Areawide Water Quality Management Program
The Water
Quality Planning Act, N.J.S.A. 58:11A-1 et seq. authorizes the Governor to
designate areawide planning agencies for the purpose of developing, adopting,
updating and amending Areawide Water Quality Management Plans (AWQMPs). In
1997, the Monmouth County Board of [County Commissioners] became the Designated
Planning Agency for Monmouth County (Whitman Executive Order 67). The
Board of [County Commissioners] delegated operational responsibilities to the
Monmouth County Planning Board, who in turn created the Amendment
Review Committee (ARC) to process and review proposed
changes to the Monmouth County AWQMP in order to increase the speed and efficiency
with which amendments could be processed. There are several aspects to
areawide water quality management planning. The focus in Monmouth County has
primarily been wastewater and stormwater management planning.
Wastewater
The Wastewater Management Plan (WMP) for Monmouth County was last adopted on April 11, 2013. It includes the Monmouth County Future Wastewater Service Area (FWSA)
Map that accounts
for existing and future development of the county. Use the Monmouth
County Wastewater Management Plan Map Viewer to see the map in detail. Although the county drafted a new
wastewater management plan in accordance with the NJ Department of
Environmental Protection (NJDEP)’s November 7, 2016 rules, the agency has yet
to adopt it. Accordingly, an amendment application to the NJDEP and county may
be necessary to expand the boundaries of the FWSA Map.
To apply for an amendment to the WMP, start with the
NJDEP Applications
Page. Pre-application meetings are highly
recommended. To request a meeting, complete the NJDEP Request for Pre-Application
Meeting. To hold one coordinated pre-application
meeting with both state and county representatives, be sure to copy the county
at wastewaterplanning@co.monmouth.nj.us on the NJDEP meeting request, including all attachments.
When making a formal application, complete all required NJDEP forms found on
their Applications Page. In addition, contact wastewaterplanning@co.monmouth.nj.us for the county’s
Supplemental Application Form. Applications to both agencies must be made concurrently.
Complete applications will be reviewed by the Planning
Board’s Amendment Review
Committee (ARC). If the ARC makes an affirmative
recommendation to the Planning Board, that board will place the matter on a
subsequent agenda and adopt a resolution to approve or disapprove the request.
After the Planning Board grants approval, the NJDEP will complete its initial
review and publish a preliminary notice in the NJ Register. Once the
public comment period ends, the Board of County Commissioners next considers
the request. Click on the link to read the county’s amendment procedures.
The county’s review of amendments to the Water Quality
Management Plan is limited to a proposal’s relative consistency with various
pertinent land use policies, documents, and actions, particularly those that
support desirous municipal land use outcomes.
These may include the review of such things as the municipal master
plan, local land use decisions, municipal zoning ordinances, the county master
plan, the state plan, court actions including state mandated affordable housing
settlements, and environmental considerations as well as confirmation and concurrence
from impacted wastewater collection and treatment authorities that they have
the capacity to accommodate the additional flow resulting from the proposal.
See N.J.A.C. 7:15-2.5 (a)2 for more detail on the role of Designated Planning
Agencies and see N.J.A.C. 7:15-3.5(g)2 for more detail on the components of an
amendment application.
The county review is performed in coordination with an
independent review by the NJDEP which considers the consistency of the
application with pertinent planning documents, verifies Geographic Information
System data and amendment boundaries, and evaluates the technical aspects of a
proposed wastewater system. Aspects of a
more technical review such as wastewater capacity analysis, water quality
impacts analysis, engineering and facility design are not performed at the
County level as these types of studies are considered as part of state’s
wastewater treatment facility approval and permitting process.
If appropriate, NJDEP will issue a NJPDES (New Jersey
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit should a proposed facility meet
the State’s discharge pollutant limits. The NJPDES permit will contain
discharge pollutant limits sufficient to safeguard the integrity of the
receiving waterbody. The limits in such a permit also provide designers and
engineers with the information needed to determine how to appropriately design
a new treatment facility or upgrade an existing one to meet New Jersey State
water quality standards.
Stormwater
In 2004 the Monmouth County Board of [County Commissioners]
designated the County Planning Board as their review agency for Municipal
Stormwater Management Plans. In accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-97, it is the
county review agency's responsibility to review and approve, conditionally
approve, or disapprove municipal stormwater management plans and ordinances.
The County Planning Board created the Stormwater
Technical Advisory Committee (STAC)
to process and review municipal plans and ordinances and to make
recommendations relative to their approval. Currently all Monmouth County
municipalities have approved municipal stormwater management plans.
For information about the STAC and stormwater email environmentalplanning@co.monmouth.nj.us .
Page Last Updated: 9/12/2024 9:53:00 AM