Official says state must protect public from climate change effects, rejects criticism that potential rules are ‘fundamentally flawed’
DEP official says state has an obligation to plan for higher seas and bigger storms even if that means it will be harder to build in flood-prone areas in future. In this Oct. 30, 2012 file photo, a firehouse is surrounded by floodwaters in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in Hoboken.
By Jon Hurdle, NJ Spotlight Contributing Writer
A top environmental official defended a preliminary outline of new regulations designed to better protect New Jersey’s land and property from the effects of climate change, saying the state has an obligation to plan now for higher seas and bigger storms even if that means it will be harder to build in flood-prone areas in future.
Shawn LaTourette, deputy commissioner at the Department of Environmental Protection, said the DEP has a responsibility to extend its authority over areas that are expected to be partially or completely flooded in coming decades, according to widely accepted forecasts by climate scientists.
In an interview with NJ Spotlight News on Tuesday, he rejected accusations by a leading business organization that the potential rules would damage the economy by making it harder to develop flood-prone areas, and are based on sea-level rise forecasts that are too far in the future to be credible now.
LaTourette was commenting on a so-called road map that will underpin regulations on land use, as part of a process called Protecting Against Climate Threats (NJ PACT). The rules will implement an executive order by Gov. Phil Murphy and are expected to be formally proposed in spring next year.
NJDEP recorded presentation on future climate pollutant reduction rulemaking
Ray Cantor, vice president of government relations at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association criticized the plan as “fundamentally flawed” and economically damaging.
New flooding ‘Risk Zone’
Among other things, the rules would establish a new Inundation Risk Zone under which significant areas of the Atlantic and Delaware Bay shores would be flooded daily or permanently by the end of century because of seas that Rutgers University scientists have forecast will be 5 feet higher than they were in 2000. By 2050, seas are predicted to rise by about 2 feet.
In the Risk Zone, new buildings would require a “hardship exemption” under which applicants for a building permit would have to prove that there is no other reasonable use for the site and that preventing construction would constitute an exceptional and undue hardship. Existing homes in the zone would have to be elevated a foot above a new standard called the Climate Adjusted Flood Elevation (CAFÉ), while non-residential and non-critical buildings would have to be flood-proofed if elevation is impractical.
In tidal areas, the CAFÉ standard would be 5 feet above the level set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a 100-year storm — that which is expected to occur only once in 100 years. The state is proposing the new standard to anticipate future climate effects, replacing the widely criticized federal standard that is based on a historical pattern.
The document was presented to an online meeting of about 200 stakeholders on Dec. 22. The meeting included a presentation by the DEP’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Watershed and Land Management, Vincent Mazzei, who said the possible rule changes could increase the floodplain area to as much as 45% of the state’s land.
