State Delays Flood Rules That Split Homeowners, Environmentalists

njspotlightnews.org

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will delay by a year the implementation of controversial new flood rules adopted on the final day of Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration to give regulators more time to make amendments.

The move to walk back regulations that set new elevation requirements, expanded state flood maps beyond federal counterparts and created rules for wetland protection and stormwater management was announced Friday. It followed a joint legislative hearing in April where local officials and business groups decried them as unduly restrictive.