The page offers a full recap of the most recent DRBC Commission Business Meeting.

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• To view DRBC Commission Meeting Minutes going back to 2010, please visit https://www.nj.gov/drbc/meetings/archive/drbc-mtg-minutes.html. 

The Delaware River Basin Commission held its regularly scheduled business meeting on Thursday, September 7, 2023.

The meeting, which was open to the public, was held remotely via Zoom Webinar.

A public hearing was held remotely on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, via Zoom Webinar. Items heard at the public hearing, which began at 1:30 p.m., included 21 draft dockets for withdrawals, discharges and other water-related projects subject to the Commission's review.

Written comments on all matters heard on August 9 were accepted through 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 14, 2023.

Both the public hearing and business meeting were livestreamed to DRBC's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/delrivbasincomm. 

Business Meeting Agenda:

The business meeting on September 7, 2023, began at 10:30 a.m. and adjourned at approximately 11:20 a.m. An open public comment session began after the close of the business meeting and lasted for approximately 40 minutes.

Please Note: Comments made during Open Public Comment Sessions are NOT included in any decision-making record. There is no requirement for the Commission to provide for open public comment.

The agenda for the business meeting follows, with links to the items approved (links to documents are added to this page as they become available).

Items heard at the August 9, 2023, public hearing are noted by *. 

1. Call to Order. (Commission Chair, Jeff Hoffman, NJDEP)

2. Roll Call and Introductions. (Commission Secretary Pam Bush and Commissioners)

3. Minutes. (Pam Bush; The minutes of the June 7, 2023, business meeting was approved by unanimous vote)

• June 7, 2023, Minutes (pdf)

4. Announcements.

• Upcoming Advisory Committee Meetings (Pam Bush)

5. Hydrologic Conditions Report. (Amy Shallcross)

• View Hydrologic Conditions Report (pdf)
  
  
• Check hydrologic conditions in the Basin daily at hydrosnap.drbc.net

6. Summary of Executive Director's Report. (Steve Tambini)

• On August 3, the DRBC, U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean (D; PA-4) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers partnered together to host a roundtable discussion about the importance of clean, accessible and well-managed water. The event was held at Blue Marsh Reservoir, Leesport, Pa. and also included a tour of the reservoir and the dam's infrastructure. Event participants included state representatives from the region, county park representatives, local water utilities and representatives of Schuylkill River Greenways. Learn more about the event.
  
  
• On August 8 along the banks of the Delaware River in Trenton, N.J., the DRBC had the opportunity to celebrate receipt of federal Community Project Funding that supports DRBC signatory member funding from the federal government for fiscal year 2023. We are very grateful for the leadership of U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, from District 12 in New Jersey, for helping to secure this critical federal funding for only the second time in 27 years. Learn more about the event.
  
  
• The Delaware River Basin Commission will receive a grant from the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund to support its water quality programs, including work to monitor emerging contaminants, model climate change impacts on fish habitat and further study how bacteria concentrations affect recreational uses of and access to urban stretches of the Delaware River. Read the news release.
  
  
• The N.J. chapter of the American Water Resources Association (NJ-AWRA) has selected DRBC's "Improving Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Life Uses in the Delaware River Estuary" for its 2024 "Excellence in Water Resources Protection and Planning" award. NJ-AWRA will be presenting the award to Dr. Namsoo Suk and the DRBC team on September 27. Learn more and get details about the event.
  
  
• I would like to offer the Commission's congratulations to DRBC's Kate Schmidt and the entire Delaware River Sojourn Steering Committee who will be receiving the Recreation Achievement Award from the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) at their 35th annual award ceremony this weekend in Beach Lake, Pa. The award recognizes the Sojourn for heightening stewardship of the Delaware River through an annual paddling excursion with educational programming since 1995. View the UDC's news release.
  
  
• Commissioners, please join me in welcoming Amber Munchback to the Delaware River Basin Commission as a Finance and Administration Specialist.
  
