N.J. Admin. Code § 7:15-4.4

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 7:15-4.4 - Delineation of sewer service areas

(a) Areas eligible for sewer service shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(b) In the Pinelands Area, areas eligible for sewer service are delineated as follows:

1. The management area designations and boundaries established within the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), N.J.A.C. 7:50, as Regional Growth Areas, Pinelands Towns, Pinelands Villages, and substantially developed portions of a Military and Federal Installation Area,* shall constitute the areas eligible for sewer service areas; and

2. Any other area approved by the Pinelands Commission as appropriate for the development of centralized wastewater treatment and collection facilities where the Department concurs.

(c) In the Highlands Region, areas eligible for sewer service are delineated as follows:

1. In the Highlands preservation area, those areas that were connected to a wastewater treatment facility as of August 10, 2004, or those areas that are eligible for sewer service pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:38-2.3, 2.4, 2.6, and 3.4;

2. In the Highlands planning area, for Highlands conforming municipalities, the areas established within the Highlands Regional Master Plan as Existing Community Zone, Lake Community Sub-Zone, or designated as Highlands redevelopment areas or Highlands centers; and

3. In the Highlands planning areas, for municipalities that do not conform with the Highlands Regional Master Plan, areas eligible for sewer service shall conform to (d) and (h) below.

(d) Except for areas identified in (b) and (c)1 and 2 above, areas shall only be eligible for sewer service area delineation if they are not identified as environmentally sensitive areas at (e) below, coastal planning areas listed at (f) below, or areas subject to EPA grant conditions at (g) below, except as otherwise provided at (i), (j), (k), and (l) below. These represent the minimum standards; WMP agencies may incorporate more protective standards into the applicable WMP.

(e) Environmentally sensitive areas shall be defined based on a composite geographic information systems (GIS) analysis, as any contiguous area of 25 acres or larger consisting of any of the following features alone or in combination:

1. Areas mapped as endangered or threatened wildlife species habitat as identified on the Department's Landscape Maps of Habitat for Endangered, Threatened or Other Priority Wildlife as Rank 3, 4 and 5. The data are available as a download at the Department's webpage at http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis/listall.html titled "Landscape Project Data";

2. Areas mapped as Natural Heritage Priority Sites. The Natural Heritage Priority Site data is available as a digital data download at the Department's webpage at http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis/listall.html titled "Natural Heritage Priority Sites";

3. Category One waters designated in the Department's Surface Water Quality Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:9B, based on the Department's maps of such waters, and their corresponding 300 foot riparian zone based upon the Flood Hazard Area Control Act Rules, N.J.A.C. 7:13. These waters can be determined using the download available on the Department's webpage at http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis/listall.html titled "Surface Water Quality Standards"; and

4. Wetlands as mapped pursuant to N.J.S.A. 13:9A-1 and 13:9B-25. This data is available as a download on the Department's webpage at http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis/listall.html titled "Wetlands."

(f) Coastal Fringe Planning Areas, Coastal Rural Planning Areas, or Coastal Environmentally Sensitive Planning Areas identified on the CAFRA Planning Map, available as a download on the Department's webpage at http://www.nj.gov/dep/gis/listall.html titled "CAFRA Layer" shall not be identified as eligible for sewer service area, unless documentation is provided demonstrating that their inclusion is necessary to:

1. Abate an existing imminent public health and safety issue; or

2. Accommodate infill development or as necessary to create a linear boundary that coincides with recognizable geographic, political, or environmental features depicted in Department GIS coverages.

(g) Environmentally sensitive areas in which 201 Facilities Plan grant limitations prohibit the extension of sewer service shall not be included in areas designated as eligible for sewer service area, unless documentation is provided demonstrating that a mapping revision or waiver has been obtained from EPA.

(h) Except for areas identified in (b) and (c)1 and 2 above, the following factors shall be considered in the delineation of areas eligible for sewer service:

1. Land uses allowed in zoning ordinances that have been adopted and are in effect under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-62;

2. Future land uses shown in municipal or county master plans that have been adopted and are in effect under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28 or 40:27-2; and

3. Local land use objectives, such as preservation of permanently preserved agricultural lands or public open space, forests, wildlife management areas, natural areas, preserves or other conservation areas, source water protection, or other areas that are not expected to support development that would require connection to sewers.

(i) With the exception of Natural Heritage Priority Sites, environmentally sensitive areas listed at (e) above may be included in the sewer service area provided:

1. The environmentally sensitive areas are:

i. Located within an area of an endorsed plan identified for growth and approved by the State Planning Commission;

ii. Located within Planning Area 1 as defined in the State Plan Policy Map in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan, established pursuant to State Planning Act, N.J.S.A. 52:18A-196 et seq.; or

iii. Included to accommodate infill development, or to remove undulations in the sewer service area boundary as necessary to create a linear boundary that coincides with recognizable geographic, political, or environmental features depicted in Department GIS coverages;

2. The Department has determined that such areas are not critical to the survival of a local population of endangered or threatened wildlife species; and

3. Environmentally sensitive areas included in a sewer service area pursuant to this provision remain subject to the Department's regulatory permitting programs on a site specific basis.

