N.J. Admin. Code § 7:13-11.1

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 19, October 7, 2024

Section 7:13-11.1 - Requirements for a regulated activity in a channel

(a) This section sets forth specific design and construction standards that apply to any regulated activity proposed in a channel.

(b) The Department shall issue an individual permit for a regulated activity in a channel only if the following requirements are satisfied:

1. The applicant describes in detail the regulated activities proposed within the channel, including the equipment proposed to be utilized, and demonstrates that the basic purpose of the project cannot be accomplished without the disturbance to the channel;

2. Disturbance to the channel is eliminated where possible; where not possible to eliminate, disturbance is minimized through methods including relocating the project and/or reducing the size or scope of the project;

3. All roadway, railroad, pedestrian, utility and other crossings are constructed as nearly perpendicular to the channel as possible;

4. All disturbed sections of the channel are properly stabilized, with special attention given to changes in slope, channel width and hydraulic capacity;

5. If stabilization measures such as rip-rap or scour holes are proposed in the channel, the applicant demonstrates that such measures are necessary to stabilize the channel and/or to withstand scour along a bridge or culvert, and cannot be avoided through alternative designs, such as construction of deeper abutment footings or a larger bridge opening. Any rip-rap shall be embedded in the channel bed in such a way as to provide low-flow aquatic passage and withstand velocities associated with bank-full flows;

6. No mining of the channel is proposed. This does not preclude the incidental use or sale of material removed as a result of lake dredging, channel cleaning or other regulated activities authorized by the Department and performed for purposes other than mining;

7. All temporarily disturbed sections of the channel are restored to pre-construction conditions immediately after completion of the disturbance. Characteristics that shall be replicated include channel shape, width, and meandering, ratio of shallow areas to deep areas, anticipated flow rate and velocity, and substrate type;

8. Aquatic habitat is preserved where possible;

9. Aquatic habitat is enhanced where preservation is not possible, such as through the placement of habitat enhancement devices, replacement of vegetation removed during construction, creation of tree canopy along the channel where no canopy exists, and/or enhancement of existing tree canopy along the channel; and

10. The project does not expose unset or raw cement to flowing water within any channel or regulated water during construction;

(c) The Department shall issue an individual permit for a channel modification only if the applicant demonstrates that, in addition to meeting the requirements of (b) above, the channel modification meets at least one of the following requirements:

1. The channel modification is necessary to improve the ecological health of the regulated water and its riparian zone, or to control existing flooding or erosion which poses an immediate threat to life, property or a lawfully existing structure; or

2. The channel modification is necessary for the construction of a bridge or culvert, and the following requirements are satisfied:

i. The disturbance to the channel is the minimum necessary to successfully implement the project;

ii. A bridge is constructed rather than a culvert, where feasible;

iii. The length of channel covered by a bridge or enclosed in a culvert is the minimum feasible; and

iv. No more than 200 linear feet of channel (including the bridge or culvert) is disturbed unless the applicant demonstrates that disturbance to a longer segment of channel cannot feasibly be avoided.

(d) The Department shall authorize the use of construction equipment to perform regulated activities in a channel (whether situated in a channel, reaching into a channel, or driven across a channel) only if, in addition to meeting the requirements of (b) above, the following requirements are satisfied:

1. There is no feasible alternative that will result in less environmental damage;

2. The bed is firm, the approaches are stable and the proposed construction activities will not cause or exacerbate bank erosion;

3. Contact with flowing water is minimized to the maximum extent practicable through the use of temporary bridges, culverts, coffer dams, and/or sediment control devices, which are removed from the channel as soon as possible after completion of the disturbance;

4. Fording the channel is avoided to the maximum extent practicable;

5. Where unavoidable, fording is made as nearly perpendicular to the channel as possible; and

6. Adequate precautions are taken to prevent sediment, petroleum products and other pollutants from entering the channel.

(e) A person shall not drive or operate a vehicle within a channel except in the following cases:

1. It is necessary to operate construction equipment in or across a channel as described in (d) above as part of a temporary construction activity;

2. An emergency vehicle must access a site that has no other feasible means of entry. This does not include repeated visits to the same site by delivery trucks; or

3. The vehicle is driven across a lawfully existing and stable ford that was either constructed prior to October 2, 2006, or which is constructed on agricultural lands and authorized under this chapter.

(f) No person shall dump or discard into a channel any material that could be carried away during a storm and/or obstruct the normal flow of water, such as trash, debris, construction material, leaf piles, lawn clippings, and landscaping material.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:13-11.1

Amended and recodified from 7:13-10.1 by 48 N.J.R. 1067(a), effective 6/20/2016