Policy
NJ Uses Climate Projections to Set New Restrictions on Development
Inland flood rule finally adopted after clashing demands from business, green groups
JON HURDLE / NJ SPOTLIGHT NEWS – The Murphy administration on Tuesday finalized a long-awaited rule designed to keep new buildings above the higher floodwaters expected with climate change, ending a year’s delay when business groups lobbied hard to exclude current projects from the new requirements and environmentalists pressed for early adoption.
The Inland Flood Protection Rule will raise the “design flood elevation” — the minimum level of the habitable first floor of a new building in non-tidal areas — by 2 feet from existing Department of Environmental Protection flood maps, and by 3 feet above the flood areas in maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency …
