New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 7 - COASTAL PERMIT PROGRAM RULES › Subchapter 12 - GENERAL WATER AREAS › Section 7:7-12.7 - New dredging

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) New
				dredging is the removal of sediment that does not meet the definition of
				maintenance dredging at
				7:7-12.6 or the definition of
				environmental dredging at
				7:7-12.8. The temporary or
				permanent displacement or removal of sediment for the purpose of installing
				submerged pipelines and cables is considered new dredging.
(b) New dredging and the management of the
				dredged material shall be conducted in accordance with Appendix G.
(c) New dredging is conditionally acceptable
				in all general water areas for boat moorings, navigation channels, anchorages,
				or submerged cable or pipelines provided:
1.
				There is a demonstrated need that cannot be satisfied by existing
				facilities;
2. The facilities
				served by the new dredging satisfy the location requirements for special
				water's edge areas;
3. The adjacent
				water areas are currently used for recreational boating, commercial fishing or
				marine commerce;
4. The dredge area
				causes no significant disturbance to special water or water's edge
				areas;
5. The adverse environmental
				impacts are minimized to the maximum extent feasible;
6. The dredge area is reduced to the minimum
				practical;
7. The maximum depth of
				the newly dredged area shall not exceed that of the connecting access or
				navigation channel necessary for vessel passage to the bay or ocean;
8. The new dredging will have no adverse
				impacts on groundwater resources;
9. No dredging shall occur within 10 feet of
				any wetlands. The proposed slope from this 10 foot buffer to the nearest edge
				of the dredged area shall not exceed three vertical to one horizontal;
				and
10. The new dredging shall be
				accomplished consistent with all of the following conditions, as appropriate to
				the dredging method:
i. An acceptable dredged
				material placement site with sufficient capacity will be used. (See
				7:7-12.9, Dredged material disposal
				in water areas, and
				7:7-15.12, Dredged material
				placement on land.). The Department will make an acceptable use determination
				for the beneficial use of dredged material in accordance with Appendix
				G;
ii. Pre-dredging chemical and
				physical analysis of the dredged material, including water quality predictive
				analyses for surface water and ground water may be required where the
				Department suspects contamination of sediments. Additional testing, such as
				bioaccumulation and bioassay testing of sediments, may also be required as
				needed to determine the acceptability of the proposed placement site for the
				dredged material. The results of these tests will be used to determine if
				contaminants may be resuspended at the dredging site and what methods may be
				needed to control their escape. The results will also be used to determine
				acceptability of the proposed dredged material placement method and
				site;
iii. Turbidity concentrations
				(that is, suspended sediments) and other water quality parameters at,
				downstream, and upstream of the dredging site, and discharges from dredged
				material management areas (see
				7:7-9.49 ) shall meet applicable
				Surface Water Quality Standards at N.J.A.C. 7:9B. The Department may require
				the permittee to conduct biological, physical, and chemical water quality
				monitoring before, during, and after dredging and disposal operations to ensure
				that water quality standards are not exceeded;
iv. If predicted water quality parameters are
				likely to exceed Surface Water Quality Standards at N.J.A.C. 7:9B, or Ground
				Water Quality Standards at N.J.A.C. 7:9C, or if pre-dredging chemical analysis
				of dredged material, including surface water and ground water quality
				predictive analyses, reveals significant contamination, then the Department
				will work cooperatively with the applicant to fashion acceptable control
				measures and will impose seasonal restrictions under the specific circumstances
				identified at (b)10vii below;
v.
				For new dredging using mechanical dredges deploying silt curtains at the
				dredging site may be required, if feasible based on site conditions as provided
				in Appendix G. Where the use of silt curtains is infeasible, dredging using
				closed watertight buckets or lateral digging buckets may be required. The
				Department may also require the use of additional best management practices
				when highly contaminated sediments are to be dredged;
vi. For hydraulic dredges, specific
				operational procedures designed to minimize water quality impacts, such as
				removal of the cutter head, flushing of pipeline sections prior to
				disconnection, or limitations on depth of successive cuts, may be
				required;
vii. The Department may
				authorize dredging on a seasonally restricted basis only, in waterways
				characterized by the following:
(1) Known
				spawning, wintering or nursery areas of shortnose sturgeon, winter flounder,
				Atlantic sturgeon, alewife, blueback herring, striped bass or blue
				crab;
(2) Water bodies downstream
				of known anadromous fish spawning sites under
				7:7-9.5, Finfish migratory
				pathways, where the predicted turbidity plume will encompass the entire
				cross-sectional area of the water body, thus forming a potential blockage to
				upstream migration;
(3) Areas of
				contaminated sediments with high levels of fecal coliform and/or streptococcus
				bacteria, and/or hazardous substances adjacent to (upstream or downstream)
				State approved shellfishing waters and public or private bathing beaches;
				or
(4) Areas within 1,000 meters or
				less of oyster beds as defined in
				7:7-9.2; and
viii. Side slopes shall not be steeper than
				three vertical to one horizontal adjacent to wetlands to prevent undermining
				and/or sloughing of the wetlands.