New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 15 - WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLANNING › Subchapter 3 - PLAN ASSESSMENT, MODIFICATION, AND ADOPTION PROCEDURES › Section 7:15-3.5 - Water quality management plan amendment procedures

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(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.
				13:1E-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.
				58:27-1 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.