New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 7A - FRESHWATER WETLANDS PROTECTION ACT RULES › Subchapter 2 - APPLICABILITY AND ACTIVITIES FOR WHICH A PERMIT IS REQUIRED › Section 7:7A-2.4 - Activities exempted from permit and/or waiver requirement

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The
				following are exempt from the requirement of a freshwater wetlands permit
				and/or waiver unless the USEPA's regulations providing for the delegation to
				the State of the Federal wetlands program conducted pursuant to the Federal Act
				require a permit for any of these activities, in which case the Department
				shall require a permit for those activities so identified by that agency. Any
				activity conducted under an exemption that does not meet all standards,
				conditions, or limitations of the exemption shall constitute a violation of
				this chapter, and shall be subject to enforcement action in accordance with
				N.J.A.C. 7:7A-22.
(b) The farming,
				ranching, and silviculture exemptions in (c) and (d) below are subject to the
				following limits:
1. The exemptions shall not
				apply to any discharge of dredged or fill material into freshwater wetlands or
				State open water incidental to any activity which involves bringing an area of
				freshwater wetlands or State open waters into a use to which it was not
				previously subject, where the flow or circulation patterns of the freshwater
				wetlands or waters may be impaired, or the extent or values and functions of
				freshwater wetlands or State open waters is reduced;
2. The exemptions apply only as long as the
				area is used for the exempted activity. Therefore, if the area stops being used
				for farming, ranching, or silviculture, the exemption no longer
				applies;
3. The exemptions apply
				only to the portion of the property which meets all requirements for the
				exemption. For example, if half of a 20-acre property has been actively farmed
				since June 30, 1988 and half has not, the half that has been actively farmed
				would be considered to be part of an established, ongoing farming operation and
				would therefore be eligible for the farming exemption. The remainder would not
				be eligible for the farming exemption;
4. Normal silviculture activities must be
				part of a forest management plan that conforms to best management practices
				(BMPs) and is reviewed and approved by the State Forester before the activities
				are undertaken. A woodland management plan prepared for tax purposes but that
				does not address wetlands is insufficient to qualify for the exemption;
				and
5. If an area with hydric soils
				has been drained for farming or other purposes through the use of drainage
				structures such as tiles or ditches, the Department shall, in the absence of
				compelling scientific information that wetland hydrology has been effectively
				removed by factors other than the drainage structures, presume that the area
				maintains wetlands hydrology for the purpose of identifying a freshwater
				wetland under
N.J.A.C. 7:7A-3.1
. To rebut this presumption of wetlands hydrology, all drainage
				structures shall be removed or completely disabled and the area shall be left
				undisturbed for at least one normal rainfall year, after which the presence or
				absence of wetlands hydrology shall be determined through use of technical
				criteria, field indicators, and other information, in accordance with the 1989
				Federal Manual.