ENFORCEMENT EFFORT UNDER WAY

After the devastating flood event in Burlington County in 2004 resulted in the failure of 18 dams, the legislature amended the Safe Dam Act, N.J.S.A. 58:4, to provide the Department with the additional tools necessary to enforce dam safety laws. In June 2007, the necessary amendments to the New Jersey Dam Safety Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:20, were adopted, setting into motion an effort to have dam owners comply with the law.

On October 15, 2008 the Bureau of Dam Safety and Flood Control issued three Administrative Orders and Notice of Civil Administrative Penalty Assessments for failure to perform an inspection of a dam. This enforcement effort involves two municipal dam owners and one private dam owner. All three dams are high hazard structures that each failed to be inspected in the past two inspection cycles. The penalty was assessed per the Dam Safety Standards at $5,000 per missed inspection resulting in a penalty of $10,000 per dam. The administrative order requires the dam owners to undertake the required inspection of the dam within a designated time frame.

It is the Bureau’s hope that dam owners recognize their responsibility toward dam operation, inspection and maintenance and that minimum enforcement effort is required to achieve compliance from all dam owners. Penalties collected from the enforcement effort will be deposited in the Environmental Services Fund specifically designated for use by the Department for the removal of unsafe and abandoned dams.

If you have any questions regarding the Bureau’s enforcement effort, please contact John Kale at (609)984-0859 or at john.kale@dep.state.nj.us.