That sounds like good news Lisa. I will look fwd to reading that doc. and whatever is yet to come. Maybe there is hope yet. C.

On second thought...I googled the subject and I hope we arent talking about this order.

NEW JERSEY CUTS DEEPLY INTO PROTECTED STREAM BUFFERS Commissioner Revokes Her Year-Old Order, Leaving Buffers at Mercy of Politics
Trenton The top environmental officer in New Jersey has revoked her own order issued little more than a year ago protecting stream buffers. The effect of this sudden reversal makes it easier to cut stream buffers in half from 300 feet to 150 feet allowing development in the area surrounding the most sensitive streams, lakes and rivers, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
On January 24, 2008, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner (DEP) Lisa Jackson rescinded an Administrative Order that she issued on January 2, 2007. That 2007 Order mandated that developers conduct a strict scientific demonstration to prove that any disturbance or reduction in the buffer widths along Category One streams resulted in equivalent protection before any construction would be allowed:
[T]he Department shall not approve any encroachment [into a buffer] unless the applicant has demonstratedthat the functional value of the [buffer] will be maintained.
Her 2007 Order was praised by environmentalists but loathed by developers.
Her 2008 guidance document guts that demonstration and means that the current 300 foot buffer can be reduced to 150 feet without a rigorous prior showing that the important natural values will be protected.
Prior to the 2007 Order, developers had been able to obtain equivalence findings from compliant local governments without any meaningful guarantee against net resource loss. In fact, highly publicized cases where builders were allowed to destructively build inside the 300 foot buffers prompted Commissioner Jackson to issue the 2007 Order she has now rescinded.
Make no mistake, this is a major rollback of protections, stated New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, noting that DEP is touting an addition of 900 miles of new Category One stream designations as a major environmental achievement. This effectively rolls back 300 foot buffers to 150 feet.
Ironically, on January 30, 2008, less than one week after her retreat on stream buffers, Jackson offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the apprehension of the person who cut down a tree with a bald eagles nest in Cumberland County. Bald eagles nest along the shores of inland lakes and rivers the very riparian areas now placed in jeopardy by Jacksons stream buffer turn-around.
Tens of thousands of trees that are potential eagle nesting sites could be lost by Commissioner Jacksons hypocritical u-turn, Wolfe added. The DEP would rather look at one tree than see the entire forest.
Significantly, DEP appears to be adopting the argument that conversion of buffer lands to housing reduces water pollution, compared to farming a position not surprisingly shared by the Builders Association. This stance provides a somewhat questionable rationale for buffer penetration.
The whole point of buffers is to keep construction out of the most critical part of the watershed, Wolfe countered. By turning tail on this point, Commissioner Jackson has transformed stream buffers into builder speed bumps that will be easily run over.


New Jersey Stream Buffers Cut Back by Senior Environment Official
TRENTON, New Jersey, February 11, 2008 (ENS) - The commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has revoked her own order issued little more than a year ago protecting stream buffers. These strips of grass, shrubs, and trees beside streams provide cooling shade and act to remove pollutants in urban stormwater, reduce erosion and stabilize stream banks.
The effect of this sudden reversal in New Jersey policy makes it easier to cut the widths of stream buffers in half - from 300 feet to 150 feet - allowing development in the area surrounding the most sensitive streams, lakes and rivers, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, PEER.
On January 24, Lisa Jackson, Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, DEP, rescinded an Administrative Order that she issued on January 2, 2007.
The 2007 Order mandated that developers conduct a strict scientific demonstration using a specific technology to prove that any disturbance or reduction in the buffer widths along Category One streams resulted in equivalent protection before any construction would be allowed.
"[T]he Department shall not approve any encroachment [into a buffer] unless the applicant has demonstratedthat the functional value of the [buffer] will be maintained," the 2007 order states.
The order was applauded by environmentalists but hated by developers, who wanted to build in the stream buffer areas.
In the January 24, 2008 Administrative Order rescinding the previous one, Jackson said the earlier guidance " did not effectively account for activities that would enhance the overall functional value of the SWRPA [special water resource protected area]."
"Further, the Department recognized that there may be other scientifically valid functional value assessments that may be used to demonstrate that the functional value and overall condition of the SWRPA are being maintained."
Her latest guidance document means that the current 300 foot buffer can be reduced to 150 feet without a prior demonstration that the natural values will be protected, says PEER.
Prior to the 2007 order, developers had been able to obtain "equivalence" findings from compliant local governments without any meaningful guarantee against net resource loss.
In fact, highly publicized cases where builders were allowed to destructively build inside the 300 foot buffers prompted Commissioner Jackson to issue the 2007 order she has now rescinded.
"Make no mistake, this is a major rollback of protections," said New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, noting that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is touting an addition of 900 miles of new Category One stream designations as a major environmental achievement.
"This effectively rolls back 300 foot buffers to 150 feet," Wolfe said.
They DEP appears to be adopting the argument that conversion of buffer lands to housing reduces water pollution compared to farming - a position shared by the Builders Association, Wolfe says.
"The whole point of buffers is to keep construction out of the most critical part of the watershed," he says. "By turning tail on this point, Commissioner Jackson has transformed stream buffers into builder speed bumps that will be easily run over."
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.



-- Edited by ChuckMueller at 20:13, 2008-02-11

It appears that Chucks post is the correct one; it seems that Lisa read this incorrectly, somehow.

The DEP has always demonstrated itself to be more concerned with politics and political correctness than with the environment. This latest order is just a continuance of that posture.

Without saying too much on a public board - I have to say that I have gone over this document with several people who are very well versed in environmental law in the state of nj and their opinion is that this does protect the land along the Beaver and Hibernia Brooks.
You need to read the cited laws as back up to the document. While there are some "hardship" exemptions in this document they do not apply to the project at hand.
I would really like to say more but it is best that I do not at this point on the board. If anyone has questions call me.
Lisa