Governor Christie Signs Bill Extending Deadline for Wastewater Management Plans
By: Henry T. Chou, Esq.
On January 17, 2012, Governor Chris Christie signed into law P.L. 2011, c. 203, which extends the deadline for counties and municipalities to file wastewater management plans by at least 180 days. The legislation, which was passed by the Senate and General Assembly on January 9, 2011, is aimed at averting the “negative economic impacts” associated with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) regulations that would have required the withdrawal of numerous wastewater service areas throughout the state.
Under New Jersey’s Water Quality Planning Act, municipal and county wastewater management plans are legally binding documents that identify which areas can be served by public sanitary sewers and which areas can be served only by septic systems or other alternative wastewater disposal mechanisms. In regulations issued in 2008, NJDEP declared (1) virtually all existing wastewater management plans obsolete and (2) that it would invalidate all existing wastewater management plans and prohibit new connections to existing systems unless municipalities and counties submitted revised plans within 9 months. The deadline was later administratively extended to 2009 and again to April 7, 2011.
Despite the prior extensions, many counties and municipalities have not finalized their revised wastewater management plans. Since there is no political appetite to upset the fragile economy by implementing a moratorium on new sewer connections, the legislation received strong support from both the Senate and General Assembly.
Specifically, the law provides that wastewater service area designations and sewer service designations remain in effect and shall not be withdrawn for a period of at least 180 days after the enactment of the bill, and gives the NJDEP commissioner the discretion to extend that period “for such longer time as [the commissioner] may determine.” At the end of the 180-day period, however, counties and municipalities must submit the portions of the wastewater management plans that they have completed, and NJDEP will have the discretion to adopt any such portions that are deemed to be in compliance with its regulations.
The legislation was opposed by the environmental lobby, but staunchly supported by the development community. The Legislature passed the measure and the Governor signed it into law over objections by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which stated that provisions of the law that allow NJDEP to consider applications for site-specific amendments to wastewater management plans may violate the federal Clean Water Act.