New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 15 - WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLANNING › Subchapter 5 - 303(D) WATER QUALITY LIMITED WATERS LISTS AND TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS › Section 7:15-5.26 - Habitat Suitability Determination

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Where an area
				is excluded from a sewer service area in accordance with
				7:15-5.24 on the basis that it is
				within habitat patch of Rank 3, 4 or 5 on the Department's Landscape Maps of
				Habitat for Endangered, Threatened and Other Priority Wildlife, an applicant
				may seek a Habitat Suitability Determination from the Department if it wishes
				to rebut the presumption that a habitat patch of Rank 3, 4 or 5 on the
				Department's Landscape Maps of Habitat for Endangered, Threatened and Other
				Priority Wildlife is accurate.
(b)
				An application for a Habitat Suitability Determination shall include:
1. A letter from the Department's Natural
				Heritage Program issued within six months of the date of application, stating
				if any threatened or endangered animals listed in the Natural Heritage database
				exist on or near the site. Information and forms relating to the Natural
				Heritage Program may be found on the Division of Parks and Forestry web page at
www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/natural/heritage
or obtained from the Office of Natural Lands Management, Natural Heritage
				Program at:
Division of Parks and Forestry
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
P.O. Box 404
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0404
Phone: (609) 984-1339
Fax: (609) 984-1427
2. A description of the habitat requirements
				for each species identified in the Natural Heritage Program letter, including
				citations to appropriate literature and studies;
3. Three copies of a description of the
				parcel, including, but not limited to:
i.
				Vegetation, elevation, slope and aspect, and a description of any important
				topographic features such as cliffs, bluffs and sinkholes on or within 0.25
				miles of the boundary of the site;
ii. The geology of the site as described in
				the most current USGS bedrock geologic maps, a description of bedrock and
				surficial deposits, and the location and description of any important geologic
				features such as talus and caves within 0.25 miles from the boundary of the
				site;
iii. The soil types on the
				site as most currently classified and mapped by the U.S. Department of
				Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) Natural Resources Conservation Service and the location
				and description of any important soil features present within 0.25 miles of the
				boundary of the site;
iv. The
				location and a description of all hydrologic features on the site such as
				rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, springs, seeps, vernal pools and waterfalls, as
				well as those located within 0.25 miles from the boundary of the
				site;
v. The location and a
				description of all evidence of natural or man-made disturbance both on the site
				and within 0.25 miles from the boundary of the site;
vi. The location and a description of all
				upland, wetland, and aquatic ecological vegetative communities on the site,
				based on quantitative data collected during the optimal time(s) of the year
				using appropriate, scientifically accepted terms of description and analysis
				techniques. Guidance with regard to appropriate classification systems and
				techniques may be found in Guidelines for Describing Associations and Alliances
				of the U.S. National Vegetation Classification by Jennings et al. (2003), The
				Ecological Society of America -- Vegetation Classification Panel, available at:
www.vegbank.org/vegdocs/panel/NVC_guidelines_v3.pdf
;
				Ecological Systems of the United States: A Working Classification of U.S.
				Terrestrial System by Comer et al. (2003), NatureServe, available at:
www.natureserve.org/library/usEcologicalsystems.pdf
;
				and Classification of Vegetation Communities of New Jersey: Second Iteration by
				Breden et al. (2001), Association for Biodiversity Information and New Jersey
				Natural Heritage Program, available at:
http://njedl.rutgers.edu/ftp/PDFs/1980.pdf
.
				For each ecological community identified on the site, the evaluation shall
				include physiognomy, species composition with a list of the most abundant plant
				species by strata (canopy tree, subcanopy tree, shrub, vine, herbaceous,
				bryophyte), a description of successional stage, slope degrees and aspect,
				geologic substrate (as indicated in the most recent USGS bedrock geologic
				maps), soil texture and pH (as indicated in the most recent Soil Survey and
				verified by field sampling), depth to water table (as indicated in the most
				recent Soil Surveys), and hydrologic influences;
vii. A map showing the location and
				composition of ecological communities on the site and the location of important
				topographical, geological and hydrological features identified in (b)3iv
				above;
viii. The results of
				threatened or endangered animal species surveys for the purpose of
				supplementing scientific data regarding the suitability of a particular habitat
				for a particular species that were conducted in consultation with the
				Department and in accordance with all Federal and State laws and regulations,
				including for each species surveyed: the survey method, the surveyor's name(s),
				dates and times surveys were performed, number of samples, and number of
				replications;
ix. The names,
				addresses and professional qualifications of all persons who performed habitat
				evaluations, and/or species surveys relied upon to support the application for
				the Habitat Suitability Determination;
x. A copy of any other relevant animal survey
				or report to which the applicant or their agent has access; and
xi. Any other information relevant to
				assessing the suitability of habitat on the site for any threatened or
				endangered animal species.