NJDEP Public Comment Period and Virtual Hearing for Draft Tier A Permit Renewal and Tier B Reassignment
If your municipality is currently designated Tier B under the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit program, you are likely aware of the efforts by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to reassign your municipality to Tier A.
All municipalities, regardless of Tier designation, should be aware and interested in the NJDEP’s proposed renewal of the Tier A permit. The permit renewal proposal expands permit conditions, imposing new mandates and additional requirements on permit holders. More information on the proposed permit renewal can be found in the League’s recent blog post.
Part of the permit renewal process for the draft includes a public comment period, which ends on Tuesday, September 20. This is an opportunity for you to express directly to the NJDEP your concerns with the impacts the Tier A permit renewal will have on your municipality, whether you are currently designated Tier A or are a Tier B municipality being reassigned.
Written comments may be submitted to the NJDEP via email to stormwatermanager@dep.nj.gov. In addition, the NJDEP will be hosting a virtual public hearing to solicit public comment on September 20 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and re-open from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to accommodate additional individuals if the attendance limitation for the 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. session is exceeded. A link to register or attend this hearing has not been provided by the NJDEP, but those interested in attending or providing comment are encouraged to contact NJDEP via email at stormwatermanager@dep.nj.gov.
If your municipality submits comments to the NJDEP, please forward a copy to Frank Marshall, Esq., League Associate General Counsel, at FMarshall@njlm.org.
Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137.