N.J. Admin. Code § 7:7A-7.7

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

Section 7:7A-7.7 - General permit 7- Human-made ditches or swales in headwaters

(a) General permit 7 authorizes activities in freshwater wetlands that are human-made ditches or in freshwater wetlands that are swales, provided all applicable requirements at N.J.A.C. 7:7A-5.7 and 20.3 are met and:

1. The ditch or swale is located in a headwater;

i. For the purpose of this section, "headwater" means a water or wetland that is upstream of the point on a non-tidal stream where the average annual flow is less than five cubic feet per second. The Department may estimate this point from available data by using area annual precipitation, area drainage basin maps, and the average annual runoff coefficient, or by similar means. For a stream that is dry for long periods of the year, the Department may establish the downstream boundary of the headwater as that point in the stream where water flow exceeds five cubic feet per second at least 50 percent of the time. In general, the Department considers a water body with a drainage area of less than 50 acres to be a headwater.

2. The activities do not take place in the following:

i. A ditch or swale that is, or is located within, an exceptional resource value wetland, as described at N.J.A.C. 7:7A-3.2; or

ii. A ditch or swale that is, or is located within, a USEPA priority wetland.

3. The activities do not result in either of the following:

i. The loss or substantial modification of more than one acre of freshwater wetlands; or

ii. A disruption of a surface water connection, resulting in the isolation of wetlands or State open waters which were not isolated at the time of the general permit application.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:7A-7.7

Amended and recodified from 7:7A-5.7 by 49 N.J.R. 3849(a), effective 12/18/2017