IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2025
Contact: Lawrence Hajna (609) 984-1795
Caryn Shinske (609) 984-1795
Vincent Grassi (609) 984-1795
DEP ANNOUNCES PROPOSED CHANGES TO COASTAL FLOODING REGULATIONS WITH INTENT TO ADOPT BY END OF YEAR
(25/P35) TRENTON – The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection today announced that it intends to adopt the Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) coastal flood rules proposed in 2024 with changes responsive to public comment and stakeholder feedback.
The proposed changes will be detailed in a Notice of Substantial Changes in the July 21, 2025 edition of the New Jersey Register, and will reflect adjustments to sea-level rise projections and clarify provisions that promote resilient housing and economic development projects, among other important changes. The proposed changes will be open to additional public comment and a hearing in September.
Most notably, the proposed changes will lower the coastal zone flood-elevation for new and substantially improved buildings and infrastructure from the originally proposed 5 feet to 4 feet (above the FEMA base flood elevation). As compared to the original 2024 proposal, the lower elevation effectively reduces the amount of additional coastal land area that would be subject to the building safety standards of New Jersey’s Flood Hazard Area Control Act. The proposed changes would also expand provisions to enable projects to proceed under pre-existing regulations if they reach certain planning, design, or permitting milestones by July 2026, i.e., within six months of DEP’s intended adoption of the REAL rules.
“The DEP has carefully reviewed and considered comments from a diverse cross-section of residents, community leaders, business interests, and stakeholders as we continued to evaluate measures to better protect people and property from increasing coastal hazards,” Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette said. “We take public comment on these reforms as seriously as we do the climate science that underlies them, and we are proposing changes that will better position our coastal communities to withstand existing and future risks from coastal flooding, sea-level rise, and storm surge.”
Proposed Amendments in Detail
The proposed substantial changes would:
- Revise the elevation requirement for new or substantially improved buildings and infrastructure from the originally proposed 5 feet to 4 feet above FEMA’s base flood elevation based on revised projections of sea-level rise rates impacting the state and the feedback from coastal community leaders and a range of other stakeholders. The revised projections are based on updated predictions of likely global temperature increases released after the 2019 Rutgers University Science and Technical Advisory Panel Report.
- Revise the extent of the proposed inundation risk zone, which incorporates land that lies above sea level today but will be permanently inundated with the projected 4-foot increase in sea levels.
- Provide that DEP will revisit the sea-level rise and precipitation data incorporated into the rule every five years and amend the regulations if appropriate. More information on the updated science that supports the Notice of Substantial Change can be found at https://njdepwptest.net/njreal/
- Expand provisions in the flood hazard, stormwater, coastal zone, and freshwater wetland regulations to allow projects for which the applicant submits a complete application to the DEP within 180 days of REAL’s effective date to be reviewed under today’s regulations.
- Provide additional detail and appropriate flexibility for “dry access” design and construction standards for buildings and roads to ensure reliable vehicular access to buildings in flood hazard areas for occupants and emergency responders.
- Clarify that low- and moderate-income housing projects are eligible project types to be reviewed under the Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules’ “hardship exception” process, which allows relaxation of certain standards where public safety is not jeopardized.
Notice of Substantial Rule Change and Next Steps
A Notice of Substantial Change reflecting the proposed changes will be published in the New Jersey Register on July 21. Upon publication of the proposed Notice of Substantial Change for the REAL rules, a 60-day public comment period will commence. One virtual public hearing, expected in September, will be held to allow for oral as well as written public comment.
To provide additional information to the public, the DEP will record a webinar and post it on the REAL website on July 18 at REAL – Resilient Environments and Landscapes WEBINARS, to outline the changes to the original REAL proposal.
About REAL
The REAL reforms use the best available climate science specific to New Jersey in order to modernize the State’s coastal flood safety and land resource protection rules, which were originally developed before modern flood and water quality protections were established. The REAL reforms will better protect lives, property, and infrastructure, while preserving the economic vitality of coastal communities as sea-level rises and storms and flooding become more intense with a changing climate.
Complementing these efforts, the DEP in July 2023 adopted the Inland Flood Protection Rule to ensure that riverine areas at most significant risk are better defined and that new and reconstructed assets in these areas are designed and constructed using the best available climate-informed precipitation data.
Additional Resources:
NJDEP REAL Briefing July 14, 2025: https://njdepwptest.net/njreal/njdep-real-briefing-20250714/
New Jersey Resilient Environments and Landscapes: https://njdepwptest.net/njreal/overview/
REAL Myths & Facts: https://njdepwptest.net/njreal/facts/
NJDEP Climate Change Efforts: https://njdepwptest.net/climatechange/
New Jersey Climate Data: https://njdepwptest.net/climatechange/data/
NJDEP Climate Change Science and Research: https://njdepwptest.net/dsr/climate-change/
Resilient NJ: https://njdepwptest.net/ocr/resilientnj/
NJDEP Blue Acres: https://njdepwptest.net/blueacres/
NJ Climate Resilience Strategy: https://njdepwptest.net/climatechange/resilience/resilience-strategy/
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