(j) An applicant for an amendment to an areawide plan under N.J.A.C. 7:15-3.5 may rebut the presumption that the environmental data identified in (e) above is accurate by providing the following information for the Department's review and concurrence:

1. An updated version of the Landscape Maps relative to the one used to determine eligibility for sewer service area delineation, demonstrating that the area is no longer mapped as suitable habitat for endangered or threatened wildlife species as identified on the Department's Landscape Maps of Habitat for Endangered, Threatened or Other Priority Wildlife as Rank 3, 4 and 5;

2. A Habitat Suitability Determination prepared pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:15-4.6 that demonstrates that an area is not suitable habitat for endangered or threatened wildlife species or that the habitat does not contain and no longer supports the natural resource element that caused the area to be identified as a Natural Heritage Priority Site;

3. A Letter of Interpretation issued by the Department pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:7A-3 to demonstrate that an area is not wetlands; or

4. Any other information that demonstrates that the Department's GIS coverage is inaccurate at a particular location.

(k) Areas designated as environmentally sensitive based on the Landscape Maps may be included in the sewer service area provided the Department determines, based upon a review of data provided by the applicant as part of a Habitat Impact Assessment prepared in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:15-4.7 that the proposed project or activity:

1. Avoids the endangered or threatened wildlife species habitat;

2. Will result in insignificant or discountable effects on the maintenance of local breeding, resting, or feeding of the endangered or threatened species;

3. To the extent that the impacts to endangered and threatened wildlife species habitat cannot be avoided, except as provided in (k)4 below, the proposed project or activity includes implementation of conservation measures that will minimize to the maximum extent practicable all adverse modification of suitable habitat and will mitigate for any such adverse modification in a manner that provides for no net loss of habitat value to endangered or threatened species including the local population of that species. Mitigation includes the initiation of new activities benefiting the endangered or threatened species and may include, but is not limited to the creation, enhancement, restoration, management, maintenance, and/or the acquisition of unprotected habitat or any combination thereof as near as feasible to the project or activity that is adversely modifying habitat for the species and generally within the local municipality or county where the project or activity is located. Mitigation measures shall be memorialized in an enforceable document approved by the Department, such as a conservation restriction to be filed in accordance with the New Jersey Recording Act, N.J.S.A. 46:15-1.1 et seq. Where a conservation restriction is required, any plan amendment shall not be effective until receipt by the Department of a "file stamped" copy of the conservation restriction; or

4. For agriculturally dependent endangered or threatened wildlife species as identified by the Department, to the extent that the impacts to endangered and threatened wildlife species habitat cannot be avoided, the proposed project or activity includes implementation of conservation measures that will minimize to the maximum extent practicable all adverse modification of suitable habitat and will mitigate for any such adverse modification of habitat. Mitigation shall include activities intended to benefit agriculturally dependent wildlife species that would not otherwise occur. Activities may include the creation, enhancement, restoration, management, maintenance, and/or acquisition of habitat by a responsible third party, such as a governmental body or nonprofit organization with a conservation purpose, as near as feasible to the project or activity that is adversely modifying habitat for agriculturally dependent species and generally within the local municipality or county where the project or activity is located. Documentation shall be provided by the applicant indicating the nature of the activities, the entity responsible to carry them out and the time frame associated with initiation and maintenance of the activities. Mitigation activities may be for a specified term of years. Mitigation measures shall be memorialized in an enforceable document approved by the Department, such as a conservation restriction to be filed in accordance with the New Jersey Recording Act, N.J.S.A. 46:15-1.1 et seq. Where a conservation restriction is required, any plan amendment shall not be effective until receipt by the Department of a "file stamped" copy of the conservation restriction.

(l) An area designated as environmentally sensitive because it has been identified as a Natural Heritage Priority Site may be included in the sewer service area only if the Department determines that the proposed project or activity avoids or does not adversely impact natural resource element(s) occurring within the Natural Heritage Priority Site. In order to make this determination, the Department shall consider data provided by the applicant as part of a Habitat Suitability Determination as provided at N.J.A.C. 7:15-4.6, or upon review of a Habitat Impact Assessment prepared in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:15-4.7.

(m) A Department determination that an environmentally sensitive area may be included within a sewer service area does not constitute a finding that proposed activities on the property will comply with any other Department rule, including requirements applicable to the environmental feature that results in the area being classified as environmentally sensitive; the applicant seeking to construct a project or conduct an activity in a sewer service area must still obtain any permit or approval applicable to the project or activity and comply with all requirements applicable to that program.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:15-4.4

Amended by 48 N.J.R. 2244(a), effective 11/7/2016