Determines that DEP's "Protecting Against Climate Threats" rules, adopted January 20, 2026, are inconsistent with legislative intent.

SCR106

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 106

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI

District 22 (Somerset and Union)

Senator� JOHN J. BURZICHELLI

District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)

Senator� MICHAEL L. TESTA, JR.

District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Polistina, Schepisi, Singer, Amato, Holzapfel,
Tiver, McKnight, O'Scanlon, Space and Steinhardt

SYNOPSIS

���� Determines that DEP�s �Protecting Against Climate
Threats� rules, adopted January 20, 2026, are inconsistent with legislative
intent.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

A
Concurrent Resolution
concerning
legislative review of Department of Environmental Protection rules and
regulations pursuant to Article V, Section IV, paragraph 6 of the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey.

Whereas,

Article V, Section IV, paragraph 6 of the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey provides that the Legislature may review any rule or regulation of an
administrative agency to determine if the rule or regulation is consistent with
the intent of the Legislature and, upon a finding that the rule or regulation
is not consistent with legislative intent, may transmit such finding to the
Governor and the head of the agency; and

Whereas,

In the January 20, 2026 New Jersey Register, 58 N.J.R. 247(a), the Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP) adopted a set of rules and regulations, known
as "New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Change � Resilient Environment
and Landscapes" (NJPACT � REAL), which �make sweeping changes to various
DEP rules and programs in response to climate change, including drastically
increasing the size of the Flood Hazard Area under the "Flood Hazard Area
Control Act," P.L.1962, c.19 (C.58:16A-50 et seq.), in addition to making changes
to the State�s stormwater management, wetlands conservation, and coastal area
protection rules; and

Whereas,

The rules and regulations will have substantial effects on ordinary New
Jerseyans, by limiting development rights for countless homeowners and property
owners, devaluing property, and having a significant impact on property tax
assessments; and

Whereas,

The rules and regulations will increase the cost of housing in New Jersey, by greatly
restricting development in large areas of the State and increasing regulatory
costs; and

Whereas,

The rules and regulations apply the Flood Hazard Area rules to �substantial
improvements,� meaning, improvements that are valued at 50 percent or more of a
property�s value, which occur in the expanded �Coastal Adjusted Flood Hazard
Area,� creating disincentives to renovation, redevelopment, and imposing
significant economic burdens on lower-valued properties in large areas of the
State; and

Whereas,

The rule adoption contains economic, housing, and jobs impact statements that
are severely inadequate and include little evidence, and the impacts of rules
and regulations of this magnitude should be carefully studied prior to
implementation; and

Whereas,

Under the State Constitution, the duties and powers of the Executive Branch are
limited to executing those laws that are enacted by the Legislature and the
Governor; and

Whereas,

The Legislature recognizes this principle by including, within its laws, an
explicit authorization for an Executive Department to adopt rules and
regulations to implement the law; and

Whereas,

However, in this case, the Legislature did not merely neglect to include such
an authorization, it enacted no law; and

Whereas,

Instead, the DEP unilaterally adopted the NJPACT � REAL rules and regulations,
which constitute a major climate change law, overstepping its constitutional
authority by adopting entirely new laws, and ignoring the fact that inaction
can also be an expression of the Legislature's will; and

Whereas,

The DEP claims, in its rule adoption, that approximately 50 existing laws
provide it with the statutory authority to advance the NJPACT � REAL rules and
regulations; and

Whereas
,
However, there are several issues with
this claim as many �of the laws, including P.L.1951, c.80 (C.58:10-35.1 et
seq.) and the "Radiation Protection Act," P.L.1958, c.116 (C.26:2D-1)
et seq., have not been amended for at least 40 years, meaning that the
Legislature could not possibly have intended them to authorize the DEP to
combat the effects of climate change, since the issue of climate change was not
salient at that time; and

Whereas,

In addition, the DEP fails to cite the one significant statute that has been
enacted specifically in response to climate change, the "Global Warming
Response Act," P.L.2007, c.112 (C.26:2C-37 et seq.), perhaps in tacit
recognition of the fact that that law explicitly provides the DEP with the
authority to establish a greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting program only,
and that the Legislature specifically removed a provision that would have
authorized the DEP to adopt rules and regulations to implement the other
provisions of the law, including the greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals,
during the passage of the law; and

Whereas,

It is therefore clear that the DEP has overstepped its authority in adopting
the NJPACT � REAL rules and regulations, and the Legislature urges the DEP to
follow the principles of the Constitution and await future Legislative
enactments regarding how best to protect New Jerseyans lives and property from
the negative effects of climate change; now, therefore,

����
Be It
Resolved
by the Senate of the State of New
Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):

���� 1.��� The Legislature declares
that the rules and regulations adopted by the Department of Environmental
Protection in the January 20, 2026 New Jersey Register, 58 N.J.R. 247(a), and
known as �New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Change � Resilient Environment
and Landscapes,� are inconsistent with legislative intent.

���� 2.��� Copies of this
resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the
Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the Governor
and the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.

���� 3.��� Pursuant to Article V,
Section IV, paragraph 6 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey, the
Department of Environmental Protection shall have 30 days following transmittal
of this resolution to amend or withdraw the rules or the Legislature may, by
passage of another concurrent resolution, exercise its authority under the
Constitution to invalidate the regulations in whole or in part.

STATEMENT

���� This concurrent resolution
embodies the finding of the Legislature that the rules and regulations adopted
by the Department of Environmental Protection in the January 20, 2026 New
Jersey Register, 58 N.J.R. 247(a), are not consistent with the intent of the
Legislature.� The Department of Environmental Protection would have 30 days
from the date of transmittal of this resolution to amend or withdraw the rules
and regulations or the Legislature may, by passage of another concurrent
resolution, exercise its authority under the Constitution to invalidate the
rules and regulations in whole or in part.