New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 15 - WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLANNING
Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS AND PLANNING REQUIREMENTS
Section 7:15-1.5 - Definitions
The following words and terms, as used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
"Act" or "WQPA" means the Water Quality Planning Act, 58:11A-1 et seq.
"Advanced wastewater pretreatment device" means an NSF International (NSF) Standard 40 or Standard 245 certified technology which may be incorporated as a part of an onsite wastewater treatment system, which bears the NSF mark and is designed, installed, operated, monitored, and maintained in accordance with that certification and N.J.A.C. 7:9A. This definition also includes those technologies that are authorized for use in the Pinelands Area through the Pinelands Advanced Wastewater Treatment Systems Pilot Program at 7:50-10.23.
"Agriculturally dependent endangered or threatened wildlife species" means fauna that have been listed as endangered or threatened whose current suitable habitat within New Jersey is primarily a result of ongoing agricultural practices including, but not limited to, mowing, haying, and grazing, and whose persistence at a particular location is dependent on the continuation of specific agricultural practices. The following species meet this definition when their presence at a site is dependent upon specific ongoing agricultural practices: Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis), American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii), Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus), Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), and Checkered White (Pontia protodice).
"Applicant" means any person, corporation, government body, or other legal entity that applies for an approval pursuant to this chapter.
"Areawide plan" or "areawide WQM plan" or "WQM plan" means the areawide water quality management plan prepared pursuant to the Act and the Clean Water Act.
"Assigned sewer service area" means the eligible sewer service area from which sewage flows are conveyed to a specific DTW, or for the purposes of the wastewater capacity analysis, is reasonably expected by the WMP agency to generate sewage that will be conveyed to the DTW, or to an industrial treatment works that accepts sewage generated from areas other than the industrial facility.
"Best management practices (BMPs)" means:
1. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters of the State; or
2. Methods, measures, or practices selected by an agency to meet its nonpoint source control needs.
BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and techniques to control site runoff, spillage, or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage. BMPs include, but are not limited to, structural and nonstructural controls and operation and maintenance procedures. BMPs can be applied before, during, and after pollution-producing activities to reduce or eliminate the introduction of pollutants into receiving waters.
"BPU-regulated sewer or water utilities" means sewer utilities or water utilities regulated by the Board of Public Utilities pursuant to 48:1-1 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 14:9.
"Category One waters" or "C1 waters" means waters designated as "C1 waters" in the Surface Water Quality Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:9B.
"Clean Water Act" means the "Federal Water Pollution Control Act," 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., also known as the "Federal Clean Water Act" including all subsequent supplements and amendments.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection or his or her designee.
"Composite zoning" means a compilation of various similarly zoned areas into a single representative zoning designation. Under composite zoning, residential zones that would allow a similar density of units would be consolidated into a single zone with an intermediate density of units that represents a weighted average of similar zones.
"Conservation measures" means techniques to acquire, preserve, create, enhance, restore, or manage habitat for endangered or threatened wildlife species.
"Conservation restriction" means an interest in land as defined in 13:8B-2.b.
"Continuing planning process" or "CPP" means the Statewide planning process conducted by the Department pursuant to the Act.
"County utilities authority" means any public body created and organized by a county governing body pursuant to 40:14B-1 et seq., or any sewerage authority or county sewer authority reorganized as a county utilities authority pursuant to 40:14B-6.b.
"Department" means the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
"Designated area" means an area designated by the Governor as an areawide WQM planning area pursuant to the Act.
"Designated planning agency" or "DPA" means an agency designated by the Governor to conduct areawide WQM planning pursuant to the Act.
"Designated use" means those surface water uses, both existing and potential, established by the Department under the Surface Water Quality Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:9B, for the waters of the State.
"Discharge Monitoring Report" or "DMR" means the USEPA's uniform national form, as amended, for the reporting of self-monitoring results by permittees, and includes Baseline Reports.
"District" means any or all of the following, depending on the context: the district of a sewerage authority as defined in 40:14A-3(6), or the district of a municipal authority as defined in 40:14B-3(6), or the Passaic Valley Sewerage District as defined at 58:14-1.
