Exempts municipalities from stream cleaning permit fees.

S4517

SENATE, No. 4517

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 26, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� KRISTIN M. CORRADO

District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Exempts municipalities from stream cleaning permit
fees.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning stream cleaning permits and amending
P.L.1993, c376.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.1993,
c.376 (C.58:16A-67) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1. a. The provisions of any
other law, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, to the contrary
notwithstanding, a county or municipality, or designated agency thereof, before
undertaking any project to clean, clear, or desnag a stream within its
jurisdiction, shall submit to the Department of Environmental Protection or to
any State agency requiring a stream cleaning permit or an application for the
proposed stream cleaning, clearing, or desnagging project, a written notice of
intent to undertake a project to clean, clear, or desnag a stream and a
certification attested to by the county or municipal engineer or the local soil
conservation district, provided that the certification is made by a licensed
professional engineer.� The engineer shall certify that:

���� (1)� the project is being
undertaken solely for the purpose of stream cleaning, clearing, or desnagging;

���� (2)� the removal of any
material will not extend below the natural stream bed;

���� (3)� the activities will not
alter the natural stream banks;

���� (4)� the activities will
consist of the removal only of accumulated sediments, debris, and garbage from
a stream with a natural stream bed or the removal of any accumulated material
from a stream previously channelized with concrete or similar artificial material;

���� (5)� every effort will be made
to perform work from only one stream bank and that vegetation and canopy on the
more southerly or westerly banks will be preserved for stream shading; and

���� (6)� the activities are
necessary and in the public interest.

���� The notice shall also include
a description of the nature of the project, a description, including a
photograph, of the reach of the stream in which the activity is to take place,
and an identification of the regulatory water quality classification of the
stream in which the activity is to take place.� The reach of the stream may be
provided by the submission of a photostatic copy of the United States
Geological Survey topographic quadrangle.

���� b.��� For any project that
includes sediment removal, in addition to the conditions enumerated in
subsection a. of this section, the following conditions must be met:

���� (1)� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2015, c.210)

���� (2)� the stream to be cleaned,
cleared, or desnagged is not classified as pinelands waters or category one
waters;

���� (3)� the stream bed is 30 feet
or less in average width;

���� (4)� the stream corridor to be
cleaned, cleared, or desnagged is:

���� (a)�� in the case of a project
undertaken by a municipality, or a designated agency thereof, located wholly
within the jurisdictional boundaries of that municipality; or

���� (b)� in the case of a project
undertaken by a county, or a designated agency thereof, (i) located wholly
within the jurisdictional boundaries of one municipality, or (ii) less than 500
feet in length if located within more than one municipality;

���� (5)� the stream is not in a
municipality, as defined by the department, that is known to have federally or
State listed threatened or endangered species associated with its wetlands.�
Regulated activities in these municipalities shall be coordinated with federal
agencies;

���� (6)� the applicant shall
provide a certification by the engineer that the material to be removed is not
beyond the natural stream bed;

���� (7)� the applicant shall
submit surface color photographs of the areas of the stream to be cleaned,
cleared, or desnagged and of the access points; and

���� (8)� the applicant shall
incorporate appropriate timing restrictions as required by the department.

���� c.��� Upon receipt of a notice
and certification submitted pursuant to this section, the department, or any
other State agency requiring a stream cleaning permit or an application for the
proposed stream cleaning, clearing, or desnagging project, as the case may be,
shall, except as provided otherwise in this subsection, have 15 days to notify
the applicant if particular circumstances mandate that the stream cleaning,
clearing, or desnagging not be done in this particular case.� For a project
involving the removal of sediment, the department shall have 60 days prior to
the commencement of activities to notify the applicant if particular
circumstances mandate that the stream cleaning, clearing, or desnagging not be
done in that particular case.� If the department, or any other State agency
requiring a stream cleaning permit or an application for the proposed stream
cleaning, clearing, or desnagging project, as the case may be, makes such a
determination, it shall provide the applicant with the technical reasons therefor.�
For the purposes of this subsection, if the department's technical reasons
therefor are based upon the inability to determine the natural stream bed, the
department shall, at the request of the applicant, assist in identifying the
natural stream bed.� The department may not prohibit the removal of any garbage
no matter how long it has been in the stream, nor shall the department require
extensive mapping or other engineering services which involve significant
expense to the municipality.

