Chaz
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The is a proposal in New Jersey to protect more then 900 rivers and streams as Catagory 1 streams, not sure what it will mean if passed you can read more at;
http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices.html
Clean water proposals represent a sea change
Proposals bar development along 900 miles of streams
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
BY BRIAN T. MURRAY
Star-Ledger Staff
An ambitious package of water quality regulations unveiled yesterday by the state Department of Environmental Protection is being hailed by conservationists as New Jersey's most significant clean water initiative in decades.
Part of a long-running effort to protect the state's water supply, the regulations would make it almost impossible to build anywhere near the streams and will further stoke a fierce debate between builders and environmentalists about the state's needs.
More than 900 miles of rivers, streams and their tributaries will be granted the state's highest level of protection. And for the first time, the state will begin regulating future developments that rely on septic systems for sewage disposal.
New standards for wastewater management additionally will ban sewer systems on environmentally sensitive lands, in effect placing them off limits to large-scale development.
"Through the Corzine administration's new Water Quality Management Planning rules, we will strengthen our ability to shield environmentally fragile areas from the threats that invariably accompany inappropriate development," DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said in a prepared statement released after a press conference in Hopewell Township yesterday.
Jackson stressed the positives of water protection, much as a sweeping state initiative that choked off development in the northern Highlands did two years ago. She downplayed the impact on development, but environmentalists were quick to trumpet the implications.
"This is probably the biggest package of clean water regulations proposed in this state since New Jersey adopted its Clean Water Act in 1973," said Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club.
"Because this is a regulatory move, it may seem too technical for people to realize just how important this is. But it is very significant. It means thousands of acres in New Jersey will be protected from development," he added.
The New Jersey Builders Association reserved comment on the proposals yesterday.
Susan Evans, a spokeswoman for the development organization, said its members were not included in the regulation preparation, as were environmental groups, and had not yet seen the final proposals.
"We just cannot comment on it until we've seen it," she explained.
The DEP announcement was timed to coincide with the 37th anniversary of Earth Day, which was formally celebrated Sunday. Gov. Jon Corzine, who remains hospitalized with injuries suffered in a car accident two weeks ago, originally was scheduled to attend the press conference held near Stony Brook in Hopewell, which is slated for increased protections under the package.
Jackson said the governor did not want a launch of the initiative to wait for his recovery.
"Development doesn't wait," she said later.
Asked about how development would be affected, Jackson said, "It doesn't say you can't build. We're saying we want you to think and plan and take environmentally sensitive areas off the table while building."
The proposed regulations are contained on the DEP's Web site at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices.html.
They also will be listed in the state register May 21, kicking off a public comment period that will include a hearing June 28 in Bordentown and the DEP accepting written comments until July 20. The DEP must respond to all comments, and the process may last up to a year before final adoption is possible.
The new regulations propose what are known as Category One protections for large sections of 15 major waterways and their tributaries, such as the Toms River in Ocean County, the Wallkill River in Sussex County and the Musconetcong and Pequest rivers in Warren County.
The classifications bring restrictions that limit the amount of pollutants that are permitted to pour into the waterways from the surrounding land. Paved and developed surfaces make it easier for pollutants to reach streams through stormwater runoff.
But a Category One classification also establishes a 300-foot buffer against future development on both sides of the waterway. The protections are largely piecemeal, and rarely cover the entire stretch of a stream or river.
But the addition of more than 900 miles of new sections of streams and rivers amounts to a massive ramping up of the program.
"The significance is, this protects more than 900 miles of rivers and streams. Compare that to the fact that, in the last 10 years, we have only given a Category One listing to 300 miles of streams and rivers in this state," said the Sierra Club's Tittel.
Many portions of the Wallkill River, which runs from Sparta about 90 miles northeast into New York, already are classified as Category One. But the new regulations propose covering the rest of the river, along with nearly 20 other waterways and tributaries, like the Beaver Run and the Hamburg Creek, which feed into the Wallkill.
More than 257 miles of waterways along and related to the Wallkill River will be protected if the Category One proposal is cleared under the new regulations.
"Of course we'd like to see a more comprehensive measure to protect all of our waterways. Unfortunately, it remains piecemeal. But it also is one of the most sweeping Category One protections ever proposed in the state," said Dena Mottola Jaborska of Environment New Jersey.
"It includes miles of waterways in South Jersey, as well as in the north," she added.
About 250 miles of the waterways proposed for protection lie within the Highlands, an 800,000-acre swath that cuts across seven northwestern counties and contains the water supply for half the state. Those restrictions amount to redundant protection there given the Highlands Act, the sweeping 2004 measure that is being challenged in court by both builders and officials in Warren County.
New Jersey has about 18,000 miles of streams, rivers, brooks and tributaries, and 4,000 miles of those waterways currently are classified Category One.
