TRENTON – Changes to construction permitting requirements for properties in flood zones are “totally unreasonable,” according to North Wildwood City Clerk Scott Jett at a recent city governing body meeting. “If you look up in the dictionary government overreach or big brother, this would be the definition,” he added.
At a Stone Harbor Borough Council meeting, Construction Official Ray Poudrier told council members that what had been a one-page permit would now grow to 14 pages.
In Stone Harbor and North Wildwood, predictions were that additional personnel would have to be hired to accommodate the new regulations.
What is happening is something the state calls New Jersey Protection Against Climate Threats (NJPACT), an effort at a “sweeping reform” of state regulations to adapt those land-use regulations to the projected impact of climate change.
The effort stems from Gov. Phil Murphy’s Executive Order 100 and the implications of the state’s Energy Master Plan, which was issued in 2020.
The state set two broad goals: One was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% over the 2006 levels by 2050. The other involves rule changes that will “make natural and build environments more resilient to the impacts of climate change that we cannot avoid.”
Almost immediately following Murphy’s issuance of Executive Order 100, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued Administrative Order No. 2020-01, which committed the agency to alter regulations to “incorporate climate change considerations” to the Flood Hazard Areas Control Act (FHACA), Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act (FWPA), and Coastal Zone Management Rules (CZM).
Resilient Environment and Landscape’s (REAL) initiative rulemaking, a part of NJPACT, is not over and is likely to continue to have a significant impact on shore community development.
NJPACT is a response to a series of studies that were aimed at assessing the impact of climate change on the state. It is based on an acceptance of climate change broadly conceived, of the argument that climate change is driven by human activity and that it is not explained as part of a natural change in climate over time.
Among the studies underlying the changes in rulemaking are the New Jersey Climate Change Alliance Science and Technical Panel Report (SNAP) of 2019 prepared by Rutgers University and New Jersey’s 2020 Scientific Report on Climate Change.
These reports project extreme changes in a series of what the state lists as key indicators of climate change to which land-use rules must adapt. Some of what the reports predict, when used as a basis for rulemaking, are likely to produce increasingly significant changes to land-use regulations.
Sea level rise is seen as having a 50% chance of exceeding 1.4 feet by 2050, with even higher levels possible.
Temperature changes show, according to the 2020 report, that New Jersey is warming faster than the rest of the Northeast, partly due to the state’s population density and the high prevalence of concrete and similar ground coverings. Predictions include that heatwaves will be more frequent and longer lasting.
An increase in precipitation could hit 4% to 11% by 2050, raising the intensity and frequency of major rain events and leading to more flooding.
Ocean acidification will intensify the downward trend in ocean pH levels, causing major harm to the state’s economy.
The list goes on, with projections that climate change will stress the state’s water supply and increase the likelihood of saltwater intrusion. Tidal wetlands are seen as in danger because they cannot gain elevation at the same rate that seas are rising. The projections are severe and drive the direction of regulatory change.
One aspect of the reliance on perceived science is that the scientific basis for the rule changes is itself likely to change. Throughout the scientific studies underlying the regulatory changes, one reads that the projections themselves change.
In one instance, the reports indicate that “the local rate of sea-level rise will likely increase from the current rate.”
Adapting emissions and land-use regulations to climate change may become an ongoing activity of adaption to changing scientific projections.
Much of the NJPACT language depicts the land-use regulations as aimed at 2050 climate change realities, which can no longer be altered by any emissions scenarios. In a sense, the reports say it is too late to alter the realities of climate change for 2050. The emissions regulation changes are aimed at altering the reality the state will experience from 2070 to 2100 and beyond.
Another aspect of the NJPACT rule changes is the belief that they can go forward based on existing law and authority, with minimal need for new legislation. This makes the changes largely agency driven.
In October 2021, the state issued its Climate Change Resilience Strategy. In the Coastal Resiliency Plan portion of that document, the key findings include that resilience must be “incorporated into design of new development and redevelopment projects.”
It further promises “prioritization of state funding for coastal resiliency projects to protect major population and economic centers.”
It also adds a vision of “more private property owners adapting to climate change.” That adaption is likely to be driven, in part, by the DEP rulemaking.
The state’s coastal strategy is complex and impactful. According to a timeline on the DEP website, the first quarter of 2022 is a period for public comment on FHACA, FWPA, and CZM rule proposals. Just below this, it states that “active rule proposals” for comment will be coming soon.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
