One Year Later: How NJ Municipalities Have Implemented DEP’s Stormwater Management Rules

June 27, 2022 | njfuture.org

It has been just over a year since New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) 2020 amendment to the Stormwater Management Rule (NJAC 7:8) took effect. Since March 2, 2021, NJ municipalities have been required to utilize green infrastructure—systems that mimic natural hydrologic processes to capture and reuse stormwater—as a stormwater management technique on all new public and private major developments (see our March 2021 article for an overview of the new stormwater rules). Localities carry out these requirements through their Stormwater Control Ordinances.

Once enacted, Stormwater Control Ordinances set a threshold for the size of an individual development project. If the project disturbs more than one acre of land, NJDEP requires that it employ green infrastructure. If it disturbs less than one acre of land, green infrastructure is not required.

NJ SEED: In a state with the highest population density, proper management of stormwater runoff is a serious challenge. Under the DEP’s Stormwater Management Rules, municipalities must address consequences of flooding and pollution associated with inadequately managed stormwater. Not an easy issue to tackle but one that needs priority attention.