News

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)
adopted the new Inland Flood Protection Rules (NJAC 7:8 and 7:13) 7/17/23 to
mitigate the effects of what they consider to be increased extreme precipitation
events due to climate change.

The intent of the new rules is to reduce damage to communities and
infrastructure in fluvial (non-tidal) flood areas by increasing regulation and
modifying the design standards affecting development, redevelopment and other
relatively minor site disturbances in the Regulated Floodplain.

The limits of the Regulated Inland Floodplain have been increased
to 3 feet above the elevations established by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) and the standards used to establish the quantity of stormwater runoff
have been changed to reflect extreme flooding events that NJDEP is
projecting to occur 100 years from now.

These rules will require affected parties to build at higher
elevations with decreased impervious area and increased provisions for stormwater
management; resulting in a lower development intensity. There are limited Grandfathering
Provisions for Redevelopment    

NJDEP is also trying to adopt Coastal Flood Protection Rules to
increase the Regulated Floodplain to 5 feet above the elevations established by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is considering a Rain Tax
to fund certain stormwater related infrastructure improvements.

While the recent and proposed rule changes apply to limited areas
of New Jersey, they have potential for significant financial hardship for
properties in those areas. Argent Associates recommends that property owners
contemplating changes to their sites perform Due Diligence on their
properties to identify impacts under existing and proposed regulations.