Vol. 5 No. 2 Fall 1997
A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs

New Jersey’s latest annual Clean Water Enforcement Act report shows continued significant improvement in the state’s surface water quality.

The 1996 report, completed by the DEP, also shows increased compliance with clean water pollution control laws and regulations, with a greater than 70 percent reduction in the number of serious violations and significant non-compliers over the last five years.

The report shows significant improvements in compliance with all aspects of the state’s regulations for those discharging to the state’s waters or into publicly-owned wastewater treatment plants. The number of serious violations by industrial and municipal facilities regulated by DEP has decreased from 847 in 1992 to 228 last year, a 73 percent improvement. Similarly, the number of significant non-compliers has decreased from 81 in 1992 to 19 last year, a 77 percent improvement. The 19 facilities represent only 1 percent of the 1,400 permitted facilities statewide.

Each fiscal year, the DEP performs one full inspection of every regulated facility and an additional follow-up inspection as needed as part of the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permitting program. In 1996, the DEP conducted 1,658 facility inspections covering 1,680 discharges at 1,350 NJPDES permitted facilities, excluding the stormwater program.

The 1996 Clean Water Enforcement Act annual report provides comprehensive information regarding enforcement actions, permitting, programs of delegated local agencies, criminal actions and fiscal issues. An executive summary is attached. For a copy of the full report, contact Water Compliance and Enforcement at (609) 984-5855.