"Disturbance" means the placement of impervious surface, the exposure or movement of soil or bedrock, or the clearing, cutting, or removing of vegetation.
"Domestic treatment works" or "DTW" means a publicly owned treatment works as well as any other treatment works processing primarily domestic sewage and pollutants together with any ground water, surface water, stormwater, or process wastewater that may be present.
"Effluent limitation" means any restriction on quantities, quality, discharge rates, and concentration of chemical, physical, thermal, biological, radiological, and other constituents of pollutants established by permit, or imposed as an interim enforcement limit pursuant to an administrative order, including an administrative consent order.
"Eligible for sewer service area" means areas determined to meet the criteria for designation as sewer service in accordance with this chapter and are either assigned or unassigned to a specific wastewater treatment facility in the areawide WQM plan(s).
"Endangered wildlife species" means species of wildlife included on the list of endangered species promulgated pursuant to the Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act, 23:2A-13 et seq., at 7:25-4.13, and any species or subspecies of wildlife appearing on any Federal endangered species list pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq.
"Environmentally sensitive areas" means those areas identified in an areawide WQM plan as land areas possessing characteristics or features that are important to the maintenance or improvement of water quality, or to the conservation of the natural resources of the State. Environmentally sensitive areas include, but are not limited to, areas mapped as endangered or threatened wildlife species habitat on the Department's most currently available Landscape Maps of Habitat for Endangered, Threatened or Other Priority Species, Natural Heritage Priority Sites, wetlands and riparian zones.
"Equivalent dwelling unit" means the standard residential unit upon which the nitrate dilution model is based, which is a single-family home with three bedrooms and three residents, or its equivalent in terms of flow generated or pounds of nitrate generated. The standard residential unit is assumed to generate 500 gallons per day of wastewater or 30 pounds per year of nitrate. The equivalency measure of 500 gallons per day is to be used for systems that do not have effluent limits established through a NJPDES permit. The equivalency measure of 30 pounds per year of nitrate is to be used for systems that have effluent limits for nitrate established through a NJPDES permit.
"Franchise area" means the geographic area over which a designated private entity has the privilege or the exclusive right to control, operate, and provide for a specified utility or utilities that has been granted by the Board of Public Utilities for a period or periods of time and upon such other terms and conditions as it may fix and agree upon.
"Governmental entity" means a Federal, state, county, or municipal government or school district whose jurisdiction is partially or entirely within New Jersey.
"Highlands center" means areas designated as such by the Highlands Council.
"Highlands conforming municipality" means a municipality in the Highlands planning area that has had its RMP conformance petition approved by the Highlands Council and has adopted a planning area conformance petition ordinance and land use ordinance amendments consistent with that approval.
"Highlands Council" means the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council established pursuant to the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, 13:20-1 et seq.
"Highlands planning area" means that portion of the Highlands Region not included within the Highlands preservation area as defined in the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, 13:20-7.c.
"Highlands preservation area" means that portion of the Highlands Region as defined in the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, N.J.S.A 13:20-7.b.
"Highlands redevelopment area" means previously developed areas, such as brownfields or grayfields, designated as such by the Highlands Council.
"Highlands Region" means that region as defined in the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, N.J.S.A. 13:20-7.a.
"Highlands Regional Master Plan" means the master plan and any revisions thereto, adopted by the Highlands Council pursuant to 13:20-8.
"HUC 11" or "hydrologic unit code 11" means an area within which water drains to a particular receiving surface water body, also known as a watershed, which is identified by an 11-digit hydrologic unit boundary designation, delineated within New Jersey by the United States Geological Survey.
"HUC 14" or "hydrologic unit code 14" means an area within which water drains to a particular receiving surface water body, also known as a subwatershed, which is identified by a 14-digit hydrologic unit boundary designation, delineated within New Jersey by the United States Geological Survey.
