January 29, 2025

This past week, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) formally approved the funding agreement for $3.5M in Blue Acres buyout funding for five specific properties located along the Orchard Brook, a tributary of the Rahway River, in Cranford Township. This funding comes in response to a declaration of watershed impairment and property damages sustained in 2021 as a result of Hurricane Ida. This buyout project is 100% federally funded. Prior to the full, formal approval of NRCS buyout funds, this new partnership between NRCS EWP and the State of NJ was announced by NJ DEP and covered by national and local media outlets.

The five participating homeowners have been informed of the approval, and individually, they are actively working with a Blue Acres case manager. Homeowners awaiting buyout funding opportunities, can be assured that Blue Acres will provide timely updates to them as new information becomes available.

With NRCS EWP buyout funds, Blue Acres will acquire the homes from cooperating residents, remove the homes and structures from the flood hazard area. The flood prone area will be stabilized and revegetated to provide natural flood storage benefits and the restoration may include some passive recreation, and enhanced wildlife habitat. Conservation practices including obstruction removal, brush management, tree and shrub site prep, tree and shrub establishment, critical area planting and mulching will be utilized to achieve these objectives.

On January 27, 2025, Blue Acres hosted a community engagement meeting with the Township of Cranford and the County of Union at the Cranford Community Center. The goal of the meeting was to inform community members of the voluntary buyout project and other flood mitigation projects taking place nearby such as the County’s culvert project. Meeting attendees were able to ask questions about the different projects and sign up to receive updates, including future opportunities to provide input on post-buyout land use.  You can view a copy of the Blue Acres presentation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers the EWP to assist project sponsors in protecting lives and property from flooding or soil erosion after a natural disaster. In communities impacted by constant flooding or severe erosion due to a natural disaster, a property buyout might be the best solution.

Blue Acres is a voluntary buyout program that only works with willing sellers. The buyout process remains fully voluntary from the initial expression of interest in a buyout to the date of closing. As part of NJDEP’s Office of Climate Resilience, Blue Acres plays an integral part of advancing the State of New Jersey’s Climate Change Resilience Strategy.

Last modified on January 29th, 2025 at 8:55 am

September 18, 2024

Blue Acres administered an online survey to understand if more public engagement is needed around buyouts and to see if post-buyout land use visioning efforts would improve support for buyout participation and community land stewardship.  For context, land use “visioning” refers to preparing digital renderings of a site that display proposed restoration options for implementation. The visioning being discussed in this survey would occur in consultation with community members to provide visual examples of how the land might be utilized once it becomes open space. 

Survey Distribution
The short, seven-question survey went live on February 28th, 2024, and accepted survey responses for sixty-two days, concluding on April 30th.  To solicit responses, it was shared via email with those on the Blue Acres listserv and the Governor’s Office of Innovation’s email list. The survey was also promoted by Blue Acres staff during presentations at three professional conferences during March and April.  

Survey Responses
The survey yielded eighty-six responses from community members, homeowners, or government representatives. Most respondents (93%) seemed to favor more public engagement around buyouts, and over 87% of respondents felt that if visual aids were available to define post-buyout land use, they would be more likely to support buyouts.  Similarly, the responses to two questions asking how participants connect open space to flood protection showed that most people believe more open space in the floodplain and a naturally functioning floodplain can meaningfully reduce damage from flooding, 94.3% and 76% respectively. Likewise, the majority of respondents indicated they support funding to address long-term management of buyout lands. 

Survey Outcomes
The responses collected support Blue Acres’ ongoing initiatives to better engage communities focusing on flood risk and mitigation communications and post-buyout land use visioning. By creating opportunities for post-buyout land use visioning, Blue Acres aims to grow support for buyouts while empowering community members to advocate for the optimization of buyout lands to meet community goals and needs such as climate resilience, beautification, passive recreation, etc. 

 

Blue Acres thanks all who participated—community feedback is essential as the program works towards innovative, sustainable solutions for flood-impacted areas. 

