The Express-Times (
Flood rules
raise protests
Environmental
groups protest loophole in state regulations. Corzine proposing tougher rules.
Thursday,
October 12, 2006
By
Martin C. Bricketto
The
Express-Times
TRENTON | As Gov. Jon Corzine proposes tougher flood prevention rules for land
next to rivers and streams, environmental groups are arguing that the state has
allowed a loophole that threatens such buffer areas already under protection.
"It is not being
enforced in any sensible manner," said Mike King, coordinator of
Phillipsburg-based organization REALsmart, a group
opposed to residential sprawl. "It's nonsensical."
A letter from 27
environmental groups to state Department of Environmental Protection
Commissioner Lisa Jackson protesting the handling of buffers along so-called
"C-1" creeks -- streams of high water quality -- came the same day
that the state Supreme Court declined to hear a petition contesting those
protected areas.
DEP spokesman Lawrence
Hanja said his agency is aware of the issue and studying it.
The groups say farmland
sold for commercial or residential development is being exempted from strict
buffer requirements intended to protect water quality and mitigate flooding.
Active farmland next to C-1
streams is not subject to the 300-foot buffer put in place along those
waterways by 2004 storm water management rules.
When someone moves to
develop that farmland, the DEP has been classifying such properties as if they
were already developed, requiring a 150-foot buffer instead of 300 feet,
according to
"All those areas are
critical for protection of waters and are being allowed to get developed,"
Tittel said. "We feel farmland is open space and therefore a 300-foot
buffer should apply, which was the original intent of the rule and the original
interpretation."
The groups even suggested Corzine may be unaware of the situation.
They said Corzine proposed in August to increase no-development
buffers along 80 percent of the state's rivers and streams in response to
flooding that has wreaked havoc on towns along the
"He doesn't seem to
realize that's not what's happening," King said.
Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley
said it was "simply inaccurate" to suggest the Governor is not aware
of those concerns or the DEP is misleading him.
"That type of rhetoric
doesn't solve problems and, quite honestly, it ignores the facts," Coley
said.
An additional problem, King
said, is that there is no public notice or permitting process for obtaining the
reduced, 150-foot buffer, obfuscating how widespread the problem may actually
be. They requested additional information about the practice from the DEP in
the Oct. 9 letter.
The groups said they have
been communicating with the DEP about the issue since July. Hanja said the
department was "puzzled" by the most recent letter's timing.
"The department
communicated with Mr. King just last week that we're aware of this issue and
looking into it," Hanja said. "It's really just a matter of time.
We're committed in following through with addressing their concerns."
Asked if a change in the
buffer practices was possible, Hanja said "that's really what we're
looking at, to see what needs to be addressed."
Coley said Corzine has instructed Jackson and DEP leadership to study
changes to flood plane areas, which they are currently doing.
"He has full
confidence that they will conduct a thorough review," Coley said.
This year, a
Groups involved in the case
announced on Wednesday that the state Supreme Court has declined to hear an
appeal brought by the association.
"The lesson here is
that environmental regulators can and should approach storm water management in
a comprehensive manner, preventing runoff pollution by keeping natural systems
intact," Maya K. van Rossum, head of the
Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said in a statement.
Martin C. Bricketto is