Newly Adopted Storm Water Regulations Sweep New Jersey

 

Hackensack Riverkeeper To Hold Stormwater Seminar For Municipal Officials

 

By Hugh M. Carola

 

“In the face of constant weakening of environmental laws by the federal government, New Jersey has drawn a line of protection that does much more than protect fish habitats and water quality – it protects the health and well-being of our people,” said Captain Bill Sheehan, executive director, Hackensack Riverkeeper, after Governor James E. McGreevey’s announcement of the most comprehensive set of water protection regulations in America.

 

Governor McGreevey’s Jan. 5 announcement, made in Closter before a host of New Jersey’s environmental leaders, officially authorized New Jersey’s Phase Two Stormwater Rules.

 

The new regulations require municipalities to take a much more proactive approach to stormwater management. For example, towns without ordinances banning the feeding of waterfowl and mandating the picking up of pet waste are required to pass them. Also, every storm drain in New Jersey will have to be marked with a “Do Not Dump” message.

 

To help municipalities address the specifics of the new regulations, Hackensack Riverkeeper is holding its third seminar on the new stormwater rules on Thursday, March 25, at 7 p.m. at the United Water treatment facility in Haworth. This seminar, which will discuss the requirements placed on munipalities by the new rules, is specifically for local officials in the upper Hackensack River watershed. Hackensack Riverkeeper will also discuss its new public outreach program designed to assist municipalities in meeting the public education component of the new rules.

“The biggest source of water pollution in New Jersey is our streets,” said Captain Bill. “From cigarette butts to dog waste to motor oil – those things and more are washed into our waterways every single time it rains.”

 

Referred to as nonpoint-source pollution or “people pollution,” such contaminants easily enter the drinking water supply of most New Jerseyans, forcing water companies to utilize ever-stronger filtration and purification methods. “In highly developed areas like the Hackensack River watershed, the magnitude of nonpoint-source pollution reaches extreme levels with major rainfall events,” explained Captain Bill. That reality has required United Water New Jersey to place trash booms across feeder streams to prevent large amounts of debris from washing into the Woodcliff Lake and Oradell Reservoirs.

 

Stormwater runoff also increases flooding in municipalities with a high percentage of impervious cover (pavement, concrete, buildings, etc.) because it impedes groundwater recharge. The Phase Two regulations will require all new construction and redevelopment to facilitate recharge rather than prevent it. The regulations also ban development within 300 feet of Category One waterways. These waterways have the highest level of protection by the State because they function as trout habitat or tributaries to drinking water sources.

 

 “We have truly made history here in New Jersey because we’ve raised the bar and set the standard for the rest of our nation,” said Captain Bill. “This day has been long in coming, but good watershed management can’t be left up to government alone; it’s everyone’s responsibility.”