���� d.��� Upon completion of the
project to clean, clear, or desnag a stream involving the removal of sediment
within its jurisdiction, the applicant shall submit to the department a written
notice that the project has been completed in accordance with the conditions
outlined in subsection b. of this section.� The notice shall contain a
certification attested to by the county or municipal engineer or the local soil
conservation district, provided that the certification is made by a licensed
professional engineer.� The engineer shall certify that all the conditions in
subsection b. of this section have been adhered to.

���� e.��� As used in this section:

���� "Applicant" means a
county or municipality, or designated agency thereof;

���� "Category one
waters" means, for the purposes of sediment removal, those waters
designated by the Department of Environmental Protection, for purposes of
implementing the antidegradation policies of the "Water Pollution Control
Act," P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-1 et seq.), for protection from measurable
changes in water quality characteristics because of their clarity, color,
scenic setting, other characteristics of aesthetic value, exceptional
ecological significance, exceptional recreational significance, exceptional
water supply significance, or exceptional fisheries resources.� These waters
may include, but are not limited to:

���� (1)� Waters originating wholly
within federal, interstate, State, county, or municipal parks, forests, fish
and wildlife lands, and other special holdings that have not been designated by
the department as FW1;

���� (2)� Waters classified by the
department as FW2 trout production waters and their tributaries;

���� (3)� Surface waters classified
by the department as FW2 trout maintenance waters or FW2 nontrout waters that
are not more than 750 feet upstream of waters classified by the department as
FW2 trout production waters;

���� (4)� Shellfish waters of
exceptional resource value; or

���� (5)� Other waters and their
tributaries that flow through, or border, federal, State, county or municipal
parks, forest, fish and wildlife lands, and other special holdings;

���� "Department" means
the Department of Environmental Protection;

���� "FW" means the
general surface water classification applied to fresh waters;

���� "FW1" means those
fresh waters that originate in and are wholly within federal or State parks,
forests, fish and wildlife lands, and other special holdings, that are to be
maintained in their natural state of quality and not subjected to any man-made
wastewater discharges;

���� "FW2" means the
general surface water classification applied to those fresh waters that are not
designated as FW1 or pinelands waters;

���� "Trout maintenance
waters" means waters designated by the department for the support of trout
throughout the year; and

���� "Trout production
waters" means waters designated by the department for use by trout for
spawning or nursery purposes during their first summer.

���� f.���� Any person or
governmental entity violating the provisions of this section shall be subject
to penalties imposed for violations of the "Flood Hazard Area Control
Act," P.L.1962, c.19 (C.58:16A-50 et seq.).

���� g.��� Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prohibit the department from requiring a county or
municipality, or designated agency thereof, to obtain a permit pursuant to the
"Flood Hazard Area Control Act," P.L.1962, c.19 (C.58:16A-50 et seq.)
for a proposed stream cleaning, clearing, or desnagging project involving any
activity that does not adhere to the conditions and requirements set forth in
subsections a. and b. of this section.

����
h.��� No municipality shall
be charged any fees associated with a permit issued by a State agency required
for any project that is subject to the requirements of subsections a. and b. of
this section.�

(cf: P.L.2015, c.210, s.1)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill exempts
municipalities from paying any permitting fees associated with stream cleaning
permits.� Under current law, counties and municipalities are required to obtain
a permit or approval from the Department of Environmental Protection or other
applicable State agency in order to engage in a stream cleaning, clearing or
desnagging project upon certain streams.� This bill stipulates that the
municipalities would still be required to obtain such a permit, but would not
pay any associated fee.