NJ DEPARTMENT of ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
Notice of Rule Proposal
Flood Hazard Area Control Act rule: N.J.A.C. 7:13-5.5
Notice of Rule Amendment Proposal
Flood Hazard Area Control Act
rule: N.J.A.C. 7:13-1.2 and 5.4
Public Notice
Take notice that the NJ Department of Environmental Protection is proposing
to amend the Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules, N.J.A.C. 7:13 to categorize
violations of the Flood Hazard Area Control Act and/or rules as either minor
or non-minor for the purpose of providing grace periods in accordance with
N.J.S.A. 12:1D-125 et seq., commonly known as the Grace Period Law. A
statement of the substance of the proposal follows:
On December 22, 1995, the
Legislature enacted the Grace Period Law, N.J.S.A. 13:1D-125 et seq., which
requires the establishment of procedures to ensure the consistent application
of grace (compliance) periods for minor violations of certain environmental
statutes. Pursuant to the Grace Period Law, the Department
is required to designate, as minor or non-minor violations, violations of
rules contained in sixteen environmental statutes. Under the Grace
Period Law, any person responsible for a minor violation is afforded a period
of time to correct the violation. This period of time is known as a
grace period. If
the minor violation is corrected as required, then the Department will not
seek to impose a penalty. In those cases where a violation is not corrected
within the grace period, the Department may pursue enforcement action in
accordance with its statutory authority including, but not limited to, the
imposition of penalties as may be appropriate within the exercise of the
Department’s
traditional, judicially recognized enforcement discretion. Proposed
N.J.A.C. 5.5(a) through (d) provides for the process by which the minor or
non-minor designation of a violation will be determined by the Department. The
Department proposes to amend N.J.A.C. 7:13-1.2 to include the definition
of “grace period”.
The proposed amendment at N.J.A.C.7:13-5.4 provides that a violation of this
section is not a minor violation for the purposes of a grace period. Proposed
N.J.A.C. 5.5(e) provides the procedure to be followed for minor violations
eligible for a grace period. Proposed N.J.A.C. 7:13-5.5(f) provides
Table A, which lists the minor or non-minor designations of violations of
the Flood Hazard Area Control Act and/or rules.
The proposal is scheduled
to be published in the New Jersey Register dated June 19, 2006. A copy
of the proposal is available from: the
DEP web site.
A public hearing concerning the proposal is scheduled as follows:
July
7, 2006 at 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Public
Hearing Room
401
East State Street
Trenton, New Jersey
Written comments may be submitted by August 25, 2006 (extended
from August 18, 2006) to:
NJ
Department of Environmental Protection
Gary
Brower, Esq.
ATTN:
DEP Docket No. 03-06-05/446
Office
of Legal Affairs
PO
Box 402
Trenton,
New Jersey 08625
| To open the PDF documents, you will need
the Adobe Acrobat pdf reader to view. Left-click on the
link and they will open. Or, right-click on the link and
select "Save Target As" to save the document to your hard
drive or personal directory. You can download the free pdf
reader . |
|
