The state Department of Environmental Protection on Monday opened the 90-day public comment period on its controversial amendments to land use rules that DEP says will strengthen resilience to sea-level rise and flooding, but business groups say is regulatory overreach.
NJBIA is strongly opposing new land use rules. As recently as last week, NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor submitted testimony at a legislative hearing saying the draft rules were based on flawed scientific assumptions that will force a retreat from the Jersey Shore and coastal communities.
The DEP’s Resilient Environments And Landscapes (REAL) rules, which are part of its New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threats (PACT) suite of regulations, were published Monday in the New Jersey Register, triggering the opening of the 90-day comment period.
The PACT rules are in response to a 2020 executive order from Gov. Phil Murphy that required DEP to update its regulations to “integrate climate change considerations” into its regulatory and permitting programs affecting land use, water supplies, stormwater and wastewater, air quality, solid waste and site remediation and more.
New Jersey is the first state to modernize land-resource protection regulations to address the current and future impacts of a changing climate, the DEP said. The main flood protection components of REAL would apply to new construction and redevelopment activities.
The DEP said it would hold three public hearings on the rules:
- An in-person hearing on Thursday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m., at Ocean County College, Gateway Lecture Hall #104 (Bldg. #101), College Drive, Toms River.
- A virtual hearing on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 2 p.m.
- A virtual hearing on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 10 a.m.
For information about testifying or submitting written testimony at any of the September public hearings on the REAL regulations, go to the DEP’s website here.