 

 

As cross-posted from the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Environmental and Historic Preservation Review Information webpage:
https://www.nj.gov/dca/ddrm/resources/environmental.shtml   

The Environmental and Historic Program of the [DCA] Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation ensures that all funded projects meet federal compliance. The federal government requires all construction work done in Hurricane Ida recovery programs and Superstorm Sandy recovery programs that are funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) dollars be reviewed in a tiered environmental assessment to ensure projects undertaken will have no significant impact on the environment. Therefore, no construction work can begin on projects until all levels of environmental review have been complete and found to be in compliance. Public notices about the environmental review records for recovery projects are published in English and Spanish on this webpage. 

Any individual, group, or agency disagreeing with a project’s environmental review determination or wishing to comment on the project may submit written comments within a set public comment period to: 

Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation, Environmental Historic Program
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
101 South Broad Street
PO Box 823
Trenton, NJ 08625-0823 

Public comments may also be submitted via email at DRM.EHPComments@dca.nj.gov.
When submitting a public comment, please be sure to reference the project name and location in the comment. 

Public comments can additionally be submitted to: 

Tennille Smith Parker
DRSI, Division Director, HUD
451 Seventh Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20410 

The following are Hurricane Ida recovery projects that are currently in the environmental review public comment period: 

Posted on July 24, 2024 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION 

Hurricane Ida Tier 1 Environmental Assessments 

Project Title: New Jersey Blue Acres Tiered Environmental Reviews for Hurricane Ida 

Location: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Union, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, and Warren counties 

The total estimated project cost is $16,000,000. 

The projects would entail the acquisition of residential properties within a floodway, floodplain, or other disaster risk reduction area to reduce the risk from future flooding. Acquired properties would be cleared of all existing structures and related improvements and the land would be restored as wetlands and/or floodplains to serve a defined open space and climate-resilience purpose. 

COMBINED PUBLIC NOTICE 

All comments received by August 8, 2024, or fifteen (15) days from the actual date of publication, whichever is later, will be considered by DCA. 

DESCRIPCIÓN DEL PROYECTO 

Huracán Ida – Evaluaciones medioambientales de nivel 1 

Título del proyecto: New Jersey Blue Acres – Revisiones medioambientales por niveles para al huracán Ida. 

Ubicación: Condados de Nueva Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Union, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris y Warren. 

El costo total estimado del proyecto es de $16,000,000 dólares. 

Los proyectos implicarían la adquisición de propiedades residenciales dentro de un aliviadero, llanura de inundación u otra área con reducción de riesgo de desastre para aminorar posibles inundaciones en el futuro. En las propiedades que se adquieran se removerán todas las edificaciones existentes y conexas y se convertirá el terreno en humedales y/o llanuras inundables para servir como espacio abierto definido y propósitos de resiliencia frente al clima. 

AVISO PÚBLICO COMBINADO 

Todos los comentarios recibidos hasta el 8 de agosto de 2024 o quince (15) días a partir de la fecha vigente de publicación, la que sea posterior, serán considerados por el DCA. 

Bergen County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Essex County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Gloucester County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Hudson County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Hunterdon County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Mercer County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Middlesex County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Morris County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Passaic County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Somerset County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Union County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Warren County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Last modified on May 31st, 2024 at 11:59 am

May 22, 2024

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved a third batch of Blue Acres buyout funding for 42 specific properties, following the first batch approval for 14 properties in January and the second batch approval for 37 properties in April. These batch approvals are part of the $50 million Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) allocation for voluntary buyouts in New Jersey following Hurricane Ida’s impact in September 2021. This third batch approval brings the cumulative total of obligated post-Ida HMGP buyout funds to $42.9 million. 

Homeowners awaiting buyout funding opportunities, such as HUD-funded buyouts, can be assured that Blue Acres will provide timely updates on their cases as new information becomes available.

