Environmentalists cheer the new flood rules as a needed move to guard against climate impacts, while businesses believe they will raise construction costs. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
By Nikita Biryukov
Reprinted with permission
New Jersey regulators approved a series of controversial flood rules in the hours before Phil Murphy’s second term as governor ended Tuesday, capping a six-year process that, at times, left both its backers and its detractors flummoxed.
The rules — called Protection Against Climate Threats Resilient Environments and Landscape Rule, or PACT REAL — raise elevation requirements in some areas of the state, expand flood maps, create new wetland protection and stormwater management rules, and place some limits on construction in flood-prone areas, among dozens of other changes.
Environmentalists hailed the Department of Environmental Protection’s adoption of the rules as a long-sought victory that would prepare New Jersey for higher water lines and worsening weather over the coming decades.
Allison McLeod, acting executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, said the group is thrilled to see the rules finally adopted “after years of hard work and advocacy.”
“Every storm and flood makes it painfully clear how exposed our communities are as the climate crisis accelerates,” McLeod said.
However, the regulations have been met with strong opposition in Cape May County. The county and all 16 of its municipalities have adopted resolutions criticizing the rules.
Although they say they support protective measures for the coastal communities from rising sea levels, Cape May County officials argue that the regulations are simply too harsh and would cripple shore development and homeownership.
“While climate change is a serious issue that requires attention, these regulations are not the answer. They are ill-conceived policies that, if implemented, will do far more harm than good, and will pose significant threats to the quality of life for the hardworking families of Cape May County,” said Cape May County Board of Commissioners Director Leonard Desiderio, who is also the mayor of Sea Isle City.
In November, the Cape May County Board of Commissioners authorized litigation against the REAL regulations.
Among other things, the rules will require new buildings in flood-prone coastal areas to be elevated by at least 4 feet, a requirement business and construction groups have charged will raise costs and depress development.
That requirement was pared down from 5 feet by changes made to the rules proposal in July in an effort to assuage detractors, though the change did little to win their support.
The adopted rule will still carry new costs for developers and discourage construction in the state, said Ray Cantor, deputy chief government affairs officer for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.
“These rules, across the board, throughout the state, make it much more difficult to get a permit approved, much more costly to even apply for a permit,” he said. “We think this is going to hold New Jersey back from building more affordable houses and urban redevelopment, more energy facilities.”
Supporters have argued that worsening weather systems and increasingly common floods — like a flash flood that killed two in Plainfield in July — necessitated stricter standards, ones that would only become more necessary as sea levels continue to rise over the coming decades.
Doug O’Malley, executive director of Environment New Jersey, said what the state has done with the new rules is say, “We need to get ready for the future.”
“We don’t need to shake the magic eight ball to say what’s going to happen with sea level rise, what’s going to happen with climate change,” O’Malley said.
Though the rules were adopted Tuesday, they permit developers to submit applications under the prior regulatory scheme until July 20.
The rules’ adoption, made in the hours before Gov. Mikie Sherrill took office, could complicate Sherrill’s push for permit reform, Cantor said.
The proposal imposes some new permitting requirements on certain construction inside flood plains, though some requirements can be met with only a notification to state authorities.
Sherrill campaigned in part on streamlining the state’s permitting processes. On Tuesday, she issued an executive order directing the state to weigh new technologies to speed permit applications, among other things.
“You can’t move New Jersey forward with a regulatory system that’s going to hold everything back,” Cantor said.
The Department of Environmental Protection declined to comment, referring questions to the governor’s office. Acting Environmental Commissioner Ed Potosnak advocated for the adoption of the new rules prior to joining the administration.
A Sherrill spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
O’Malley said he doesn’t expect much discord between the new rules and Sherrill’s push for permitting reform, arguing looser rules would bring little benefit if they also brought shoddy homes.
“Ultimately, every governor — and certainly Governor Murphy and Governor Sherrill — wants to make sure the rules you have around development ensure that those homes are going to be there not just next year or next decade but for decades to come,” he said.