"Individual subsurface sewage disposal system" or "ISSDS" means a collection of components for disposal of sanitary sewage into the ground that is designed and constructed in conformance with N.J.A.C. 7:9A to treat sanitary sewage in a manner that will retain most of the settleable solids in a septic tank or may incorporate an advanced wastewater pretreatment device and discharges liquid effluent of typical domestic strength to a disposal field. An ISSDS may include advanced wastewater pretreatment. The terms "onsite wastewater treatment system" and "system" are equivalent in meaning.
"Industrial treatment works" means an industrial treatment works as defined at N.J.A.C. 7:14A.
"Infill development" means development of undeveloped or underdeveloped land in an area that is contiguous to and substantially surrounded by developed land that is served by a wastewater treatment facility as of the November 7, 2016, and that will generate less than or equal to 8,000 gallons of wastewater per day.
"Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report" or "Integrated Report" means the biennial report prepared by the Department, pursuant to Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1315 (b), which inventories and assesses the overall quality of the waters of the State and their support of designated uses and includes the 303(d) List of Water Quality Limited Waters required under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1313 (d).
"Joint meeting" means the meeting or assembly of the members of the governing bodies or boards of the several municipalities having authority to make and enter into contracts for the construction jointly of the works or improvements authorized by 40:63-70.
"Landscape Maps of Habitat for Endangered, Threatened and Other Priority Wildlife" or "Landscape Maps" means the Department's maps delineating areas used by or necessary for endangered and threatened wildlife species and other priority wildlife to sustain themselves successfully. The maps depict areas of contiguous habitat types (forest, grassland, forested wetland, emergent wetland, and beach/dune) that are ranked based upon intersection with documented occurrences of endangered, threatened, and priority wildlife species. Mapped habitat areas are classified based upon the status of the wildlife species whose presence is documented. Rank 5 is assigned to areas containing one or more documented occurrences of at least one wildlife species listed as endangered or threatened on the Federal list of endangered and threatened species. Rank 4 is assigned to areas with one or more documented occurrences of at least one State endangered species. Rank 3 is assigned to areas containing one or more documented occurrences of at least one State threatened species. Rank 2 is assigned to areas containing one or more documented occurrences of at least one non-listed State priority wildlife species. The maps also delineate, as Rank 1, habitat areas that meet habitat-specific suitability requirements, such as minimum area criteria for endangered, threatened, and priority wildlife species, but that do not intersect with any documented occurrences of such species.
"Load allocation" means the portion of a receiving water's total maximum daily load for a specific pollutant that is allocated to existing or future nonpoint sources of pollution.
"Municipal authority" means a municipal authority as defined in the Municipal and County Utilities Authorities Law at 40:14B-3(5), and shall include a municipal utilities authority created by one or more municipalities and a county utilities authority created by a county.
"Municipal government" means a city, town, borough, village, township, or other municipal government created by State law, which has an elected governing body, a chief executive, and municipal public officials including a municipal clerk, tax assessor, and tax collector.
"Natural Heritage Database" means the manual and computerized file maintained by the Department at http://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/natural/heritage/index.html that includes continuously updated information on the location and status of endangered and threatened wildlife species, endangered plant species, plant species of concern, and ecological communities of concern in New Jersey.
"Natural Heritage Priority Sites" means areas identified on the Department's geographic information systems (GIS) coverage that conserve New Jersey's biological diversity, with particular emphasis on the habitat of endangered plant species, plant species of concern, and ecological communities of concern. These components of biological diversity are referred to as "natural resource elements" for the purposes of these rules. Natural Heritage Priority Sites are based on analysis of information in the Natural Heritage Database.
"Natural resource elements" means the habitat of endangered plant species, plant species of concern, and ecological communities of concern, which includes areas required to maintain the natural processes necessary for continued viability of such plant species or ecological community, such as ground water flow and water quality. Natural resource elements are the basis for the Department's Natural Heritage Priority Sites.
"NJPDES" means the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System established in N.J.A.C. 7:14A.
"NJPDES discharge permit" means a permit issued by the Department pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A for a discharge to surface water or a discharge to ground water.
