The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has announced that it intends to adopt the Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) coastal flood rules proposed in 2024 with changes responsive to public comment and stakeholder feedback.
The announcement comes on the heels of an event held July 8 in Trenton at which elected officials and environmental organizations called for the full adoption of the rules as well as a digital ad campaign targeted at Gov. Phil Murphy ahead of what had been an August 4 deadline for adoption.
Environmental activists said that real estate developers’ opposition to the rules was delaying their formal adoption. The REAL rules have been under consideration for more than five years after Murphy announced a plan for DEP to update its flood projection maps to include current and future projected flooding, based on sea level rise projections from the latest climate science from Rutgers and the NJDEP.
At the Trenton event, Jennifer M. Coffey, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commission, said NJPACT REAL rules will save lives and protect property. “The real truth about the REAL rules is that they simply require new development to be constructed above the known flood elevation. Flooding is the number one issue where municipal officials tell us they need help. The NJPACT REAL rules are common sense and evidence-based standards that will save communities millions in future damage and will literally save lives by keeping people out of harm’s way.”
To provide additional information to the public about the proposed changes, the DEP will record a webinar and post it on the REAL website on Friday, July 18.
The proposed changes will be detailed in a Notice of Substantial Changes in the July 21 edition of the New Jersey Register, and will reflect adjustments to sea-level rise projections and clarify provisions that promote resilient housing and economic development projects, among other important changes. The proposed changes will be open to additional public comment and a hearing in September.
Most notably, the proposed changes will lower the coastal zone flood-elevation for new and substantially improved buildings and infrastructure from the originally proposed 5 feet to 4 feet (above the FEMA base flood elevation). As compared to the original 2024 proposal, the lower elevation effectively reduces the amount of additional coastal land area that would be subject to the building safety standards of New Jersey’s Flood Hazard Area Control Act. The proposed changes would also expand provisions to enable projects to proceed under pre-existing regulations if they reach certain planning, design, or permitting milestones by July 2026, i.e., within six months of DEP’s intended adoption of the REAL rules.
“The DEP has carefully reviewed and considered comments from a diverse cross-section of residents, community leaders, business interests, and stakeholders as we continued to evaluate measures to better protect people and property from increasing coastal hazards,” Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette said. “We take public comment on these reforms as seriously as we do the climate science that underlies them, and we are proposing changes that will better position our coastal communities to withstand existing and future risks from coastal flooding, sea-level rise, and storm surge.”
Following the announced changes — and a night of strong storms that created deadly flash flooding in the state — Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, reacted to the news. “After tragically losing lives due to the flash flooding last night, allowing affordable housing to be built in flood-prone areas without stronger safeguards is unconscionable. We don’t want to look back after a future disaster, like the flooding we just saw in New Jersey and Texas, and regret not doing more when we had the chance, he said. “There’s still time to strengthen these critical rules, which will ultimately protect New Jersey’s families from the realities of climate change, before they’re finalized. We urge DEP to be bolder, especially to protect our most vulnerable — for our health, our safety, and our future.”
The proposed substantial changes would:
• Revise the elevation requirement for new or substantially improved buildings and infrastructure from the originally proposed 5 feet to 4 feet above FEMA’s base flood elevation based on revised projections of sea-level rise rates impacting the state and the feedback from coastal community leaders and a range of other stakeholders. The revised projections are based on updated predictions of likely global temperature increases released after the 2019 Rutgers University Science and Technical Advisory Panel Report.
• Revise the extent of the proposed inundation risk zone, which incorporates land that lies above sea level today but will be permanently inundated with the projected 4-foot increase in sea levels.
• Provide that DEP will revisit the sea-level rise and precipitation data incorporated into the rule every five years and amend the regulations if appropriate. More information on the updated science that supports the Notice of Substantial Change can be found at dep.nj.gov/njreal/
• Expand provisions in the flood hazard, stormwater, coastal zone, and freshwater wetland regulations to allow projects for which the applicant submits a complete application to the DEP within 180 days of REAL’s effective date to be reviewed under today’s regulations.
• Provide additional detail and appropriate flexibility for “dry access” design and construction standards for buildings and roads to ensure reliable vehicular access to buildings in flood hazard areas for occupants and emergency responders.
• Clarify that low- and moderate-income housing projects are eligible project types to be reviewed under the Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules’ “hardship exception” process, which allows relaxation of certain standards where public safety is not jeopardized.
For more information, visit dep.nj.gov/njreal/overview and dep.nj.gov/njreal/facts/
