Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The Department
and the designated planning agencies shall periodically review areawide WQM plans in
order to propose amendments as necessary. Amendments may be proposed for various
reasons, such as to implement or comply with applicable State or Federal law;
respond to new information or circumstances; improve the economic, social, or
environmental impact of WQM plans; or address issues identified through the
consistency assessment or permitting process.
(b) Except as provided in (e) below, areawide WQM
plans shall be amended by designated planning agencies pursuant to this chapter and
procedures approved by the Department in accordance with (c) and (d)
below.
(c) Plan amendment procedures
developed by the designated planning agencies shall be consistent with the
Department's amendment procedures set forth below and must be approved by the
Department. Within 15 days of approving an amendment, a designated planning agency
shall submit to the Department a copy of the amendment, with relevant supporting
documentation. WQM plan amendments approved by designated planning agencies are
valid only upon adoption by the Department.
(d) Designated planning agency plan amendment
procedures approved by the Department prior to November 7, 2016, shall remain in
full force and effect, unless or until modified by the designated planning agency
and approved by the Department under this section. If a designated planning agency
does not have its own approved amendment procedure, or where the Department proposes
to amend the areawide plan on its own initiative, the procedures in (g) below
apply.
(e) Amendments for any project or
activity that is either proposed, constructed, operated, or conducted by the State
or Federal government, or that is regulated by the Solid Waste Management Act,
N.J.S.A. 13:1E-1 et seq.,
shall be processed only by the Department.
(f) Entities that prepare an amendment to an
areawide WQM plan shall, during such preparation, notify, seek comments from, and
offer to consult with:
1. All governmental
entities that have regulatory or planning jurisdiction over wastewater, water
supply, or land use in any sewer service area being modified. Such governmental
entities shall include, but not be limited to: designated planning agencies,
wastewater management planning agencies, county planning boards, municipal governing
bodies, sewerage authorities, county utilities or municipal authorities, joint
meetings, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, the Meadowlands Regional
Commission, water purveyors, the Pinelands Commission, the Highlands Council, and
the Delaware River Basin Commission, as appropriate; and
2. All vendors of wastewater treatment systems or
services under the "New Jersey Wastewater Treatment Privatization Act,"
N.J.S.A. 58:27-1 et seq.,
with a legal or fiduciary interest in wastewater treatment facilities located within
any sewer service area being amended under this section; and
3. For site specific amendments proposing to add
100 acres or more to the sewer service area or where the additional sewer service
area would generate 20,000 gallons per day or more of wastewater, the entity shall
initiate a public notification process to alert property owners who will experience
a change in their wastewater service area designation.
(g) The Department procedure for amendment of
areawide WQM plans is as follows:
1. An applicant
may petition the Department to amend the areawide WQM plan, or the Department may
propose to amend the areawide WQM plan on the Department's own initiative.
Applications for amendments shall be submitted electronically on forms prescribed by
the Department in accordance with
N.J.A.C.
7:15-1.6;
2. Applications shall include a description of the
proposed amendment, including documentation substantiating the need for the
amendment, documentation demonstrating compliance with the notification and
consultation requirements at (f) above and (h) below, and other documentation as
determined by the Department to be necessary to determine compliance with the
criteria established at
N.J.A.C.
