New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Shawn LaTourette recently announced plans to modernize a suite of DEP regulations to better protect communities from coastal flooding, shield critical facilities and infrastructure from the effects of climate change, and improve stormwater management.
The forthcoming rule proposal, known as Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL), will make New Jersey a leader in initiating a comprehensive update of land resource protection regulations to address the current and future impacts of a changing climate. REAL reforms would amend New Jersey’s existing flood hazard, stormwater, coastal zone, and freshwater wetland regulations to address ongoing impacts; improve water quality and flood protections; and address issues of particular concern to overburdened communities.
The state expects to publish a formal rule proposal in July. A copy of the REAL proposal is available at dep.nj.gov/njreal/.