"No net loss of habitat value" means, when considering the net effects of a proposed activity and any required conservation measures, no net reduction in the capacity of an area to support a population of any endangered or threatened wildlife species similar in size and health to any such population that the same area was capable of supporting prior to completing the regulated activity. In this context, the area under consideration includes the combined area of suitable habitat affected by a proposed activity and the area where required conservation measures are implemented.
"Nonpoint source" means:
1. Any man-made or man-induced activity, factor, or condition, other than a point source, from which pollutants are or may be discharged;
2. Any man-made or man-induced activity, factor, or condition, other than a point source, that may temporarily or permanently change any chemical, physical, biological, or radiological characteristic of waters of the State from what was or is the natural, pristine condition of such waters, or that may increase the degree of such change; or
3. Any activity, factor, or condition, other than a point source, that contributes or may contribute to water pollution.
" Non-sewer service area" means areas that are not designated as eligible to receive sewer service from a NJPDES permitted domestic or industrial treatment works. This type of wastewater service area allows wastewater facilities with discharge to ground water of 2,000 gallons per day or less.
"OWRMC" means the Office of Water Resource Management Coordination, or its successor, in the Department of Environmental Protection.
"Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners" means the body described by that name pursuant to 58:14-2.
"Permitted flow" means maximum allowable flow (usually in million gallons per day, or other appropriate unit of flow such as gallons per day) for a treatment works as stated in the facility's NJPDES permit or TWA, whichever is less.
"Pinelands Area" means that area as defined in the Pinelands Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 13:18A-11.
"Pinelands Commission" means the Pinelands Commission created pursuant to 13:18A-4 and as authorized by the Pinelands Protection Act, 13:18A-1 et seq., and section 502 of the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, 16 U.S.C. § 471i, creating the Pinelands National Reserve.
"Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan" means the plan codified at N.J.A.C. 7:50, as adopted by the Pinelands Commission.
"Pinelands Management Area" means those areas as established and amended pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:50 and as depicted on the Pinelands Land Capability Map.
"Pinelands National Reserve" means that area as defined at section 502 of the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, 16 U.S.C. § 471i (c).
"Planning flow" means that daily flow which is estimated or anticipated to be contributed by wastewater generating facilities in a wastewater service area. Planning flow is calculated based on 7:14A-23.3 or 7:9A-7.4, as applicable for the type of wastewater facilities being considered.
"Point source" means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including, but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, landfill leachate collection system, vessel, or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged. This term does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture.
"Process wastewater" means any water that, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct, or waste product. Process wastewater includes, but is not limited to, leachate and cooling water other than non-contact cooling water. This definition includes the terms commercial wastewater and industrial wastewater as used in 40 CFR Part 503.
"Public advisory committee" or "PAC" means a representative committee of interests formed for the purpose of advising the Department on policy and other relevant issues in the development and implementation of a watershed management area plan or TMDL.
"Purveyor" or "water purveyor" means any person who owns or operates a public water supply system as defined in N.J.A.C. 7:10.
"Riparian zone" means the land and vegetation adjacent to a surface water that is regulated under the Flood Hazard Area Control Act Rules at 7:13-1.2.
"Sanitary sewage" means any liquid waste containing animal or vegetable matter in suspension or solution, or the water carried wastes resulting from the discharge of water closets, laundry tubs, washing machines, sinks, dishwashers, or any other source of water carried wastes of human origin or containing putrescible material. This term specifically excludes industrial, hazardous, or toxic wastes and materials.
"Septage" means the liquid and solid material pumped from a septic tank, cesspool, or similar domestic sewage treatment system, or a holding tank when the system is cleaned or maintained.
"Sewage" means any wastes, including wastes from humans, households, commercial establishments, industries, and stormwater runoff, that are discharged to or otherwise enter a domestic treatment works.
"Sewer service area" means the land area identified in an areawide WQM plan from which wastewater generated is conveyed to, or has been determined to be eligible, in accordance with this chapter, to pursue a permit to connect to a domestic treatment works or industrial treatment works. Inclusion in a sewer service area does not guarantee that capacity exists or will exist to provide treatment for all flow from that area.
