Rule Archives (SWQS and GWQS)

Both the Surface Water Quality Standards rules at N.J.A.C. 7:9B and the Ground Water Quality Standards rules at N.J.A.C. 7:9C are amended and readopted from time to time to address changes in use classification, water quality criteria, antidegradation provisions, and other policies or because the rules are about to expire and must be readopted pursuant to the New Jersey Administrative Procedure Act at N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq.

Surface Water Quality Standards (SWQS)

Links to proposed and adopted rule amendments from 2002 through the present are provided in the table below. These include several amendments to upgrade waters to Category One classification.

Category One Upgrades

In 1985, the Department amended the Surface Water Quality Standards (SWQS) at N.J.A.C. 7:9B-1.15 to upgrade certain surface waters of the State to Category One. While most of New Jersey's Category One waters were designated under these amendments, no specific basis for these upgrades was documented. Between 1985 and 2002, the Department designated more surface waters of the State as Category One. These upgrades were based on their value as trout production (FW2-TP) waters. Since 2002, the Department has promulgated several more amendments to the SWQS to upgrade the stream classification and antidegradation designations of additional waters of the State based on exceptional ecological significance or exceptional water supply significance. More information on Category One upgrades is available on the Department's Web site, along with maps of the stream classifications corresponding to each change to the stream classifications. Additional information on the Category One rulemaking actions, including the process for changing stream classifications is also available on the Web site.

Ground Water Quality Standards (GWQS)

Links to proposed and adopted rule amendments from 2004 through the present are provided in the table below.

GWQS Proposal	Adoption	Description	Basis and Background
October 4, 2004	November 7 , 2005	Readoption and Recodification with Amendments	September 2004
July 2, 2007	(pending) Public comment period closed on August 31, 2007	Amendments to Antidegradation Provisions	May 2007

Basis and Background for GWQS

The Basis and Background document that supported the 2005 rules described how the specific criteria for Class II-A ground waters were derived and noted the changes to the information used to develop new criteria or revise existing criteria at that time. This document also described how analytical constraints were incorporated into the GWQS as Practical Quantitation Limits (PQLs). The Basis and Background document included Table A that lists all existing specific criteria based on human health concerns and identifies additions, revisions and deletions of individual criteria. Table B "Additional Specific Ground Water Quality Criteria" of this Basis and Background document included criteria based upon Secondary Drinking Water Standards for taste and odor.

Since the 2007 GWQS rule proposal was proposed as a companion to the proposed Water Quality Management Planning (WQMP) Rules at N.J.A.C. 7:15, the basis and background document was actually a technical support document for the WQMP rules, entitled "Nitrate as a Surrogate for Assessing Impact
of Development Using Individual Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems on Ground Water Quality" (NJDEP, 2007). This document provides the scientific basis for the Department's proposal to establish nitrate as a surrogate for the large number of constituents in wastewater effluent discharged to ground water, which can occur in variable concentrations and are subject to numerous fate/transport responses after discharge, and the establishment of 2 mg/L as the statewide average existing ambient concentration of nitrate in ground water.

For more information about the SWQS and GWQS rules, please contact the Bureau of Water Quality Standards and Assessment at (609) 777-1753.