Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) Ground
water is classified according to the hydrogeologic characteristics of the
ground water resource and the designated use(s) which are to be maintained,
restored and enhanced within the classification area. Classifications are
regional in nature and do not reflect localized infringements on designated
uses due to natural quality or pollution incidents. Ground water users should
not assume that existing ground water quality everywhere meets the criteria for
classification areas established herein, in view of the potential for
variations in natural quality or for localized pollution caused by human
activity. Additional uses may be made of ground water in any classification
area, subject to applicable Department rules, but these uses are not directly
protected through this chapter.
(b)
The Department shall preferentially protect the primary designated use for each
classification area, and shall protect any secondary designated uses to the
extent that such uses are viable using water of sufficient quality for the
primary use and that the primary use is not impaired.
(c) There are three major classes of ground
water, as defined in (d) through (f) below. They are:
Class I Ground Water of Special Ecological
Significance
Class II Ground Water for Potable Water Supply
Class III Ground Water With Uses Other Than Potable Water
Supply
(d) The primary
designated use for Class I ground water is the maintenance of special
ecological resources supported by the ground water within the classification
area. Secondary designated uses are potable water, agricultural water and
industrial water to the extent that these uses are viable using water of
natural quality and do not impair the primary use, such as by altering ground
water quality.
1. Class I-A--Exceptional
Ecological Areas: Class I-A ground water consists of all ground waters within
those classification areas listed at (d)1iii below or designated by the
Department through the reclassification procedure in
7:9C-1.10, which satisfy either
(d)1i or ii below. In addition, ground waters within those areas listed in
(d)1iii below are classified as Class I-A ground waters, because the Department
has determined that they satisfy the requirements of either (d)i or ii below.
The Department may approve a Class I-A classification area if the ground water
within that area:
i. Contributes to the
transmittal of ground water to surface water in FW1 watersheds; and
(1) The area involved is under government
ownership (fee simple or conservation restriction); or
(2) Is owned by a private entity that
petitions the Department for reclassification of the property to Class I-A
pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:9C-1.10; or
ii. Contributes to the transmittal of ground
water to the land surface or to surface water in areas of exceptional
ecological value. Areas of exceptional ecological value satisfy the conditions
described in (d)1ii(1), (2) or (3) below, and also satisfy the conditions
described in both (d)1ii(4) and (5) below:
(1) Support threatened or endangered species
as determined by the United States Department of the Interior pursuant to the
Endangered Species Act,
16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq., or by the Department
pursuant to the Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act,
23:2A-1 et seq.
(2) Support biotic communities within Natural
Areas.
(3) Serve other exceptional
ecological values such as being a part of or supporting state, nationally or
internationally rare, threatened or endangered habitats where there is a
significant risk that ground water pollution would impair or imperil the
ecological values.
(4) The quality
and transmittal of ground water is essential to the survival or maintenance of
the exceptional ecological resource contained within the classification
area.
(5) The area involved is of
sufficient size to provide meaningful control of ground water quality to
protect the target resource, based upon the biotic resource and local
hydrogeology and is under government ownership (fee simple or conservation
restriction), or is owned by a private entity that petitions the Department for
reclassification of the property to Class I-A pursuant to N.J.A.C.
7:9C-1.10.
iii. Ground
water within the following areas are herein classified Class I-A:
(1) Watersheds of FW1 surface
waters;
(2) The Natural Areas as
designated by the Department pursuant to
7:5A-1.13.
2. Class I-PL--Pinelands: The
classification area for Class I-PL consists of all ground water in the Cohansey
and Kirkwood Formations located within the Pinelands area as designated by the
Pinelands Protection Act,
13:18A-1 et seq. (as indicated in
figure 1 in the Appendix, incorporated herein by reference), other than those
ground water areas classified as Class I-A.
i.
Class I-PL (Preservation Area): The primary designated use is the support and
preservation of unique and significant ecological resources of the Pinelands,
through the restoration, maintenance and preservation of ground water quality
in its natural state. Secondary designated uses include compatible agricultural
uses in conformance with N.J.A.C. 7:50-6 et seq. and potable water
uses.
ii. Class I-PL (Protection
Area): The primary designated use is the preservation of Pinelands plant and
animal species and their habitats through the protection and maintenance of the
essential characteristics of Pinelands ground water quality. Secondary
designated uses include potable and agricultural water.
(e) The primary designated use for
Class II ground waters is the provision of potable ground waters with
conventional water supply treatment, either at their current water quality
(Class II-A) or subsequent to enhancement or restoration of regional water
quality so that the water will be of potable quality with conventional water
supply treatment (Class II-B). Both existing and potential potable water uses
are included in the designated use.
