Coastal Flood Rules Defy Common Sense, Bipartisan Officials Say

March 20, 2026 | njspotlightnews.org

The state’s Resilient Environments and Landscapes, or REAL, rules are designed to protect coastal communities from sea level rise and major flooding. The rules, adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection on the final day of Gov. Phil Murphy’s term, set new flood zone development standards. One mandates that new and rehabilitated buildings be built four feet higher than flood projections set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

However, Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) introduced a concurrent resolution on Feb. 24 that said the adopted rules “are inconsistent with legislative intent” and gave the DEP 30 days to amend or withdraw the rules.

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NJ SEED: NJDEP has a long history or environmental extremism- pushing rules for the most extreme – even if unlikely – possibilities. The REAL rules are a case sin point. Getting out ahead of FEMA’s extensive costal mapping may be, as Assemblyman Paul Kanitra put it, “What we think is happening here is simply ideology is superseding common sense.