New Jersey Discharger - Vol. 6 No. 4 L

	Vol. 6 No. 4 Spring 1999
A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs

DEP Proposes Readoption of Water Pollution Control Rules

On February 16, 1999, the DEP proposed to readopt sections of its regulations at N.J.A.C. 7:14. These rules implement the provisions of the Water Pollution Control Act, which expire on April 27, 1999. The DEP is proposing to readopt, with minor revisions, N.J.A.C. 7:14-2 and 7:14-8 as well as amending related sections of N.J.A.C. 7:14A-6.

N.J.A.C. 7:14-2, which is administered by the Division of Water Quality, establishes construction standards for wastewater treatment facilities and defines the roles and responsibilities of the owner, the owner's representative, or engineer and construction contractor. This subchapter will be readopted with minor changes. In addition, minor amendments to N.J.A.C. 7:14A-6.10 (noncompliance reporting) are necessary to replace missing anticipated bypass reporting provisions.

N.J.A.C. 7:14-8, which is administered by DEP's Compliance and Enforcement, includes provisions regarding the imposition of civil administrative penalties and requests for adjudicatory hearings for violations related to the Water Pollution Control Act. The rule will include the statutory provisions which allow DEP to collect allowable costs for investigation, monitoring and inspection, cost of litigation and case preparation, and to allow for an affirmative defense for permitted groundwater remedial actions. Additionally, the amendments correct citations, fix grammatical errors, add existing definitions from N.J.A.C. 7:14A- 1.2, and revise definitions to match those found in the NJPDES regulations. The proposed amendments do not revise the existing penalty amounts.

The proposed readoption and amendments were published in the February 16, 1999 New Jersey Register. Written comments will be accepted until March 19, 1999. A public hearing on the proposal will be held on March 16, 1999, at 1:00 p.m. in the DEP's first floor public hearing room at 401 East State Street, Trenton, New Jersey 08625.

For more information concerning the readoption with amendments to N.J.A.C. 7:14-2, please contact Scott Shymon of the Municipal Finance and Construction Element at (609) 292-3859. Inquiries regarding the readoption with amendments to N.J.A.C. 7:14-8 and N.J.A.C. 7:14A-6.10 can be directed to Gene Callahan of Water Compliance and Enforcement at (609) 984-5855. The proposal will be available from the division's web site at: www.state.nj.us/dep/dwq.

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Please contact Tom Cosmas regarding any comments on the New Jersey Discharger web pages.
Last revision Friday, March 19, 1999