Credit: (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)Oct. 2, 2015: A house in the Strathmere section of Upper Township where the neighborhood was enveloped in floodwatersThis article was originally published in South Jersey Climate News, a partner in a collaborative of news organizations working together to provide comprehensive climate change coverage for New Jersey.Live along the New Jersey coast? Your home could be under floodwaters in the next 75 years.
New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection published its proposed New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threat’s (NJPACT) regulations last August, outlining its policy plan for dealing with climate change in the next 75 years. With the rising issue of sea level rise and extreme weather, the DEP hopes to prepare for worsening climate effects in the future by creating regulations in certain areas today.
The Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) rules, part of NJPACT, would make sweeping changes to current environmental regulations, changing how stormwater is managed, expanding the area of flood-prone zones, requiring higher building elevations and impacting the process of construction approval.
The proposal was applauded by environmental groups for its comprehensive plan of adjustment for climate change in New Jersey, one of the first states in the country to have regulations based on current climate projections.
“NJPACT regulations are focused on looking forward rather than backward,” said Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions executive director Jennifer Coffey, who served in chief advisory groups throughout the creation of the NJPACT regulations.
“We have been using data from the past to try to predict storm impacts and flooding impacts of the future,” she said. “That doesn’t work anymore because with climate change, the past is no longer a predictor of the future.”
Credit: (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)Jan. 24, 2016: Max Sorensen paddled through his neighborhood in Stone Harbor after flooding caused by a major storm.While lauded on one side, the proposal also faced opposition, with some residents and business owners arguing that the proposed rules would harm home values, make it difficult to build, and make it harder for new homeowners to find affordable housing. They say a more incremental approach to climate change would be more plausible.
“We applaud the department for wanting to address the very real issue of sea level rise, but what DEP is doing is an extreme position,” said Ray Cantor, vice president of government affairs for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association.
“It’s going to have tremendous impacts on residents everywhere in the state, especially along our water bodies. We think they need to rethink the proposal.”
Cantor was previously chief adviser to the former commissioner of DEP Bob Martin, and leads environmental advocacy efforts for NJBIA, the largest business association in New Jersey.
Significant provisions
While the entire propo
