Get involved in watershed proposal Bob Shinn

Get involved in watershed proposal
Bob Shinn

Earlier this month, Gov. Christine Whitman and I introduced a landmark water quality protection rule that will guide development in appropriate areas and discourage sprawl that can degrade the state’s open space and surfacewater and groundwater resources.

While there are some people who would like to stop all building in New Jersey, this is not realistic or feasible, considering the geographic location of our state and the many local and regional approvals that have already been issued for development. Nor would stopping all development be good for New Jersey’s residents, who need places to live, work and raise their families.

The solution is growth that minimizes natural resource impacts and will not degrade the quality of our streams and rivers, nor deplete our water supply. The proposed rule creates a framework for managing the stormwater run-off from developed areas that is New Jersey’s most serious source of water pollution. I’m proud of New Jersey’s proactive leadership with this rule, which is a quantum leap forward in integrating local land-use decision making and natural resource management, to ensure clean and plentiful surface and ground water for generations to come.

The rule will benefit everyone who relies on our water resources, from farmers to fishermen, as well as the many people who depend on the state’s large tourism industry, which is totally dependent on high environmental quality. Suburbanites to city dwellers will benefit by stable taxes and revitalization through concentrating development where infrastructure already exists. The rule will help to keep costs down for utility rate payers and taxpayers, who foot the bill for costs associated with sprawl, such as road, sewer, school construction and other local services. The rule will provide strong incentive for guiding development into areas designated for growth under the State Development and Redevel-opment Plan. By coordination with the state plan, the rule encourages development where infrastructure exists. This has the multiple benefits of avoiding the cost of extending roads, sewer lines and water connections; slowing the growth of traffic congestion; conserving open space and farmland; and making redevelopment of urban areas economically attractive.

Under the rule proposed by the Department of Environmental Protection, development plans in areas not already designated for sewer service will have to receive local approval first and then must undergo comprehensive environmental assessments to determine if the proposal maintains the area’s water quality and protects water supply resources and water-dependent ecosystems. This requirement also applies to developments using septic systems.

The rule withdraws wastewater disposal designations for all areas where new development would result in discharges to ground water greater than 2,000 gallons per day.

Because septic systems currently represent an easy avenue to development in non-sewered areas, this will level the playing field between areas being proposed for sewers and for septic systems and will be a major step forward in controlling sprawl and protecting an area’s water resources and ecosystems.

For development where sewer service areas have already been designated, the rule regulates future building through watershed planning, which is being started throughout the state’s 20 watershed management areas this year.

These plans will identify the needed water pollution reductions for all sources, such as discharges from sewage treatment plants and industries and non-point pollution from many indirect sources, such as run-off from roads, parking lots, agriculture and lawns. These watershed management plans will help ensure that local streamwater quality will be restored to standards or maintained where existing quality is better than standards. Local participation is essential in the development of these watershed management plans. The plans will identify the pollution reductions necessary and will determine who will be responsible for these reductions, when they will occur and how they will be financed.

The draft rule will be published in the New Jersey Register, and a public hearing will be held on Aug. 2 at the DEP headquarters in Trenton.

Following appropriate revisions after the public comment period, our goal is to adopt the rule by January 2001. I encourage everyone to read more about these rules through our Web site (www.state.nj.us/dep/watershedmgt) and to become involved in your area’s watershed planning efforts.

Bob Shinn is commissioner of the state Department of Environ-mental Protection