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WETLANDS REGULATIONS
ADOPTED
State Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) Commissioner Bob Shinn today announced DEP adopted
revised freshwater wetlands regulations, and is proposing
additional rules to further strengthen the state's wetlands
protection program.
The regulations are one component of a
comprehensive plan to restore and improve the quality of
the state's freshwater wetlands. The adopted regulations
will provide more stringent protections and help enhance
the quality of New Jersey's wetlands.
The rule package contains adopted revisions
proposed last August, and a concurrent proposal making three
changes to further strengthen the wetlands program and comply
with EPA recommendations. New Jersey is only one of two
states with the delegated authority from the federal government
to regulate wetlands. The rule package will ensure that
the state's wetlands protection program continues to be
consistent with the federal program.
"Freshwater wetlands provide critical habitat
for wildlife, filter surface water runoff, are crucial to
flood control by absorbing and storing floodwaters, and
help aquifer recharge. The revised wetlands rules, combined
with DEP's other wetland initiatives, will form a comprehensive
strategy to accommodate planned growth while improving New
Jersey's water quality and fostering biodiversity which
is important to the maintenance of healthy ecosystems statewide,"
said Shinn. He noted the revised rules include several significant
strengthenings, as well as streamlining measures that will
improve the efficiency of the permitting process.
The rule package includes the following:
- Special protection for small wetland
vernal habitats that are crucial to the breeding of several
amphibian species, some of which are threatened or endangered;
- Limits on the placement of new homes
near transition areas, or "buffers," to avoid creating
backyards that cannot be used because it is a regulated
area;
- Stronger penalties for failure to promptly
perform required mitigation;
- More efficient application and permitting
procedures including combined general permits and transition
area waivers, and combined freshwater wetlands and floodplain
permits for some activities that occur in wetlands located
in floodplains;
- Stricter limits on the use of the general
permit for isolated wetlands in certain waters;
- New general permits for landfill closures,
stream cleaning by local governments, tree cutting for
airport safety, livestock watering troughs, and brownfields
redevelopment; and
- Standard operating procedures to protect
wetlands during dam removal, brownfield redevelopment
and landfill closure.
The rule provides new protection for vernal
habitats which are isolated wetlands recently found to be
key breeding grounds for numerous amphibian and plant species.
Protecting these essential wetlands and other functional
wetlands, combined with improved mitigation and conservation
strategies, is expected to result in cleaner water and a
healthier environment.
The adopted rule revisions reflect lessons
learned from DEP's 13 years of experience with the regulatory
program by which DEP issues freshwater wetlands permits.
The rules set the standards and procedures for DEP to issue
land use permits to control and direct the filling, construction,
paving, and destruction of vegetation in freshwater wetlands
or transition areas, and the placement of fill in open waters.
"Although New Jersey has the most stringent
and comprehensive wetlands programs in the nation, the newly
adopted rules provide additional safeguards to protect the
environment and to ensure the future success of the state's
wetlands program," said Shinn. "Fortunately, New Jersey
has stemmed its historic wetlands losses. Coastal wetlands
are almost never allowed to be filled, and significant wetland
restoration projects have begun to restore some of the values
previously lost. The loss of freshwater wetlands has also
significantly slowed."
In the past, under the federal wetlands
program, the state was losing approximately 2,000 or more
acres of wetlands per year. The state now permits the average
annual filling or disturbance of 160 acres which is offset
by 80 acres of required mitigation. We have reduced the
net loss from 2000 acres to 80 acres per year.
Shinn said while no wetland losses are
desirable, given the fact that New Jersey has 730,160 acres
of freshwater wetlands and 250,000 acres of coastal wetlands,
the actual annual net loss of freshwater wetlands is only
0.01 percent.
"When you consider that we are experiencing
these minimal losses at a time of significant economic growth
and development, the state's wetland program is very successful,
and these new rules and initiatives, will strengthen our
program to continue these successful trends,"he said.
"We are acutely aware of new, more complex
challenges that face us at the dawn of the 21st century,"
said Shinn. "While we have greatly protected the number
of acres of wetlands since we took assumption in 1994, we
are working on a number of DEP short- and long-term strategies."
He explained that DEP and academic partners are conducting
several important wetlands research projects to better assess
New Jersey's wetlands resources, including the identification
of unique wetland land and animal communities. The research
is already helping land managers make better decisions about
protecting and restoring wetland communities, including
improved methods for wetland creation, restoration, and
enhancement.
In addition, to ensure no net loss of wetlands
in the near future, Shinn said DEP will enhance land use
compliance and enforcement actions by implementing a priority-driven
system to increase monitoring of regulated activities within
critical wetlands areas based on their habitat and functional
value. Also, he noted, DEP will strive to minimize the impacts
of development on the quantity and quality of wetlands by
expanding the implementation of best management practices
for stormwater control from new development. This will be
accomplished by the development of watershed-based stormwater
management plans through partnerships with local and regional
agencies, and through regulations.
"By the year 2005, we will see an increase
of wetland acreage," Shinn said. "We plan to reach this
goal by accelerating the use of credits held by the Wetlands
Mitigation Bank, by the continuance of mitigation requirements
in individual permits and certain general permits. The department
will also coordinate with other state and federal agencies
to acquire funding to create and enhance wetlands in areas
impacted by agricultural, transportation and other development
activities."
A public hearing will be held on the concurrent
proposed amendments at 1 PM on September 27 at the New Jersey
Department of Personnel Multi-Purpose Room, First Floor,
44 Clinton Avenue, Trenton. The rules will appear in the
New Jersey Register on September 4.
The adoption and the concurrent proposed
amendments can be viewed or downloaded on DEP Land Use Regulation
Program website at www.state.nj.us/dep/landuse.
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