NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor expressed concerns in an Op-ed published in the Cape May County Herald regarding proposed Land Use rules from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Cantor argued that these rules, which he claims are unsupported by current science, would force a retreat of homes and businesses from the Jersey Shore.
“(The proposal), if adopted, will have a devastating impact on the entire state, but its target is on our coastal residents,” Cantor wrote. He further asserted that the DEP's position lacks scientific justification. “(The DEP knows) there is no proven science justifying their position. But they also know it is easier to scare people and force them to retreat from the shore if they tell them that much of Cape May and other areas will be underwater. It is part of their managed retreat strategy.”
Cantor highlighted that the primary focus of DEP’s Land Use rules, which span over 1,000 pages, is to integrate sea level rise into flood hazard areas primarily determined by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mapping. This "climate adjusted flood elevation" presumes an additional 5 feet on top of existing FEMA mapped flood elevations.
As an illustration, Cantor explained that if the current flood elevation is 6 feet above sea level, any new development would need to be elevated by 11 feet plus an additional foot of freeboard.
Cantor criticized DEP for basing these standards on a 2019 Rutgers report that considers a 5-foot sea level rise by 2100 as unlikely. “While we agree that the state should consider climate change and sea level rise projections in their coastal regulations, what the Murphy administration is proposing goes far beyond any rational proposal,” Cantor said. “In fact, no other state or federal agency is regulating SLR to this extent."
He continued, “The clear objective of the proposal is not to protect residents from rising seas but to make it harder to live, work, and develop along the coast. It is the first step, a giant one at that, towards a managed retreat."
Cantor emphasized that the 5-foot standard lacks support from any current scientific study and has been dismissed as having "low confidence" without a solid scientific foundation. "The Murphy administration knows this, yet they are pushing a SLR standard that will negatively impact everyone living or vacationing at the shore.”
The DEP’s Land Use rules are part of initiatives termed PACT (Protection Against Climate Threats) and REAL (Resilient Environment and Landscapes). These rules are expected to be officially proposed in July, followed by a 90-day comment period and three public hearings.
To read Cantor’s full Op-ed, click here.
