New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 20 - DAM SAFETY STANDARDS › Subchapter 2 - CIVIL ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES; REQUESTS FOR ADJUDICATORY HEARINGS; ACTIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT TO REPAIR AND MITIGATE › Section 7:20-2.9 - Action by the Department to repair and mitigate

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Whenever the
				Commissioner determines that a dam is in imminent danger of failure and has
				reasonable cause to believe that danger to life or property may be anticipated
				from the reservoir, dam or appurtenant structures located therein, and the
				owner of the dam or person having control of the reservoir or dam has failed to
				comply with an order to repair the dam or to take such interim measures as the
				Department determines are appropriate, including reducing the amount of water
				impounded by the dam or breaching the dam, the Department may, in addition to
				other actions authorized by the Safe Dam Act, this chapter and other law, enter
				upon any and all properties wherein the reservoir, dam or appurtenant
				structures are located, and using resources and personnel available to the
				Department, remove or cause to be removed the dam and/or appurtenant structures
				located therein, allowing the water to flow freely.
(b) The Department shall provide notice to
				the owner or person having control of the reservoir or dam prior to the removal
				action provided for in (a) above. The owner shall, no later than 60 days after
				receipt of notice, submit to the Department in writing, an implementation plan
				addressing the proposed actions the owner or person having control of the
				reservoir or dam intends to take to repair or remove the failed or failing
				reservoir or dam, along with a schedule for implementation of the proposed
				actions. Any permits required for the proposed actions shall be applied for
				within the 60-day time period.
(c)
				If the proposed actions, schedule and permit applications are timely submitted
				and the Department in its discretion determines that the proposed actions and
				schedule will satisfactorily address the danger specified in (a) above, and
				that the permits applied for can properly be issued, the Department shall allow
				the owner or person having control of the reservoir or dam to take the actions
				identified. If the owner or person having control of the reservoir or dam fails
				to comply with the proposed schedule, the Department may take removal action in
				(a) above.
(d) Any expenditures
				made by the Department pursuant to (a) above shall constitute a debt to the
				State and a lien on all property owned by the owner or person having control of
				the reservoir or dam. When a certificate of debt incorporating a description of
				the property subject to the removal action and the costs is filed with the
				clerk of the Superior Court, the lien shall attach to all revenues and all real
				and personal property of the owner or person having control of the reservoir or
				dam.
(e) The lien described in (d)
				above shall have priority over all other liens, interests or claims on the dam
				or reservoir property subject to the Department's removal action. However, if
				that property is six dwelling units or less and used exclusively for
				residential purposes, the certificate of debt shall not affect any valid lien,
				claim or interest which was filed prior to the certificate of debt. When the
				lien described in (d) above affects property other than the property subject to
				the removal action, it shall have priority from the date of filing but shall
				not affect any valid lien, interest or claim filed prior to filing of the
				certificate of debt.
(f) Whenever
				the owner or person having control of the reservoir or dam is a private lake
				association or other body representing owners or property adjacent to the
				reservoir or lake created by the dam or impoundment, liens may be imposed upon
				the individual owners of the property represented by the association. An owner
				whose property has such a lien imposed may release the property from a lien
				claimed under this subsection by filing with the clerk of the Superior Court a
				cash or surety bond, payable to the Department in the amount of the sums
				expended by the Department pursuant to this section, including attorney's fees
				and court costs, or the value of the property after the abatement action is
				complete, whichever is less.
(g)
				The provisions of this section shall not limit the use of other remedies
				available to the Department pursuant to law.