On December 13, 2006, (COAH) voted to propose amendments to its third round rules (N.J.A.C. 5:94 and N.J.A.C. 5:95) which were published in the New Jersey Register on January 16, 2007 and were open to a public comment period until March 17, 2007.

The proposed rule is intended to foster the provision of affordable housing by clarifying and modifying various aspects of the rules. The proposal establishes a clear standard for the calculation of the amount of payments in lieu of constructing affordable units on site. The proposal also includes exclusions for farm labor housing and parking garages from the determination of the growth share obligation. Also, buildings classified as UCC use group A3 that are constructed by institutions of higher education will generate a non-residential growth share obligation of one job per 1,000 square feet, rather than three jobs per 1,000 square feet required by the current rules. The process of RCA recipient certification was removed from the rules because COAH has experienced that it has been difficult to effectively monitor the projects funded through RCA recipient certification.

Other modifications and clarifications involved the determination of units eligible for rental bonuses, reductions for unbuilt affordable housing sites, controls on affordability for alternative living arrangements, timeframes for obtaining plan endorsement from the State Planning Commission, the extension of expiring affordability controls on rental units, determination of the percentage of age-restricted units that may be transferred via an RCA, and escrow agreements established for municipal housing trust funds.