Hot Topics Private Well Testing Act
Stormwater Regulations
Streams Nominated for Upgrade to Category 1 Classification
Water Fun and Education - How much water do you use in your daily life?

Private Well Testing Act

The Private Well Testing Act requires that certain wells be tested as a condition of each contract for sale of real property. For information on the NJ-DEP Private Well Testing Act, see http://www.state.nj.us/dep/pwta.

The SBWA Well Testing Program offers private well testing for SBWA members, and community well testing is held in partnership with local environmental commissions. Check our calendar for the next scheduled well testing in your community.

Stormwater Regulations

Two proposed packages of regulations are designed to reduce pollution levels in New Jersey's water resources caused by stormwater runoff and to help replenish vital ground water supplies throughout the state.

The first set of proposals announced in early January 2003 would update the state's Stormwater Management Rules, which have not been updated since their original adoption in 1983. The rules stress new performance standards for ground water recharge, including both water quality and quantity controls, and promote the integrity of the state's surface and ground water resources. The rules would require maintaining 100 percent of the average annual groundwater recharge statewide, a major initiative toward mitigating against future droughts.

In addition to the recharge standards, the regulations also stress water quality controls. Statewide, these rules require the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for new development in order to reduce pollution runoff levels by 80 percent. These rules also provide the special protections needed for the state's high quality waters, including drinking water reservoirs and streams that provide critical natural resource habitat, by requiring the protection of vegetated areas along waterways designated as Category 1 (C1) water resources.

The second set of stormwater control proposals would require municipalities to develop control plans for stormwater runoff resulting from both existing and new development. These municipal stormwater permitting rules address U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) federally-mandated requirements for Phase II stormwater rules, which were published in December 1999. All 50 states are in the process of implementing these new permitting and stormwater management programs.

The permits will be issued for all municipalities; large public complexes such as colleges, prisons, and hospitals; and highway systems operated by counties and other government agencies, such as the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the South Jersey Transportation Authority. The proposed rule packages will appear in the January 6, 2003 New Jersey Register and are subject to a 60-day public comment period to afford ample public input on the rules.

Stormwater regulations can be found online at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices/010603_14a.pdf and http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules/notices/010603_7a.pdf.

Streams Nominated for Upgrade to Category 1 Classification

The South Branch Watershed Association nominated 12 streams in the watershed to be upgraded to a Category 1 classification under the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Surface Water Quality Standards. Category 1 waters are those defined as having exceptional water supply significance among other characteristics that qualify streams for this high level classification.

The NJ-DEP requested additional nominations to those proposed by Governor McGreevey last Earth Day. Under current Category 1 language there shall be no additional measurable change to that particular water body. The DEP has yet to define and release standards to determine the existing water quality and how to calculate measurable change to that water body. Nevertheless, SBWA decided to nominate all remaining water bodies in the watershed under the exceptional water supply significance category. In addition to the protections of the C-1 classification, under the proposed Stormwater Regulations, all Category 1 streams are given a 300-foot buffer on each side.

The streams being nominated are Allerton Creek, Assicong Creek, Back Brook, Cramers Brook, Holland Brook, Neshanic River, Pleasant Run, Prescott Brook, remaining sections of the South Branch Raritan River, Spruce Run Creek, and Walnut Brook.