Opinion ID: 2189290
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Regulated Activities, Residential Development Projects, and Transition Areas, N.J.A.C. 7:7A-1.4, -2.2(a)7, -2.6(a)6

Text: A freshwater wetland is an area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater sufficient to support vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, commonly known as hydrophytic vegetation. N.J.S.A. 13:9B-3. To engage in regulated activities in freshwater wetlands a permit is required. N.J.S.A. 13:9B-3, -9a, -23. There are six regulated activities: (1) The removal, excavation, disturbance or dredging of soil, sand, gravel, or aggregate material of any kind; (2) The drainage or disturbance of the water level or water table; (3) The dumping, discharging or filling with any materials; (4) The driving of pilings; (5) The placing of obstructions; [and] (6) The destruction of plant life which would alter the character of a freshwater wetland, including the cutting of trees. [ N.J.S.A. 13:9B-3.] In addition to regulating those activities, the Act provides for transition areas surrounding certain categories of freshwater wetlands, and prohibits activities in those areas. N.J.S.A. 13:9B-3, -16, -17. A transition area is an area of land adjacent to a freshwater wetland which minimizes adverse impacts on the wetland or serves as an integral component of the wetlands ecosystem. N.J.S.A. 13:9B-3. Transition areas serve as: (1) An ecological transition zone from uplands to freshwater wetlands which is an integral portion of the freshwater wetlands ecosystem, providing temporary refuge for freshwater wetlands fauna during high water episodes, critical habitat for animals dependent upon but not resident in freshwater wetlands, and slight variations of freshwater wetland boundaries over time due to hydrologic or climatologic effects; and (2) A sediment and storm water control zone to reduce the impacts of development upon freshwater wetlands and freshwater wetlands species. [ N.J.S.A. 13:9B-16a.] Those areas receive no protection under the CWA. 33 N.J.R. at 3119. Transition areas are required for freshwater wetlands of exceptional resource value and of intermediate resource value, but not for those of ordinary resource value. N.J.S.A. 13:9B-16a. Freshwater wetlands of exceptional resource value are defined as wetlands that discharge into ... trout production waters and their tributaries or provide habitats for threatened or endangered species. N.J.S.A. 13:9B-7a. Freshwater wetlands of ordinary value are defined as wetlands that do not exhibit the characteristics [for wetlands of exceptional resource value] and which are certain isolated wetlands, man-made drainage ditches, swales, or detention facilities. N.J.S.A. 13:9B-7b. Freshwater wetlands of intermediate resource value are defined as freshwater wetlands not [of exceptional value] or [of ordinary value]. N.J.S.A. 13:9B-7c. The size of a transition area depends on the value of the freshwater wetland to which it is adjacent. For a freshwater wetland of exceptional resource value the transition area may be [n]o greater than 150 feet nor less than 75 feet, N.J.S.A. 13:9B-16b(1), while the transition area for a freshwater wetland of intermediate resource value may be [n]o greater than 50 feet nor less than 25 feet, N.J.S.A. 13:9B-16b(2). [E]xcept for normal property maintenance or minor and temporary disturbances... resulting from ... normal construction activities, or unless a waiver is obtained, the following activities are expressly prohibited in transition areas: (1) Removal, excavation, or disturbance of the soil; (2) Dumping or filling with any materials; (3) Erection of structures, except for temporary structures of 150 square feet or less; (4) Placement of pavements; (5) Destruction of plant life which would alter the existing pattern of vegetation. [ N.J.S.A. 13:9B-17a.] DEP adopted rules [1] implementing the Act in 1988 and adopted additional provisions governing transition areas in 1989. 32 N.J.R. 2693, 2694 (Aug. 7, 2000). The rules were amended in 1992 primarily to allow DEP to qualify to replace the Corps as the authority to issue permits. Ibid. It was not until March 1994, however, that DEP actually assumed permitting authority. Ibid. In August 2000, DEP proposed a comprehensive readoption of the rules with amendments that became effective in September 2001. 33 N.J.R. at 3045. One part of the rules now under challenge concerns the definition and application of a residential development project within the wetlands area and any adjoining transition areas. N.J.A.C. 7:7A-1.4, -2.2(a)7, -2.6(a)6. The rules define a residential development project as the construction of a new structure for residential use and the area within 20 feet of the structure on all sides, measured outward from the outside edge of the foundation of the structure. N.J.A.C. 7:7A-1.4. In addition to the regulated activities for freshwater wetlands contained in the Act, DEP also sought to regulate the [p]lacement of any portion of a residential development project in any category of freshwater wetland, N.J.A.C. 7:7A-2.2(a)7, or in or near any transition area, N.J.A.C. 7:7A-2.6(a)6. For simplification, we refer to the definition of residential development project contained in N.J.A.C. 7:7A-1.4, along with N.J.A.C. 7:7A-2.2(a)7, and N.J.A.C. 7:7A-2.6(a)6, as the RDP Rules. The effect of the RDP Rules was the expansion of the width of transition areas for wetlands adjacent to structures by an additional twenty feet. In a series of statements and responses to commenters, DEP defended the RDP Rules by asserting that based on its vast experience it was inevitable that the activities of home owners would spill from their land either into a freshwater wetland of ordinary value or into the transition areas surrounding freshwater wetlands of intermediate and exceptional resource value. 32 N.J.R. at 2697-98. DEP considered the cost of policing and eradicating those violations on a case-by-case basis as prohibitive and preemptively sought to prevent such violations through the RDP Rules. Ibid.