Blue Acres staff notified the owners of these 42 properties approved immediately via phone calls, emails, and certified mail. Blue Acres also assigned case managers to begin guiding the homeowners through the steps to receive a formal buyout offer. The recently approved properties are across five municipalities: the Township of Delaware, the Borough of Dunellen, the City of Lambertville, the Borough of Manville, and the City of Rahway. Blue Acres staff looks forward to providing buyout offers to the Batch 3 homeowners, as well as those still awaiting approval. 

The third batch approval is the largest yet and brings the total number of approved properties to 93 under HMGP. All properties proposed for HMGP buyout funding meet State and FEMA criteria for reducing flood hazard risks to life and property.

Among the priority categories represented by the 42 homes in batch 3:  

• All 42 homes are in a FEMA-mapped flood zone. 
• 41 of these are in the 100-year Special Flood Hazard Area, with a greater than 1% chance annually of flood inundation. 
• 6 of these are directly within the regulatory floodway (this means the home sits in the channel of a river or watercourse, within the area of direct hydrological flow or in the adjacent buffer area reserved to reduce flood volume during a significant storm event); 
• 35 homes were declared substantially damaged (SD), meaning calculated damages equated to at least 50% of the structure’s value;
• 33 homes are designated as “repetitive loss” or “severe repetitive loss,” based on the number of flood insurance payouts they have received over time from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program;
• 25 homes are in state-identified Overburdened Communities (OBC). 

There are 21 properties that are waiting for approval and currently remain under federal review. As FEMA approves additional batches of properties, Blue Acres will continue to notify homeowners and local governments. 

The goal of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is to reduce or mitigate losses from future disasters. The Blue Acres program works to achieve this goal in two ways – by removing homes from high flood-risk areas (thereby enabling those residents to relocate to safer locations) and by increasing flood storage by returning the land to open space. This reduces the number of structures at risk of damage from flooding during storms and provides additional buffers and storage for floodwaters, which protects the remaining homes in these areas. Overall, this process makes families and communities more resilient to climate change.  

Blue Acres is a voluntary buyout program that only works with willing sellers. The buyout process remains fully voluntary from the initial expression of interest in a buyout to the date of closing. As part of NJDEP’s Office of Climate Resilience, Blue Acres plays an integral part of advancing the State of New Jersey’s Climate Change Resilience Strategy.  

April 24, 2024 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved Blue Acres buyout funding for an additional 37 properties, following the first batch approval for fourteen properties in January, as part of the $50 million Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) allocation for voluntary buyouts in New Jersey. Many of these 37 homes were impacted by severe flooding in April 2022, December 2023 and/or January 2024, in addition to damages sustained during Ida in 2021. Blue Acres staff notified the owners of these 37 properties immediately via phone calls, emails, and certified mail. Blue Acres also assigned case managers to begin guiding the homeowners through the steps to receive a formal buyout offer. This second batch approval brings the total of obligated post-Ida HMGP funds to $23.6 million. Sixty-three properties remain under review and Blue Acres notified these homeowners that while the wait for approval continues, program staff are ready to hit the road running as soon as the approval is issued by FEMA.  

Blue Acres is a voluntary buyout program that only works with willing sellers. The buyout process remains fully voluntary from application to closing day.  

All properties proposed for HMGP funding meet State and FEMA criteria for reducing flood hazard risks to life and property. Among the priority categories represented by the 37 homes in Batch 2: 

• All 37 homes are in a FEMA-mapped floodplain, with a greater than 1% chance annually of flood inundation; 
  • 17 of these are directly within the regulatory floodway (this means the home sits in the channel of a river or watercourse, within the area of direct hydrological flow or in the adjacent buffer area reserved to reduce flood volume during a significant storm event);
• 15 homes were declared substantially damaged (SD), meaning calculated damages equated to at least 50% of the structure’s value; 
• 26 homes are designated as “repetitive loss” or “severe repetitive loss,” based on the number of flood insurance payouts they have received over time from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program;  
• 16 homes are in CDC-identified socially vulnerable communities; and 
• 11 homes are in state-identified Overburdened Communities (OBC).