© 2007 The Star Ledger
Bob Wendelgass
Deputy Director
Clean Water Action
100 N. 17th Street, Suite 900
Philadelphia PA 19103
215-640-8800
215-640-0930 fax
bwendelgass@cleanwater.org
http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices.html
Clean water proposals represent a sea change
Proposals bar development along 900 miles of streams
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
BY BRIAN T. MURRAY
Star-Ledger Staff
An ambitious package of water quality regulations unveiled yesterday by the state Department of Environmental Protection is being hailed by conservationists as New Jersey's most significant clean water initiative in decades.
Part of a long-running effort to protect the state's water supply, the regulations would make it almost impossible to build anywhere near the streams and will further stoke a fierce debate between builders and environmentalists about the state's needs.
More than 900 miles of rivers, streams and their tributaries will be granted the state's highest level of protection. And for the first time, the state will begin regulating future developments that rely on septic systems for sewage disposal.
New standards for wastewater management additionally will ban sewer systems on environmentally sensitive lands, in effect placing them off limits to large-scale development.
"Through the Corzine administration's new Water Quality Management Planning rules, we will strengthen our ability to shield environmentally fragile areas from the threats that invariably accompany inappropriate development," DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said in a prepared statement released after a press conference in Hopewell Township yesterday.
Jackson stressed the positives of water protection, much as a sweeping state initiative that choked off development in the northern Highlands did two years ago. She downplayed the impact on development, but environmentalists were quick to trumpet the implications.
"This is probably the biggest package of clean water regulations proposed in this state since New Jersey adopted its Clean Water Act in 1973," said Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club.
"Because this is a regulatory move, it may seem too technical for people to realize just how important this is. But it is very significant. It means thousands of acres in New Jersey will be protected from development," he added.
The New Jersey Builders Association reserved comment on the proposals yesterday.
Susan Evans, a spokeswoman for the development organization, said its members were not included in the regulation preparation, as were environmental groups, and had not yet seen the final proposals.
"We just cannot comment on it until we've seen it," she explained.
The DEP announcement was timed to coincide with the 37th anniversary of Earth Day, which was formally celebrated Sunday. Gov. Jon Corzine, who remains hospitalized with injuries suffered in a car accident two weeks ago, originally was scheduled to attend the press conference held near Stony Brook in Hopewell, which is slated for increased protections under the package.
Jackson said the governor did not want a launch of the initiative to wait for his recovery.
"Development doesn't wait," she said later.
Asked about how development would be affected, Jackson said, "It doesn't say you can't build. We're saying we want you to think and plan and take environmentally sensitive areas off the table while building."
The proposed regulations are contained on the DEP's Web site at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices.html.
They also will be listed in the state register May 21, kicking off a public comment period that will include a hearing June 28 in Bordentown and the DEP accepting written comments until July 20. The DEP must respond to all comments, and the process may last up to a year before final adoption is possible.
The new regulations propose what are known as Category One protections for large sections of 15 major waterways and their tributaries, such as the Toms River in Ocean County, the Wallkill River in Sussex County and the Musconetcong and Pequest rivers in Warren County.
The classifications bring restrictions that limit the amount of pollutants that are permitted to pour into the waterways from the surrounding land. Paved and developed surfaces make it easier for pollutants to reach streams through stormwater runoff.
But a Category One classification also establishes a 300-foot buffer against future development on both sides of the waterway. The protections are largely piecemeal, and rarely cover the entire stretch of a stream or river.
But the addition of more than 900 miles of new sections of streams and rivers amounts to a massive ramping up of the program.
"The significance is, this protects more than 900 miles of rivers and streams. Compare that to the fact that, in the last 10 years, we have only given a Category One listing to 300 miles of streams and rivers in this state," said the Sierra Club's Tittel.
Many portions of the Wallkill River, which runs from Sparta about 90 miles northeast into New York, already are classified as Category One. But the new regulations propose covering the rest of the river, along with nearly 20 other waterways and tributaries, like the Beaver Run and the Hamburg Creek, which feed into the Wallkill.
More than 257 miles of waterways along and related to the Wallkill River will be protected if the Category One proposal is cleared under the new regulations.
"Of course we'd like to see a more comprehensive measure to protect all of our waterways. Unfortunately, it remains piecemeal. But it also is one of the most sweeping Category One protections ever proposed in the state," said Dena Mottola Jaborska of Environment New Jersey.
"It includes miles of waterways in South Jersey, as well as in the north," she added.
About 250 miles of the waterways proposed for protection lie within the Highlands, an 800,000-acre swath that cuts across seven northwestern counties and contains the water supply for half the state. Those restrictions amount to redundant protection there given the Highlands Act, the sweeping 2004 measure that is being challenged in court by both builders and officials in Warren County.
New Jersey has about 18,000 miles of streams, rivers, brooks and tributaries, and 4,000 miles of those waterways currently are classified Category One.
© 2007 The Star Ledger
Bob Wendelgass
Deputy Director
Clean Water Action
100 N. 17th Street, Suite 900
Philadelphia PA 19103
215-640-8800
215-640-0930 fax
bwendelgass@cleanwater.org
