DRN NJ Stormwater Management Implementation Report

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) released their new report critiquing the implementation of New Jersey’s Stormwater Management Rules at municipal and state levels. Detailed reviews conducted of stormwater projects in Hamilton Township, Mercer County revealed serious shortcomings in compliance with the Rules and the report goes on to state that the DRN believes that the poor stormwater reviews in Hamilton Township are not the exception but the rule. The report provides detailed technical reviews for many of the projects to substantiate the report’s claims as well as provides a list of recommendations on how to remedy the problem.

The report implicates local, state and federal agencies as ineffectual to enforce the Clean Water Act to protect water resources and specifically sites environmental justice issues in the failure to enforce the Rules. The DRN recommendations range from the education of land use board members on the Rules to requiring true audits of the permit program by both the NJDEP and EPA.

In light of the EPA’s landmark settlement with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and co-plaintiffs with a “legally enforceable commitment that requires EPA to take specific actions by dates certain to ensure that pollution to local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay is reduced sufficiently to remove the Bay from the federal “dirty waters” list,” this report highlights the legal responsibility of these agencies to protect water resources.

The full report can be found here: http://delawareriverkeeper.org/resources/Reports/Hamilton_Twp_NJ_SWM_Implementation_Report.pdf