This is the e-mail response
from NJDEP to the
-------Original
Message-------
> From: Larry Baier <Larry.Baier@dep.state.nj.us>
> Subject: Re: Fw: C-1 Buffer
Letter to DEP as of July 1(27 groups)
> Sent:
>
> Dear Mr. King,
> As you know, the antidegradation
policies in the New Jersey Surface Water Quality Standards (N.J.A.C.
7:9B-1.5(d)iii.) require that Category One Waters be protected from any
measurable changes (including calculable or predicted changes) to water
quality. For point source discharges this standard can be applied directly
because the effluent is of a known quality and flow. Non point
sources of pollution, by their intermittent nature and variable quality
characteristics do not lend themselves to an "end of pipe
analysis." Therefore, non point sources of pollution have
historically been controlled through the application of best management
practices. Some of these best management practices are required
through the stormwater management rules (N.J.A.C.
7:8). The 300-foot Special Water Resource Protection Area (SWRPA)
established on either side of Category One streams and their tributaries is an
additional best management practices applied to non point sources of pollution
adjacent to Category One waters and their tributaries. The buffer is
intended to maintain the existing water quality of the receiving C1 waters by
"polishing" runoff through filtration prior to its introduction to
the Category One water.
>
> Existing land uses within the watershed of a Category
One water already contribute to the water quality of those surface
waters. Maintaining those land uses will not result in a measurable
change in water quality in the Category One water. Consequently, the
stormwater management rules allow existing uses
within the SWRPA to be maintained. Further as elaborated below,
there is no mechanism available to implement the stormwater
management rules to existing development. Therefore, the Department
must rely on other non-regulatory means, such as 319(h) grants and the Farm
Bill programs, to address water quality impacts that result from existing land
uses.
>
> However, additional encroachment within the SWRPA,
including new agricultural development, is intended to be limited to previously
disturbed areas. Previously disturbed areas include existing active
agricultural uses; however, it does not include areas where woody vegetation is
present. The difficulty in preventing new agricultural activities in
previously undisturbed SWRPAs is that many
agricultural activities are protected against municipal regulation through the
Right to Farm Act (N.J.S.A. 4:1C). As the stormwater
management rules do not establish a regulatory program in and of itself,
application of the rules relies on the Municipal Land Use Law and the
Department's Land Use Regulation permits (Stream Encroachment, Freshwater
Wetlands, Waterfront Development, Coastal Wetlands and CAFRA). If a
new agricultural activity is exempt from municipal regulation and does not need
any of the Land Use Regulation permits, the rules cannot be applied except through
the County Agriculture Development Board and the State Agricultural Development
Committee.
>
> For redevelopment within the SWRPA the stormwater rules allow that development in disturbed
portions of the outer 150-feet of the SWRPA provided that the applicant demonstrates
that the overall condition and functional value of the buffer will be
maintained to the maximum extent practicable. In the inner 150-feet
of the buffer (closer to the water being protected) redevelopment is confined
to the existing footprint of impervious surfaces. All disturbed
areas that are not paved in the inner 150-feet of the buffer on a site
undergoing redevelopment, must be either restored or left undisturbed in
perpetuity. All undisturbed areas within the entire 300-foot SWRPA
must also remain undisturbed in perpetuity. The reasoning behind the
allowance of certain redevelopment within the SWRPA relates back to the purpose
of the Category One buffer: to prevent measurable change in water quality.
>
> For example, standard agricultural practices include
small buffer widths. Together with tilling and grazing practices,
agricultural land uses that do not employ best management practices, can
contribute significant pollutants to the receiving waters, and can be one of
the most damaging land uses to water quality. Based on the USEPA
Unit Area Loading Coefficients, the Total Suspended Solids load for agriculture
is significantly higher than for residential runoff (300 lbs/ac/yr vs. 100-140
lbs/ac/yr). For nutrients, the conversion of agricultural land to
low-density residential development reduces the runoff loading (1.3lbsTP/ac/yr vs. .6lbsTP/ac/yr). In
areas where the outer 150 feet of the SWRPA is converted from agriculture to
residential, the inner 150 feet will be allowed to revert to a natural
vegetated cover, providing an additional vegetative filter from development
runoff. In some cases, additional buffer restoration measures
including aggressive reforestation or a wider buffer may also be required
depending on proposed land use intensity or site conditions such as
slope. This buffer as well as other stormwater
management controls required under the Stormwater
Management rules will further reduce impacts from residential development to
mitigate nutrients loads from the new development.
>
> Obviously, a functional value assessment of the SWRPA
must be performed on a case-by-case basis, in consideration of the current
condition of the SWRPA and up gradient land use as compared to the future condition
of the SWRPA and up gradient land use. However, where the existing
SWRPA is so disturbed as to be non-existent, in most cases the restoration of
150-feet of buffer will vastly improve the functional value of the buffer.
>
> I hope that this has answered your questions in this
regard. If not please feel free to write or call me. A
hard copy of this response is being forwarded to Sandy Batty under Assistant
Commissioner Mauriello's signature as well.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> NJDEP, Division of Watershed Management
> P.O. Box 418
>
> (609) 984-0058