  
• I would also like to share that Karl Heinicke, DRBC Senior Information Specialist, has announced his retirement from the DRBC later this year. Karl has over 35 years of dedicated and valued service with the Commission. Please join me in thanking Karl for his many contributions to the Commission and wishing him and his family well as they enjoy a well-deserved retirement. 
  
  
• Also, N.J. State Geologist and DRBC N.J. Alternate Commissioner Jeff Hoffman has announced that he will be retiring from the state of New Jersey at the end of the year. This is his last Commission meeting. Please join me in thanking Jeff for his many contributions to the state and to the Basin and DRBC throughout his 42 years in public service. We wish you and your family the best, Jeff!

7. General Counsel & Assistant General Counsel's Reports. (Ken Warren and Pam Bush)

8. Resolution for the Minutes regarding Delaware River Estuary Water Quality Standards. (S. Tambini)

• A RESOLUTION for the Minutes to support regulatory efficiency, intergovernmental coordination and clarity to the public in revising the aquatic life designated uses to provide for fish propagation and corresponding water quality criteria for dissolved oxygen in the Delaware River Estuary (“Estuary”). (this Resolution for the Minutes was approved 4-0 by the Commissioners, with the federal government abstaining; pdf)
  
  
• DRBC Statement regarding proposals to revise water quality standards in the Delaware River Estuary (pdf)
  
  
• View webpage on the Aquatic Life Designated Use Project

9. Resolution for the Minutes regarding Mussels Restoration. (Chad Pindar)

• A RESOLUTION for the Minutes authorizing the Executive Director to enter into a contract with the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary for mussel restoration projects required by a Consent Order and Agreement and NRDA settlement. (this Resolution for the Minutes was approved unanimously by the Commissioners; pdf)    

*10. Project Review Docket Applications. (David Kovach; approved dockets are all pdfs) 

• Please note that at each of its public meetings, the Commission may consider action on any item for which a hearing has been completed or may defer one or more such items for consideration at a public meeting of the Commission on a future date.
  
  
• Dockets #1-21 were subject to public hearings on August 9, 2023.
  
  
• After the public hearing, consideration of Docket #13 was postponed to allow additional time for review.
  
  
• Dockets #1-12 and #14-21 were approved unanimously by the Commissioners on September 7, 2023.  

View docket location map of projects heard on August 9 (pdf)

1. Coaldale-Lansford-Summit Hill Sewer Authority, D-1964-027 CP-4.
   
   
2. Palmerton Borough, D-1964-028 CP-4.
   
   
3. Cleveland Cliffs Plate LLC, D-1979-026-4.
   
   
4. Catasauqua Borough, D-1987-060 CP-5.
   
   
5. Jim Thorpe Borough, D-1996-019 CP-4.
   
   
6. TPT Partners, L.P., D-1999-041-3.
   
   
7. Kimberton Golf Club, D-2001-004-3.
   
   
8. Jeffersonville Golf Club, D-2002-030 CP-3.
   
   
9. Pennsylvania American Water Company, D-2003-006 CP-3.
   
   
10. Hydro Extrusion USA, LLC, D-2005-001-6.
    
    
11. Jackson Township Authority, D-2007-004 CP-4.
    
    
12. Schuylkill County Municipal Authority, D-2010-019 CP-4.
    
    
13. Department of the Navy, D-2010-038 CP-4. This docket was postponed to allow additional time for review.
    
    
14. Lehigh Valley Zoo, D-2013-006 CP-3.
    
    
15. Schuylkill County Municipal Authority, D-2013-013 CP-3.
    
    
16. Saucon Valley Country Club, D-1967-022-3.
    
    
17. Community Utilities of Pennsylvania, Inc., D-1989-033 CP-5.
    
    
18. Grand View Hospital, D-1992-063 CP-4.
    
    
19. Buckingham Township, D-2003-013 CP-8.
    
    
20. Camp Morasha, D-2018-005-2.
    
    
21. Carpenter Technology Center, D-2022-001-1.