N.J. Admin. Code § 7:8-4.2

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

Section 7:8-4.2 - Municipal stormwater management plan and elements

(a) A municipal stormwater management plan shall address stormwater-related water quality, groundwater recharge and water quantity impacts of major development, and may also address stormwater-related water quality, water quantity and groundwater recharge impacts of existing land uses. For purposes of this subchapter, major development is limited to projects that ultimately disturb one or more acres of land.

(b) A municipal stormwater management plan and stormwater control ordinance(s) shall conform with applicable regional stormwater management plan(s).

(c) A municipal stormwater management plan shall, at a minimum:

1. Describe how the municipal stormwater management plan will achieve the goals of stormwater management planning set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:8-2.2;

2. Include maps showing water bodies based on Soil Surveys published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the U.S. Geological Survey Topographic Map, 7.5 minute quadrangle series; or other sources of information depicting water bodies in similar or greater detail;

3. Map groundwater recharge areas and well head protection areas based on maps prepared by the Department under N.J.S.A. 58:11A-13 or a municipal ordinance;

4. Describe how the municipal stormwater management plan incorporates design and performance standards in N.J.A.C. 7:8-5 or alternative design and performance standards adopted as a part of a regional stormwater management plan or water quality management plan;

5. Describe how adequate long-term operation as well as preventative and corrective maintenance (including replacement) of the selected stormwater management measures will be ensured;

6. Describe how the plan will ensure compliance with Safety Standards for Stormwater Management Basins at N.J.A.C. 7:8-6;

7. Describe how the municipal stormwater management plan is coordinated with the appropriate Soil Conservation District and any other stormwater management plans, including any adopted regional stormwater management plan, prepared by any stormwater management planning agency related to the river basins or drainage areas to which the plans and/or ordinances apply;

8. Evaluate the extent to which the municipality's entire master plan (including the land use plan element), official map, and development regulations (including the zoning ordinance) implement green infrastructure and the principles expressed in the nonstructural stormwater management strategies at N.J.A.C. 7:8-2.4. This evaluation shall also be included (with updating as appropriate) in the reexamination report adopted under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-89;

9. Include a map of the municipality showing:

i. Projected land uses assuming full development under existing zoning; and

ii. The hydrologic unit code 14 (HUC 14) drainage areas as defined by the United States Geological Survey; and an estimate, for each HUC 14 drainage area, of the total acreage in the municipality of impervious surface and associated future nonpoint source pollutant load assuming full build out of the projected land uses.

10. At the option of the municipality, document that it has a combined total of less than one square mile of vacant or agricultural lands rather than provide the information required in (c)8 and 9 above. Agricultural lands may be excluded if the development rights to these lands have been permanently purchased or restricted by covenant, easement or deed. Vacant or agricultural lands in environmentally constrained areas may be excluded if the documentation also includes an overlay map of these areas at the same scale as the map under (c)10i below.

i. Documentation shall include an existing land use map at an appropriate scale to display the land uses of each parcel within the municipality. Such a map shall display the following land uses: residential (which may be divided into single family, two-to-four family, and other multi-family), commercial, industrial, agricultural, parkland, other public uses, semipublic uses, and vacant land;

11. In order to grant a variance from the stormwater management measures set forth in its approved municipal stormwater management plan and stormwater control ordinance(s), include a mitigation plan that identifies what measures are necessary, potential mitigation projects, and/or criteria to evaluate mitigation projects that can be used to offset the deficit created by granting a variance in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:8-4.6.

12. Include a copy of the recommended implementing stormwater control ordinance(s) requiring stormwater management measures;

13. The municipal stormwater management plan may also include a stream corridor protection plan to address protection of areas adjacent to waterbodies; and

14. If a municipality that includes an area served by a combined sewer system or a separate storm sewer system that is hydraulically connected to a combined sewer system seeks to establish a community basin(s), include a demonstration, through hydrologic and hydraulic analysis, that the community basin(s) would alleviate existing or prevent potential flood damage or combined sewer overflow. A municipality may allow developments to use the community basin to meet the stormwater runoff quantity control standards at N.J.A.C. 7:8-56, provided the following minimum requirements are met:

i. Each contributory site to the community basin is presently served by a combined sewer system or a separate storm sewer system that is hydraulically connected to the combined sewer system;

ii. The runoff from each contributory site meets the green infrastructure, groundwater recharge, and water quality standards at N.J.A.C. 7:8-5.3, 5.4, and 5.5, as applicable, before leaving the site, unless a variance is granted pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:8-4.6;

iii. The conveyance from each contributory site to the community basin is capable of carrying the 100-year storm to the community basin without overflow;

iv. The community basin has sufficient capacity to meet the stormwater runoff quantity standards considering all stormwater contributing to the community basin;

v. The municipality is the party responsible for the maintenance of the community basin in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:8-5.8; and

vi. The municipality adopts ordinances to regulate the conditions and limitations of the inflow contributing to the community basin to ensure the continued function of the community basin.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:8-4.2

Amended by R.2016 d.055, effective 6/20/2016.
See: 47 N.J.R. 1041(a), 48 N.J.R. 1067(a).
In (c)13, deleted the second sentence.
Amended by R.2020 d.003, effective 3/2/2020 (operative March 2, 2021).
See: 50 N.J.R. 2375(a), 52 N.J.R. 402(a).
In (c)1, updated the N.J.A.C. reference; rewrote (c)8 and (c)11; in (c)12 deleted "and" from the end; in (c)13 substituted "; and" for a period, and added (c)14.