OFFICIAL SITE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Virtual Public Hearings on Annual NJPDES Fees

Below is a list of virtual public hearings conducted by the Division of Water Quality’s Water Pollution Management Element on the NJPDES Annual Fee Reports and Assessment of Fees. Prior to entering a hearing, participants are strongly encouraged to read the following information and guidelines:

Guidelines for Public Hearings

• Access to the public hearing is available on your computer or mobile device through either the Microsoft Teams application or the device’s web browser.
• The web browsers that best support Microsoft Teams meetings are Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge, Chrome, and Firefox.
• The hearing will begin promptly at the designated starting time.
• The hearing will be moderated by a NJDEP representative.
• Prior to entering the hearing, participants will be provided a field to enter their name. In order to achieve an accurate record of attendees to the hearing, the NJDEP is requesting that, in the provided field, participants type their full name and the organization that they represent.
• At the beginning of the meeting, a NJDEP representative will provide a brief demonstration on how to unmute/mute your microphones, how to turn off your video feed, and how to access the hearing’s conversation box. Click HERE to access the user guide that covers this information.
• As a courtesy to other people testifying, participants will be muted until they are called upon by the NJDEP hearing officer/moderator to testify. At that time, participants will be expected to unmute their microphones to provide testimony.
• If an attendee to the public hearing would like to provide testimony, they should notify the NJDEP hearing officer/moderator of their interest by typing their name and the name of the organization that they represent in the conversation box for the Microsoft Teams virtual meeting room. When called upon for testimony, participants will be asked to re-state this information.
• The hearing will be recorded for public record. Although the online hearing allows for video testimony, it is not required. If you do not wish to submit video testimony, please turn off your video feed during the hearing.
• Any persons who are participating by phone will also be given a chance to testify.

Public Hearing on the FY2023 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees

Pursuant to the Section 9 of the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10A-9, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“Department”) is authorized to “establish and charge reasonable annual administrative fees, which fees shall be based upon, and shall not exceed, the estimated cost of processing, monitoring and administering the NJPDES permits.” The rules for administering this requirement are set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:14A-3. Consistent with the provisions at N.J.A.C. 7:14A-3.1(b), “The Department shall prepare an Annual NJPDES Fee Schedule Report and provide for a public hearing on the Report.”

On January 3, 2023, notice of a public hearing and the closure of the public comment period on the FY2022 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees was published in the New Jersey Register and in the Trenton Times. The public hearing will be held on February 2, 2023, at 10:00 am and will be conducted virtually via the Department’s video conferencing software (i.e., Microsoft Teams). The hearing will close when all testimony has been heard. The public comment period on the FY2022 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees will close on February 2, 2023. The link and call-in phone number to the virtual public hearing is provided below.

Important Note: The link below will be active before, during, and after the public hearing. However, NJDEP staff will only be present in the meeting during the scheduled date/time of the hearing (i.e., February 2, 2023, from 10:00 am until the closure of the hearing).

Public Hearing on the FY2022 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees

Pursuant to the Section 9 of the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10A-9, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“Department”) is authorized to “establish and charge reasonable annual administrative fees, which fees shall be based upon, and shall not exceed, the estimated cost of processing, monitoring and administering the NJPDES permits.” The rules for administering this requirement are set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:14A-3. Consistent with the provisions at N.J.A.C. 7:14A-3.1(b), “The Department shall prepare an Annual NJPDES Fee Schedule Report and provide for a public hearing on the Report.”

On January 18, 2022, notice of a public hearing and the closure of the public comment period on the FY2022 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees was published in the New Jersey Register and in the Trenton Times. The public hearing will be held on February 17, 2022, at 9:00 am and will be conducted virtually via the Department’s video conferencing software (i.e., Microsoft Teams). The hearing will close when all testimony has been heard. The public comment period on the FY2022 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees will close on February 17, 2022. The link and call-in phone number to the virtual public hearing is provided below.

Important Note: The link below will be active before, during, and after the public hearing. However, NJDEP staff will only be present in the meeting during the scheduled date/time of the hearing (i.e., February 17, 2022, from 9:00 am until the closure of the hearing).

Public Hearings on the FY2021 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees

Pursuant to the Section 9 of the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10A-9, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“Department”) is authorized to “establish and charge reasonable annual administrative fees, which fees shall be based upon, and shall not exceed, the estimated cost of processing, monitoring and administering the NJPDES permits.” The rules for administering this requirement are set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:14A-3. Consistent with the provisions at N.J.A.C. 7:14A-3.1(b), “The Department shall prepare an Annual NJPDES Fee Schedule Report and provide for a public hearing on the Report.”

On February 16, 2021, the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) noticed a public hearing announcement for the FY2021 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees in the New Jersey Register (53 N.J.R. 267(a)). Further, that same day, the Department issued a letter providing notice to our regulated community that the FY2021 Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees (Annual Fee Report) for the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permit program was available on the Department’s web site. The public hearing announcement, as well as the Department’s letter, provided information regarding the date and time of the public hearing, as well as the closure date of the public comment period.

Subsequent to the New Jersey Register publication and the issuance of the Department’s letter, it came to the Department’s attention that there was a typographical error in both documents regarding the public hearing and public comment period closure date. More specifically, the day of the week associated with March 18, 2021, was incorrectly identified as Wednesday. To account for this discrepancy, the Department will hold two virtual public hearings; one on Wednesday, March 17th at beginning at 9:00 am and one on Thursday, March 18th beginning at 9:00 am.

In addition, on March 6, 2021, the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) noticed an announcement for a third public hearing on the FY2021 NJPDES Annual Fee Report and Assessment of Fees, as well as an extension of the public comment period until Tuesday, April 6, 2021, in the Times of Trenton.

All three public hearings will be conducted virtually via the Department’s video conferencing software (i.e., Microsoft Teams). The hearings will close when all testimony has been heard. The link and call-in phone number to the virtual public hearings is provided below.

Important Note: The links below will be active before, during, and after the public hearing. However, NJDEP staff will only be present in the meeting during the scheduled date/time of the hearing (e.g., March 18, 2021, from 9:00 am until the closure of the hearing).