Nine months after the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act ("Highlands Act") was signed into law, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") has issued interim rules that implement key portions of the statute. While the new DEP rules, issued on May 7, were developed without public notice and comment and will not be published in official form in the New Jersey Register until June 6, they took effect immediately, and may remain in place for as long as a year.
As explained in a previous issue of In-Sites, the Highlands Act governs development in the 800,000-acre Highlands region, which covers eighty-eight municipalities in seven counties. The statute imposes special requirements in a designated "preservation area" that encompasses about half of the Highlands region. "Major Highlands development" in the preservation area comes under particularly strict scrutiny.
The rules announced by DEP on May 7 incorporate the standards of various existing environmental statutes into the standards that will be applied to major Highlands development within the preservation area, including requirements related to septic system density and the identification and protection of historic and archaeological resources and sensitive natural areas. They also establish the process for review of applications for the special permits ("Highlands Preservation Area Approvals") required for such projects, as well as processes for obtaining determinations as to whether a given project meets the definition of "major Highlands development" and whether it is exempt from the statute's requirements.
With the issuance of the interim rules, DEP also commenced a 45-day consultation process with the new Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, the State Planning Commission, and the Departments of Community Affairs, Transportation, and Agriculture. DEP then expects to re-propose the rules with amendments that grow out of the consultation process. At that point the public will have a chance to comment on the new rules. The Highlands Act requires DEP to have its final rules in place by May 7, 2006. |
