Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman JOHN ARMATO
District 2 (Atlantic)
Assemblyman WILLIAM W. SPEARMAN
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DEP to prepare report on confined aquifers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring the DEP to prepare a report on confined aquifers in the State.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. No later than one year after the effective date of this act, the Department of Environmental Protection shall prepare a report on the recharge areas of confined aquifers in the State.
b. The report shall:
(1) include a map that shows, as accurately as is practicable, the three-dimensional extent of all major confined aquifers in the State;
(2) include a map that shows the recharge areas of all major confined aquifers in the State;
(3) provide an analysis of the watershed characteristics, geology, and land use of each recharge area, which analysis indicates what proportion of each recharge area is developed and undeveloped;
(4) provide an analysis of the feasibility of preserving as open space an increased amount of each recharge area;
(5) provide an analysis of the feasibility of artificially recharging each confined aquifer;
(6) provide recommendations for State laws and municipal ordinances to increase the quantity and quality of water that recharges each confined aquifer; and
(7) provide recommendations for State and municipal initiatives, including public awareness campaigns, to increase the quantity and quality of water that recharges each confined aquifer.
c. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall submit the report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire after the transmittal of the report required by subsection c. of section 1 of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection to prepare a report on the recharge areas of confined aquifers in the State. Confined aquifers are underground volumes of water that have impermeable layers of rock or soil above and below the water, causing it to be naturally pressurized. Ground water can still flow into confined aquifers; however, it often flows in from a distant area upslope of the main aquifer, known as the "recharge area."
The report would: (1) include a map that shows, as far as is practicable, the three-dimensional extent of all major confined aquifers in the State; (2) include a map that shows the recharge areas of all major confined aquifers in the State; (3) provide an analysis of the watershed characteristics, geology, and land use of each recharge area, indicating what proportion of each recharge area is developed versus undeveloped; (4) provide an analysis of the feasibility of preserving as open space an increased amount of each recharge area; (5) provide an analysis of the feasibility of artificially recharging each confined aquifer; (6) provide recommendations for State laws and municipal ordinances to increase the quantity and quality of water that recharges each confined aquifer; and (7) provide recommendations for State and municipal initiatives, including public awareness campaigns, to increase the quantity and quality of water that recharges each confined aquifer.