7:8-5.4(a)2)
• Must demonstrate either:
– 100% of the average annual pre-construction
groundwater recharge volume is maintained, or
– Increase in 2-year storm runoff is infiltrated
• Does not apply to:
– “Urban redevelopment” projects
– Stormwater exposed to “source material” or form
areas of high pollutant loading
 Low Impact Development (LID)
• LID techniques must be implemented to
maximum extent practicable.
• Use of non-structural stormwater
management strategies must be maximized.
• Detailed in BMP Manual
• Checklist in Appendix A of BMP Manual must
be completed.
Water Quality
• Reduce Post-construction TSS Load by
80%
– TSS Removal Rates Based on BMP Manual
• Reduce nutrients to the maximum extent
feasible
– Minimize nutrient input
– Select BMP for optimum nutrient removal
– Design BMP so nutrients are not imported