Bill Text: NJ S1492 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires, after assessment, DEP to adopt total maximum daily loads for Barnegat Bay ecosystem.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-27 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee [S1492 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S1492-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires, after assessment, DEP to adopt total maximum daily loads for Barnegat Bay ecosystem.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the water quality of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem, and supplementing P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Within one year after the effective date of this act, the Department of Environmental Protection shall conduct an assessment and prepare a report that:
a. evaluates all data it has in its possession on the water quality and ecological decline of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem to determine whether these data are sufficient for the department to recommend to the United States Environmental Protection Agency that the bay or any section of the bay can be declared impaired as described pursuant to section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s.1313;
b. determines what additional data must be collected to develop appropriate State water quality standards for various parameters, which shall include but not be limited to phosphorus, nitrogen and excessive sediment, for estuarine systems, and estimates of the time and cost to perform the monitoring and modeling to develop such standards;
c. evaluates what additional monitoring, if any, must be conducted to collect data necessary to determine if the waters of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem would meet such State water quality standards developed pursuant to subsection b. of this section and shall include an estimate of the time and cost to perform such monitoring.
The assessment and report shall be transmitted, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, and the chairs of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee and the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, or their successors.
2. a. In addition to the data assessment pursuant to section 1 of this act, the Department of Environmental Protection shall concurrently assess plans for pollutant load reduction and implementation of a total maximum daily load if the Barnegat Bay is deemed impaired by the department based on water quality standards and required by the federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s.1313.
b. If the Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to section 1 of this act, finds that Barnegat Bay is an impaired waterbody, the department shall, within five years after the effective date of this act, develop and implement total maximum daily loads for the Barnegat Bay ecosystem or any section of the bay deemed impaired by the department based on water quality standards and required by the federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s.1313.
c. Any total maximum daily load developed pursuant to this section shall include (1) an implementation plan describing demonstrable reduction measures, and (2) a schedule with annual benchmarks to ensure implementation of the total maximum daily load in a timely manner.
3. a. Nothing in this act shall delay, or be construed to delay, the implementation of existing or new best management practices to reduce sediments and nutrients from point sources and nonpoint sources affecting the Barnegat Bay ecosystem. The Department of Environmental Protection shall use existing mechanisms to the maximum extent practicable to reduce sediments and nutrients during the assessment and the development of the total maximum daily loads pursuant to this act.
b. In carrying out its responsibilities pursuant to this act, the Department of Environmental Protection shall use or consider all relevant and available information, including publicly-submitted, peer-reviewed information, and draw upon all existing State and federally funded studies of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem.
4. The department shall annually prepare a report describing actions taken during the previous year to address water quality problems in Barnegat Bay, progress made in achieving the objectives of this act and a schedule of actions to be taken over the next year. The department shall submit copies of this report to the chairs of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee and the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee or their successors.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to conduct an assessment and prepare a report that evaluates all data it has in its possession on the water quality of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem to determine whether these data are sufficient for the department to recommend to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the bay or any section of the bay can be declared impaired as described pursuant to section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s.1313. The assessment and report would determine what additional data must be collected to develop appropriate State water quality standards for various parameters and estimates of the time and cost to perform the monitoring and modeling to develop such standards. The assessment and report would also evaluate what additional monitoring must be conducted to collect data necessary to determine if the waters of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem would meet State water quality standards.
The DEP would also assess plans for pollutant load reduction and implementation of a total maximum daily load if the Barnegat Bay is deemed impaired.
Upon a finding that the Barnegat Bay is an impaired waterbody, the bill would require the department, within five years after the date the bill is enacted into law, to develop total maximum daily loads for the Barnegat Bay ecosystem. Any total maximum daily load developed pursuant to the bill would include (1) an implementation plan describing demonstrable reduction measures, and (2) a schedule with annual benchmarks to ensure implementation of the total maximum daily load in a timely manner.
The bill specifies that its provisions shall not delay, or be construed to delay, the implementation of existing or new best management practices to reduce sediments and nutrients from point sources and nonpoint sources affecting the Barnegat Bay ecosystem. The bill directs the DEP to use existing mechanisms to the maximum extent practicable to reduce sediments and nutrients during the assessment and the development of the total maximum daily loads pursuant to the bill. The bill further directs the DEP to use or consider all relevant and available information, including publicly-submitted, peer-reviewed information, and draw upon all existing State and federally funded studies of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem.
The DEP would be required to prepare an annual report describing actions taken during the previous year to address water quality problems in Barnegat Bay, progress made in achieving the objectives of this bill, and a schedule of actions to be taken over the next year.