7:15-4.4 and 4.5;
3. For all site specific amendments, the applicant
shall submit a copy of the request to the municipality and county for a letter or
resolution regarding the consistency of the proposed wastewater producing project
with the land use identified in the municipal master plan and zoning ordinances or
the county master plans;
4. Within 90
days of receiving an amendment application, the Department shall review the
application and notify the applicant that additional information is required, the
application is disapproved, or that the application qualifies as an
amendment;
5. If the Department's
decision is to proceed further with the amendment application, the Department will
notify the applicant and the designated planning agency, if applicable, and include
the public notice for the proposed amendment and a list of entities from which a
written statement of consent shall be requested. The Department shall publish the
public notice in the New Jersey Register, on its website at
http://www.nj.gov/dep/wrm/, and
electronically to entities that have requested electronic notifications from the
Department pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
7:15-1.6(d). In cases where the
Department's decision includes a requirement for a non-adversarial public hearing,
the public notice shall provide at least 30 days' notice of the hearing;
6. Requirements concerning written statements of
consent are as follows:
i. The Department shall
identify a list of governmental entities, sewerage agencies, and BPU-regulated sewer
and water utilities from (f) above that may be affected by, or otherwise have a
substantial interest in, approval of the proposed amendment, and that shall be asked
to issue written statements of consent for the proposed amendment. Within 15 days of
receiving such list, the applicant shall submit by certified mail (return receipt
requested) a copy of the proposed amendment to these parties, with a request that
they issue written statements of consent for the proposed amendment within 60 days
of their receipt of the request;
ii. A
written statement of consent shall include a statement that the party concurs with,
or does not object to, the proposed amendment. A statement of consent by a
governmental entity shall be in the form of a resolution by that unit's governing
body. If the party objects to the proposed amendment, the party shall state all
reasons for objection in writing; and
iii. The applicant shall promptly forward to the
Department a copy of all requests for consent (with return receipts) sent to parties
and a copy of all statements of consent and other comments received. The Department
will consider statements of consent and comments received within 60 days of receipt
of the request under (g)6i above;
7. Written comments on the amendment or requests
to extend the comment period shall be submitted to the Department by the close of
the comment period, which shall be no less than 30 days of the date of the New
Jersey Register notice;
8. Interested
persons may also request that the Department hold a non-adversarial public hearing;
such requests shall be submitted in writing to the Department within 30 days of the
date of the New Jersey Register public notice. If there is sufficient public
interest, as defined under
N.J.A.C.
7:1D-5.2, then a public hearing will be held. A
public notice providing at least 30 days' notice of the hearing will be published by
the Department in the New Jersey Register, on its website at
http://www.nj.gov/dep/wrm/, and
electronically to entities that have requested electronic notifications from the
Department pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
7:15-1.6(d), and will be mailed
to the applicable designated planning agency, if any, and to each party who was
requested to issue a written statement of consent for the amendment. The public
comment period will be extended until 15 days after the hearing. Except when the
Department proposes to amend areawide WQM plans on its own initiative, the applicant
shall, at the applicant's expense, secure an acceptable location for the hearing,
mail the public notice, secure a court stenographer, and provide a copy of a
verbatim transcript of the hearing to the Department;
9. If any data, information, or arguments
submitted during the public comment period or in response to a request for written
statement of consent raise substantial new issues concerning a proposed plan
amendment, the Department may:
i. Reopen or extend
the public comment period to give interested persons an opportunity to comment on
the information or arguments submitted;
ii. Disapprove the proposed amendment and notify
the applicant; or
iii. Notify the
applicant that the amendment cannot be adopted as proposed and that additional
information is required in order to determine if a new or revised plan amendment is
necessary;
10. Based on the
administrative record, the Department shall adopt, adopt with minor changes that do
not effectively destroy the value of the public notice, or disapprove the amendment,
and notify the applicant and affected entities; and
11. The Department shall provide written
notification of its decision. Notice of the final decision shall also be published
in the New Jersey Register and posted on the Department's website at
http://www.nj.gov/dep/wrm/.
(h) If the proposal is located in the
Pinelands National Reserve or the Highlands Region, the applicant shall
simultaneously submit the application to the Department and the Pinelands Commission
or Highlands Council as applicable in order to provide an opportunity for those
agencies to provide comment prior to the Department rendering any decision. The
application shall be considered incomplete if the applicant does not provide a
demonstration that this requirement has been met.
(i) An application for a site specific amendment
located in the Highlands preservation area that requires a Highlands Preservation
Area Approval or Approval with Waiver shall be governed by the Highlands Water
Protection and Planning Act rules at
N.J.A.C.
7:38-9.3, 9.5, 9.6, and 11.6. If the Department
determines the application qualifies for an amendment, it shall be processed in
accordance with (g)5 through 11 above and reviewed in accordance with the criteria
established at
N.J.A.C.
7:15-4.4(c).
(j) Applications for site specific amendments
shall comply with the requirements of this section and the following:
1. Delineation of sewer service area shall be
completed in accordance with the procedures set forth at
N.J.A.C.
7:15-4.4; and
2. For site specific amendments that propose to
add 100 or more acres to the sewer service area or where the additional sewer
service area would generate 20,000 gallons per day or more of wastewater, the
application shall include a proposed modification to the wastewater treatment
capacity analysis prepared in accordance with
N.J.A.C. 7:15-4.5(b)
to include the proposed project or
activity.