On July 21, the DEP published a Notice of Proposed Substantial Changes and responses to comments made during the public comment period following the agency’s August 5, 2024 changes to the Resilient Environment and Landscapes (REAL) rules. 

The Notice included the following proposed substantial changes:  

• Changing to reflect a likely four feet of sea-level rise by 2100, rather than five feet. This includes changes to the tidal climate-adjusted flood elevation and the extent of flood hazard area jurisdiction (N.J.A.C .7:13-3.2(B)1) and Inundation Risk Zone at (N.J.A.C. 7:13-3.4 (c)2).    
• Re-evaluating sea-level rise and precipitation data incorporated into these chapters every five years and will amend accordingly  
• Eliminating the signage requirement in N.J.A.C. 7:7-9.50 (c)5 and 7:13-11.5 (c)5.    
• Providing “legacy provisions” for projects that are already in development prior to the adoption of REAL amendments including “New Jersey studio partners” and “New Jersey film-lease partner facilities” as designated by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority prior to rulemaking.    
• Clarifying that projects need to be “allowable within” an existing right-of-way or easement rather as originally proposed “permitted condition of.”  
• Proposing to exempt the installation, replacement, or repair of underground utility lines constructed within a previously recorded easement from deed notice requirements. Additionally, an exemption will be extended to repairs and maintenance activities that may alter the height of a building.  
• Changing the list of regulated waters that do not possess a riparian zone to delete two existing exemptions that are proposed for deletion in the Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules (FHACA) but not in the Coastal Zone Management rules (CZM).   
• Changing to make language relating to critically dependent species consistent with the corresponding language used in FHACA rules.    
• Changing of provisions to clarify burial depth for 2.0 meters for submerged transmission cables are required in certain areas, that depth be measured by top cables and that depth is no shallower than 1.2 meters. This includes a proposed removal of “and the Department determines that a different depth is appropriate” and deference to the project area, ground conditions, and seabed mobility since these items are included in a cable burial assessment.    
• Changing of “man-made” to “human-made” and is allowing for temporary impacts to human-made wetlands in and around stormwater basins in certain situations and allows for thin layer placement on site for mosquito control purposes in certain instances as long as it doesn’t impede the character of the wetlands or impair water quality.    
• Proposing changes to include the removal of the term “or reconstruction” of any motor vehicle or other impervious surface, not just “regulated” surfaces as a “major development” and require 80% total suspended solid removal for stormwater runoff.  DEP notes the amendment is consistent between the developments subject to the State’s review pursuant to Stormwater Management rules, but also to developments subject to municipal review pursuant to local stormwater ordinances.    
• Exempting of certain isolated water that has no surface or subsurface hydrological connection to regulated waters.  
• Clarifying the placement of underground jacking or regulated water or 25 feet of a top of a bank.    
• Changing of the requirements for permits-by-registration, permits-by-certification, and general permits for fencing to be consistent with the Uniform Construction Code (UCC).   
• Removing the requirement that general permits need certification from the State Office of Mosquito Control Coordination  
• Clarifying the proposed requirement for “dry access.”  
• Correcting standards for evaluating the feasibility and location of proposed building sites and clarifies that areas subject to fluvial flooding may or may not be subject to tidal flooding.   
• Clarifying that portions of existing buildings being converted to another use must meet the requirements applicable for the proposed use.  
• Clarifying that dry flood proofing is prohibited only in flood hazard areas in which the flood velocity is greater than five feet per second, Costal A zone and the V and VE zones.    
• Specifying that a compelling public need meriting a hardship exception including the need to provide affordable housing.   

A public hearing to discuss the DEP’s proposed changes was held virtually, on September 3. The 60-day public comment period ends on September 19. Comments can be submitted electronically. The DEP anticipates adoption of the REAL rules to take place in January 2026. The League has received comments in opposition to the amendments is reviewing and preparing comments in response to the amendments.  

Contacts: Mike Cerra, Executive Director, mcerra@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x120, Sadayah Q. DuRant-Brown, Legislative Counsel, sdurantbrown@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137, or Erin Knoedler, Legislative Analyst, eknoedler@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x116.