1. Class
II-A shall consist of all ground water of the State, except for ground water
designated in Classes I, II-B or III. The primary designated use for Class II-A
ground water shall be potable water and conversion (through conventional water
supply treatment, mixing or other similar technique) to potable water. Class
II-A secondary designated uses include agricultural water and industrial
water.
2. Specific Class II-B
areas, designated uses and constituent standards will be established through
rule or through reclassification pursuant to
7:9C-1.10. The designated uses of
Class II-B areas generally may include any reasonable use (other than potable
use). Designated uses of Class II-B ground water shall not exacerbate existing
ground water pollution or impede the ability to enhance or restore the quality
of the ground water so that it will be potable or convertible to potable use
with conventional water supply treatment, mixing or other similar techniques.
Class II-B shall consist only of ground waters:
i. That exhibit extensive exceedance of one
or more of the ground water quality criteria in
7:9C-1.7(c)
within the proposed Class II-B area, due to past discharges of ground water
pollutants;
ii. Where restoration
of the ground water, where polluted, cannot be achieved using technologically
practicable means;
iii. Where the
conditions listed in (e)2(1) through (4) below exist within the proposed Class
II-B area, and there is no indication in the projections of the Department,
public water supply systems serving the area, or municipalities of the area
that those conditions will cease to exist within the next 25 years:
(1) No public community water supply well or
Zone of Contribution for such a well exists;
(2) Less than five percent of the potable
water supply for the area subject to the petition is derived from ground water
from within the proposed Class II-B area;
(3) Less than five percent of the potable
water supply for any municipality (or portion thereof) within the Class II-B
area is derived from ground water from within the proposed Class II-B area;
and
(4) No significant
concentration of domestic water supply wells exists;
iv. Where no significant risk of pollution
migration into Class I or II-A areas exists;
v. Where a reliance on natural attenuation
processes can be relied on over the vast majority of the area for the
restoration of ground water quality for criteria identified pursuant to (e)2i
above and does not pose a significant risk to public health, safety and
welfare; and
vi. Where the
reclassification requirements of
7:9C-1.10 are met.
3. Class II-B Classification
Areas--(Reserved)
(f)
The Class III ground waters are not suitable for potable water due to natural
hydrogeologic characteristics or natural water quality. Class III includes
geologic formations or units that are aquitards or have a natural quality that
is unsuitable for conversion to potable water (for example, saline ground
water).
1. Class III-A ground water consists
of ground water in those aquitards that are described below. The primary
designated use for Class III-A ground water is the release or transmittal of
ground water to adjacent classification areas and surface water, as relevant.
Secondary designated uses in Class III-A include any reasonable uses. Class
III-A ground water includes portions of the saturated zones (that meet the
criteria below) of the Woodbury Formation, Merchantville Formation,
Marshalltown Formation, Navesink Formation, Hornerstown Formation, aquitard
formations of the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system and the Kirkwood
aquifer system, portions of the glacial moraine and glacial lake deposits, and
other geologic units having the characteristics of an aquitard, excepting Class
I areas. These named aquitards (excluding glacial units) outcrop approximately
in municipalities depicted in Figure 2 in the Appendix. Class III-A areas shall
have the following characteristics:
i.
Average at least 50 feet in thickness within the Class III-A area;
ii. Have a typical hydraulic conductivity of
approximately 0.1 ft/day or less within the Class III-A area; and
iii. Have an areal extent within the Class
III-A area of at least 100 acres.
2. Any interested party may provide evidence
to the Department to demonstrate that an area meets the descriptive criteria of
Class III-A. Upon review and verification of such evidence the Department may
provide concurrence that the Class III-A classification applies to the area of
interest.
3. Class III-B ground
water consists of all geologic formations or units which contain ground water
having natural concentrations or regional concentrations (through the action of
salt-water intrusion) exceeding 3,000 mg/l Chloride or 5,000 mg/l Total
Dissolved Solids, or where the natural quality of ground water is otherwise not
suitable for conversion to potable uses. The designated uses for Class III-B
ground water consist of any reasonable uses for such ground water other than
potable water, using water of existing quality. The classification area
includes ground water in parts of formations as indicated in Figures 3 through
5 in the Appendix.
4. Class III-B
areas are subject to field verification wherever necessary. Areas not indicated
on the maps may also qualify as Class III-B, subject to Department concurrence
through an applicable regulatory program. The precise borders of Class III-B
areas shall be confirmed using site specific data in the context of applicable
regulatory programs. Any interested party may provide evidence to the
Department to demonstrate that an area meets the descriptive criteria of Class
III-B. Upon review and verification of such evidence the Department may provide
concurrence that the Class III-B classification applies to the area of
interest.
