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DEP presents REAL coastal rules, saying sea-level projections warrant tougher standards
Summary
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials told a joint Senate/Assembly hearing that the pending REAL rules under the NJ PACT initiative would require developers to account for sea-level rise in coastal permits, expand flood-prone zones and raise first-floor elevation standards; officials also highlighted new public tools and lasting funding needs.
Nick Angarone, New Jersey's chief resilience officer and manager of the Department of Environmental Protection's Office of Climate Resilience, told a joint Senate and Assembly hearing that the state's pending REAL (Resilient Environments and Landscapes) rule package will change how coastal development is permitted by explicitly accounting for sea-level rise and climate-adjusted flood elevations.
"Climate change is real; it is here; it is now," Angarone said in opening testimony, and described REAL as a package that "incorporat[es] sea level rise into the elevations" used for permitting. He said the rules will base project elevations not on historical FEMA outlines alone but on a "climate-adjusted flood elevation," and that the proposal…
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