NJ DEPARTMENT of ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Land Use Management
Water Resource Management
Division of Water Quality

Notice of Rule Proposal
Stormwater Management N.J.A.C. 7:8;
Coastal Zone Management Rules N.J.A.C 7:7;
Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act Rules N.J.A.C. 7:7A;
Flood Hazard Area Control Act Rules N.J.A.C. 7:13;
New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System N.J.A.C. 7:14A;
Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act Rules N.J.A.C. 7:38

PUBLIC NOTICE
Take notice that the NJ Department of Environmental Protection is proposing amendments, repeals, and new rules to the Stormwater Management rules, N.J.A.C. 7:8. The Department is proposing to replace the current requirement that major developments incorporate nonstructural stormwater management strategies to the “maximum extent practicable” to meet groundwater recharge standards, stormwater runoff quantity standards, and stormwater runoff quality standards, with a requirement that green infrastructure be utilized to meet these same standards. The Department is proposing to clarify and modify the definition of major development, which defines the scope of projects to which these rules apply. The Department is proposing changes to apply the total suspended solids (TSS) removal requirement to the runoff from motor vehicle surfaces and to remove the TSS removal requirement as it applies to runoff from other impervious surfaces not traveled by automobiles, such as rooftops and sidewalks. The Department is proposing several changes which will support water quality and stormwater management improvements in communities with combined sewer systems. The proposal will also make changes to existing definitions, add new definitions and make other changes related to the changes identified above, and make minor changes to other provisions in the Stormwater Management rules. The Department is additionally proposing minor amendments to provisions in the Coastal Zone Management Rules, the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act Rules, the Flood Hazard Area Control Act Rules, the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System rules, and the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act Rules in order to update cross references and incorporate other changes consistent with the proposed amendments to the Stormwater Management rules.

The proposal is scheduled to be published in the New Jersey Register dated December 3, 2018.  A copy of the proposal is available from the Department of Environmental Protection’s website at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/proposals/20181203a.pdf and LexisNexis free public access to the New Jersey Register at http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/njoal/.

A public hearing concerning the proposal is scheduled as follows:

Tuesday January 8, 2019 at 1:00 pm
Department of Environmental Protection
1st floor Public Hearing Room
401 East State Street Trenton, NJ 08625

Written comments may be submitted electronically by February 1, 2019 at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/comments or in hard copy to:

Gary J. Brower, Esq.
ATTN: DEP Docket No. 03-18-10
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Legal Affairs
Mail Code 401-04L; PO Box 402
401 East State Street, 7th Floor
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402