"Sewerage agency" means the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, a sewerage authority, a municipal authority, a municipal utility, or a joint meeting
"Sewerage authority" means a sewerage authority created pursuant to the Sewerage Authorities Law, 40:14A-1 et seq.
"State" means the State of New Jersey.
"State Plan" means the State Development and Redevelopment Plan established pursuant to the State Planning Act, 52:18A-196 et seq.
"State Plan Policy Map" means the State Plan Policy Map adopted by the State Planning Commission pursuant to the State Planning Act, 52:18A-196 et seq.
"Stormwater" means water resulting from precipitation (including rain and snow) that runs off the land's surface, is transmitted to the subsurface, is captured by separate storm sewers or other sewage or drainage facilities, or is conveyed by snow removal equipment.
"Stormwater runoff" means water flow on the surface of the ground or in storm sewers, resulting from precipitation.
"Subwatershed" means a portion of an identified watershed containing all the lands from which water, sediments, and dissolved materials drain to a particular receiving surface water body or to a particular point along a receiving surface water body.
"Suitable habitat" means habitat featuring ecological characteristics that may provide for the breeding, feeding, resting, or sheltering of any endangered and/or threatened wildlife species. Ecological characteristics may include, but are not limited to, seasonal wetland or dry land, roost sites, nesting grounds, spawning sites, feeding sites, vegetative community size, age, structure, or diversity; waterway or pond water quality, size, or substrate; and soil types or hydrologic characteristics.
"Surface water quality standards" or "SWQS" means the rules at N.J.A.C. 7:9B that set forth, for the surface waters of the State, designated uses, use classifications, and water quality criteria, and the Department's policies concerning these uses, classifications, and criteria.
"Threatened wildlife species" means species designated as "threatened" on the list defining the status of indigenous nongame wildlife species of New Jersey, promulgated pursuant to the Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act, 23:2A-1 et seq., at 7:25-4.17, and any species or subspecies of wildlife appearing on any Federal threatened species list pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq.
"303(d) List of Water Quality Limited Waters" or "303(d) List" means a list generated by the Department pursuant to Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1313 (d).
"Total maximum daily load" or "TMDL" means a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards or a different target where the water quality is better than the water quality standard. It is the sum of the allowable loads of a single pollutant from all contributing point and nonpoint sources and includes a margin of safety and consideration of seasonal variations.
"Treatment works" means treatment works as defined at N.J.A.C. 7:14A.
"Treatment works approval" means an approval issued pursuant to 58:10A-6.b and N.J.A.C. 7:14A.
"201 Facilities Plans" means the plans for wastewater facilities prepared pursuant to Section 201 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
"Unassigned sewer service area" means areas eligible for sewer service for which a specific DTW or industrial treatment works has not been identified.
"Undeveloped and underdeveloped areas" means areas that are either unimproved or contain existing improvements but could be further developed in a manner that would create additional wastewater flow without the need to obtain a variance, according to existing zoning.
"Urbanized municipalities" means those where 90 percent of the municipality's land area appears as "Urban Lands," as designated in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's most recent Land Use/Land Cover geographical information systems database as amended and updated, available as a digital data download from the Department at www.state.nj.us/dep/gis, based on Level I of the Anderson Classification System (Anderson et al, 1976, modified by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 1999). Urbanized municipalities also include those municipalities identified as "Urban Aid" municipalities pursuant to the New Jersey Redevelopment Act, 55:19-20 et seq.; as an Urban Enterprise Zone pursuant to the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Act, 52:27H-60 et seq.; as a "Garden State Growth Zone" municipality pursuant to the New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act of 2013, 52:27D-489p et seq.; and as Transit Villages approved by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and NJ Transit.
"USEPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
"Wasteload allocation" or "WLA" means the portion of a receiving water's total maximum daily load for a specific pollutant that is allocated to one of its existing or future point sources or categories of point sources of pollution. Wasteload allocations constitute a type of water quality based effluent limitation.