New Jersey continues to see record precipitation, with March 2024 being the third wettest on record, following the fourth wettest winter during the 2023-2024 season.  As the frequency and intensity of floods are anticipated to rise, Blue Acres continues to help New Jersey residents relocate from flood-prone homes, helping communities increase flood resilience through strategic floodplain acquisition and restoration. Blue Acres remains an entirely voluntary program, and always accepts buyout applications from interested homeowners. For more information, reach out to the Blue Acres team via phone (609-940-4140) or email (blueacres@njdepwptest.net), and keep an eye on the Blue Acres website for future program updates. 

Last modified on May 14th, 2024 at 7:33 pm

After Blue Acres acquires a property, the home is demolished and the land is preserved as permanent open space. These open spaces offer opportunities to enhance the environmental and recreational benefits within a community.

Take the Survey
(Update: This survey closed in early May 2024.)

Your input will directly influence how Blue Acres engages with residents and plan for a resilient future.

Last modified on May 22nd, 2024 at 11:26 am

January 30, 2024

Last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved Blue Acres buyout funding for 14 specific properties across five municipalities in Bergen, Middlesex, and Somerset counties that were impacted by the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida in September 2021. Blue Acres immediately notified the individual property owners and local government partners via phone calls, emails, and certified mail. Blue Acres also assigned case managers to begin guiding the homeowners through the steps to receive a formal buyout offer.

Blue Acres only works with willing sellers. If a homeowner chooses to accept a buyout offer and sell their property to the State of NJ, the property will be deed-restricted forever for use as open space, increasing the community’s resilience to the impacts of climate change such as increased precipitation and flooding.

Blue Acres is awaiting federal approval for an additional 100 properties identified within the same $50 million request for buyout funding that Blue Acres submitted to FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). FEMA HMGP selected fourteen (14) homes to approve of the 114 proposed for buyout funding. Together, these first 14 homes sustained over three-quarters of a million dollars in Ida damages. Additionally, at least 11 of these 14 homes were impacted by severe flooding in December 2023 and January 2024. Full project costs, including purchase price, appraisal and title work, demolition activities and more, constitute approximately $6.1 million, or 12 percent of the total funding request.

As FEMA approves additional batches of properties, Blue Acres will continue to notify homeowners and local governments.

In December 2022, Blue Acres requested $40 million in FEMA HMGP funding for the acquisition of 96 homes. In August 2023, New Jersey adopted a Disaster Risk Reduction Area (DRRA) policy in Manville, designating specific areas as ineligible for public repair or elevation funding. In coordination with the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA), the NJ Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and the Governor’s Disaster Recovery Office (GDRO), Blue Acres requested an additional $10 million in HMGP buyout funding to prioritize owners of properties in designated DRRAs. All 114 properties identified for HMGP funding throughout 20 communities meet FEMA eligibility criteria, including:

• 42 homes in the floodway (this means the home sits in the channel of a river or watercourse, within the area of direct hydrological flow or in the adjacent buffer area reserved to reduce flood volume during a significant storm event);
• 71 homes in the 100-year flood fringe zone (this means the home has a 1% chance of seeing a base flood every year, as mapped by FEMA and publicly available);
• 93 homes designated as “repetitive loss” or “severe repetitive loss” (this is determined by calculating damage claims over time, against policy coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program);
• 56 homes substantially damaged by Ida (this means the local floodplain manager certified that the home’s damage was greater than 50% of the building’s value);
• 30+ households in communities identified by the CDC as socially-vulnerable;
• 38 homes in Manville’s Risk Reduction Areas.

As part of the Office of Climate Resilience, the Blue Acres program advances the 2021 NJ Climate Change Resilience Strategy by supporting and incentivizing voluntary movement to safer areas and by restoring natural flood storage to decrease the vulnerability of nearby properties. With precipitation in New Jersey expected to increase by up to 11% by 2050, it is more important than ever to implement flood resilience initiatives. As a nationally recognized program, Blue Acres effectuates voluntary buyouts which are the most permanent form of flood mitigation, protecting against losses to human life and property in flood-prone areas of New Jersey.