N.J. Admin. Code § 7:15-4.3

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 11, June 3, 2024

Section 7:15-4.3 - Structure and content of wastewater management plans

(a) The requirements for each WMP component are set forth below. WMPs should be concise, using the minimum feasible narrative and mapping. All pages, tables, and figures in WMPs shall be legible and numbered. Specific requirements for these descriptions, maps, and analyses are set forth in 7:15-1.7 and this subchapter. A WMP shall contain:

1. A title page, identifying the name of the WMP, the WMP agency, and areawide WQM plan(s) affected, the date submitted, and a blank line for the adoption date (for use by the Department). Only the date of the most recent draft shall appear as the date submitted;

2. A table of contents identifying major text components, tables, figures, and maps, with page and map number references;

3. A brief summary of actions proposed in the WMP including a description of the number of acres added and/or subtracted from the area eligible for sewer service and strategies to address any potential capacity deficiencies identified in the wastewater treatment capacity or nitrate dilution analyses;

4. A narrative section with a description of the following:

i. The WMP area;

ii. Wastewater treatment facilities tables required under (b) below and relationships between and among municipalities and the wastewater treatment facilities;

iii. Descriptions of the information used to perform the build-out, wastewater treatment capacity, and nitrate dilution analyses required under 7:15-4.5 including, but limited to, the sources of the information, supporting, and background documentation and other factors considered in preparing the WMP;

iv. Results of the wastewater treatment capacity and nitrate dilution analyses required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:15-4.5; and

v. Strategies that demonstrate the potential to address capacity deficiencies identified through the analyses; and

5. Maps as required under (c) below.

(b) Wastewater treatment facility tables shall be prepared for each existing and anticipated wastewater treatment facility, and shall include the information listed below:

1. The name of the wastewater treatment facility;

2. Identification of whether the wastewater treatment facility is existing or is an anticipated wastewater treatment facility;

3. The name of the wastewater treatment facility owner and NJPDES permittee;

4. The physical location of the wastewater treatment facility including municipality, county, street address and lot/block;

5. The NJPDES permit number, if assigned. If the wastewater treatment facility has been assigned a NJPDES permit number but the final permit has not been issued, the word "pending" should follow the NJPDES permit number;

6. Identification of whether the wastewater treatment facility discharges or will discharge to surface water, ground water, or both;

7. The name of the receiving surface water body or aquifer;

8. Identification of the classification of the receiving surface water body or aquifer as specified in the Surface Water Quality Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:9B, or the Ground Water Quality Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:9C;

9. The discharge location (latitude and longitude or State Plane Coordinates) or planned discharge location (if known) for each existing NJPDES-regulated wastewater treatment facility and each wastewater treatment facility for which an NJPDES permit application is pending;

10. The flow identified in the NJPDES permit in millions of gallons per day. The flow shall be identified as to whether it is expressed as an annual average, maximum monthly average, 30-day average, daily maximum, or on some other basis. If the wastewater treatment facility does not have a final NJPDES permit, space shall be provided for insertion of the flow, once the permit is issued; and

11. Identification of the existing and projected population and/or development and wastewater flow to be served by the wastewater treatment facility during the planning period of 20-years for urbanized municipalities or at build-out for all other municipalities.

(c) Each WMP shall include the following maps:

1. WMP Area Map (Map No. 1). Where applicable, the following political and jurisdictional, boundaries, and features shall be identified on this map:

i. The WMP area boundary;

ii. Areawide WQM planning area boundaries;

iii. Municipal boundaries;

iv. The coastal area boundary, as described in 13:19-4, and the Department's Coastal Zone Management rules at 7:7-1.2(b) including the Hackensack Meadowlands District defined in 13:17-4;

v. The Pinelands Area and the Pinelands National Reserve; and

vi. The Highlands preservation area and the Highlands planning area.

2. Selected Environmentally Sensitive Features Map (Map No. 2). A composite map depicting each of the following environmental features in (c)2i through viii below based on the most current GIS layers available from the Department at the time of WMP submission. This map shall also state that "Development in areas mapped as environmentally sensitive features may be subject to special restrictions under Federal or State statutes or rules. Interested persons should check with the Department of Environmental Protection for the latest information. Depiction of environmental features shall be for general information purposes only, and shall not be construed to define the legal geographic jurisdiction of such statutes or rules."

i. Suitable habitat for endangered and threatened species as identified on the Department's Landscape Maps of Habitat for Endangered, Threatened and Other Priority Wildlife as Rank 3, 4 and 5;

ii. Natural Heritage Priority Sites;

iii. Surface waters, as mapped on the Department's graphic information systems (GIS) hydrography coverage;

iv. Category One waters designated in the Department's Surface Water Quality Standards, N.J.A.C. 7:9B, based on the Department's maps of such waters, and their corresponding 300-foot riparian zone based on the Flood Hazard Area Control Act Rules, N.J.A.C. 7:13;

v. Coastal wetlands that have been mapped by the Department under the Wetlands Act of 1970, 13:9A-1 et seq.;

vi. Other freshwater and estuarine wetlands, based on maps prepared by the Department under the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act, 13:9B-25.c;

vii. Coastal Fringe Planning Areas, Coastal Rural Planning Areas, and Coastal Environmentally Sensitive Planning Area; and

viii. Environmentally sensitive areas in which 201 Facilities Plan grant limitations prohibit the extension of sewer service, if available.

3. Wastewater Service Area Map (Map No. 3). Where applicable, the following regional planning area boundaries, wastewater-related jurisdictions, facilities, and wastewater service areas shall be identified on this map:

i. The Pinelands Management Area boundaries within the Pinelands Area and the Pinelands National Reserve;

ii. The land use capability zones established within the Highlands Regional Master Plan adopted by the Highlands Council pursuant to 13:20-8;

iii. District boundaries of sewerage authority districts, as defined in 40:14A-3(6), districts of a municipal authority, as defined in 40:14B-3(5), and municipal utility authority districts, as defined in 40:62-1 et seq. For the purposes of this section, district shall also mean the Passaic Valley Sewerage District defined under 58:14-1 et seq.;

iv. Franchise areas for sewer utilities regulated by the Board of Public Utilities and other contractual boundaries defining sewer service area commitments or other legally binding arrangements (for example, sewerage agency members or contract customer communities);

v. The location of each domestic and industrial wastewater treatment facility that is anticipated to exist in the future, including existing facilities that will remain in service, and the discharge outfall for each. The name and NJPDES permit number(s), if assigned, of each wastewater treatment facility shall be identified;

vi. A delineation of sewer service areas, as determined in accordance with 7:15-4.4, differentiating that area that is:

(1) Assigned sewer service area, differentiating between area that currently conveys sewage to each existing or proposed wastewater treatment facility and that which is proposed to convey sewage to each existing or proposed wastewater treatment facility; or

(2) Unassigned sewer service area; and

vii. A delineation of non-sewer service area.

4. Zoning map(s) (Map No. 4). Where applicable, a map or maps depicting municipal parcel mapping, current composite or municipal zoning as used as the basis for the build-out analysis required pursuant to 7:15-4.5.

5. Other map(s) (Map 5). Where applicable, map or maps depicting other factors considered in delineating sewer service areas.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:15-4.3

Amended by 48 N.J.R. 2244(a), effective 11/7/2016