"Wastewater" means residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural liquid waste, sewage, septage, stormwater runoff, or any combination thereof, or other residue discharged or collected into wastewater facilities. Wastewater shall not include stormwater runoff conveyed by a separate storm sewer system.
"Wastewater management plan" or "WMP" means a written and graphic description of wastewater service areas, and wastewater treatment needs.
"Wastewater management plan area" or "WMP area" means the geographic area for which a wastewater management planning agency has wastewater management planning responsibility.
"Wastewater management planning agency" or "WMP agency" means a governmental entity that has wastewater management planning responsibility.
"Wastewater-related jurisdictions" means a public sewerage authority district, as defined in 40:14A-3(6); municipal authority, as defined in 40:14B-3(5); joint meeting, as defined at 40:63-69; county utilities authority created pursuant to 40:14B-4.a; the Passaic Valley Sewerage District defined under 58:14-1 et seq.; a municipal utility or franchise areas for private sewer utilities regulated by the Board of Public Utilities.
"Wastewater service area" means a sewer service area or non-sewer service area as designated in a WQM plan adopted by the Department.
"Wastewater treatment facility" means any device or system at a fixed location, including a land application system or subsurface sewage disposal system, that is or will be utilized for treatment of wastewater that requires a NJPDES permit issued pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A and those wastewater treatment and recycling systems that handle wastewater flows greater than 2,000 gallons per day as determined in accordance with 7:14A-23.3 or 7:9A.
"Water quality based effluent limitations" means effluent limitations established so that the quality of the waters receiving a discharge will meet the Surface Water Quality Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:9B, after the introduction of the effluent.
"Watershed" means a geographic area containing all the lands from which water, sediments, and dissolved materials drain to a particular receiving surface water body or to a particular point along a receiving surface water body.
"Watershed management activity" means activities or projects undertaken by a watershed management group to improve the condition or prevent further degradation of a watershed, and may include, but need not be limited to, public meetings to discuss and exchange information on watershed issues, the establishment and operation of a stakeholders advisory group or groups or watershed associations dedicated to preserving and protecting a watershed, the monitoring, water quality modeling, or assessment of the condition of a watershed, the development of policy goals to reduce the amount of pollutants discharged into a watershed, the development of projects designed to enhance or restore a watershed, the development, in consultation with the Department, of a watershed management strategy, or the reassessment of a watershed to determine whether the policy goals or the objectives of a watershed management area plan or watershed management strategy have been attained.
"Watershed Management Area" or "WMA" means a regional area established by the Department that is comprised of multiple watersheds and subwatersheds. WMA delineations are available from the Department and on the Department's website at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/gis.
"Watershed Management Area Plan" or "WMA Plan" means the plan developed and adopted by the Department, in consultation with the PAC, to protect and improve New Jersey's water and water-related resources by identifying actions to maintain, restore, and enhance existing water quality, water quantity, and ecosystem health, wherever attainable, within a watershed management area.
"Watershed management group" means a group recognized by the Department pursuant to 7:15-6.3(b) as the entity representing various interests within one or more watersheds or subwatersheds located in a watershed management area and whose purpose is to improve the condition or prevent further degradation of a watershed or watersheds.
"Watershed management strategy" means a plan developed by a watershed management group, in consultation with the PAC and the Department, to improve the condition of one or more watersheds or reassess a watershed to determine whether the policy goals or the objectives of the watershed management area plan or watershed management strategy have been attained.
"Wetlands" means those areas defined as wetlands under any of the following statutes and implementing rules as applicable:
1. New Jersey Coastal Wetlands Act, 13:9A-1 et seq., at 13:9A-2;
2. New Jersey Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act, 13:9B-1 et seq., at 13:9B-3, and 7:7A-1.4;
3. Coastal Area Facility Review Act, 13:19-1 et seq., at 13:19-4, and 7:7-9.27; and
4. Pinelands Protection Act, 13:18A-1 et seq., at 13:18A-3 and 13:18A-11, and 7:50-2.11, 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5.
