The New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection has reproposed—now through normal rulemaking and not as an ‘emergency” mandate—rules regulating new and renovated construction in flood-prone inland areas and is updating its flood zones and rainfall data for projects along rivers and streams for the first time since 1999.
The proposal, set for official publication Dec. 5, would elevate habitable first floors 2 ft above what now is indicated on DEP flood maps and 3 ft higher than what FEMA maps show. It would also require use of future rainfall projections and added stormwater management.