N.J. Admin. Code § 7:15-3.5 Water Quality Management Plan Amendment Procedures

• Library: New Jersey Administrative Code
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Register Vol. 55, No. 48, December 18, 2023
• Citation: N.J. Admin. Code § 7:15-3.5
• Year: 2023

(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. 13Short title13:1E-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. 58Short title58:27-1 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 7Program forms and information; Internet website7:15-1.6;

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 7Delineation of sewer service areas7:15-4.4 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. 7Program forms and information; Internet website7:15-1.6(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. 7Public hearing on a proposed rule7:1D-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. 7Program forms and information; Internet website7:15-1.6(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...