By Anne Levin

A coalition of environmental organizations and elected officials gathered in Trenton Tuesday morning to mount a final push to get Gov. Phil Murphy and his administration to adopt coastal flooding rules that have an August 4 deadline for adoption.

The NJDEP NJPACT REAL coastal flooding rules reflect climate science, which anticipates sea level rise of up to five feet by the end of the century. Environmentalists say the initiative is stalled due to opposition from developers.

The meeting at South Riverwalk Park along the Delaware River took place at a time when coastal flooding, which reached tragic proportions in Texas last week, is prominent in the news. And at press time, New Jersey was on a flood watch related to intense thunderstorms predicted to hit the area in early evening.

“In New Jersey, we flood,” said Mike Pisauro, policy director of The Watershed Institute, following the event. “We know we flood. We’ve got to stop pretending we don’t. There have been multiple flash flood warnings in the last three months, and lots of flooded roads across the state.”

The meeting, which was attended by representatives of local government, environmental organizations, and sustainable business networks, marked the official launch of a digital ad campaign to urge the public to reach out to Gov. Murphy on the issue. Over the last few weeks, municipalities have been asked to fight against misinformation about coastal flooding predictions involving sea level rise.

“Anyone who thinks that greenhouse gases won’t ramp up over the next few years is sorely mistaken,” Pisauro said. “We know we can expect an 83 percent chance that sea level rise will be up to 5.1 feet by the end of the century.”

Others who attended the event provided comment in a press release.

“When it rains, it pours. As Texas recovers from historic flash flooding, it’s clear that our climate is changing and we are living in a wetter and wilder world,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “Sadly, we have too many examples in New Jersey of coastal flooding devastating communities. Our land use rules need to reflect this new reality – especially in our coastal communities along the Shore and beyond which are uniquely vulnerable to sea level rise.”

“Now more than ever, we are witnessing devastating floodwaters tearing through communities across the country, destroying homes, displacing families, and taking lives,” said Chris Sotiro, policy and program coordinator at New Jersey Future. “These disasters are occurring at a time when there is a great deal of uncertainty about the role of federal agencies in tracking weather events and providing emergency relief that states and municipalities depend on to protect residents before, during, and after storms. New Jersey must take steps to prepare for rising sea levels and increased flooding. REAL will modernize outdated flood maps to account for sea level rise, strengthen building requirements in vulnerable areas, and prioritize scientific consensus in crafting state policy. We cannot wait any longer, we urge Governor Murphy to adopt these rules to keep our communities safe.”

It was more than five years ago that Gov. Murphy announced a plan for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to update its flood projection maps to include current and future projected flooding, based on sea level rise projects from the latest climate science from Rutgers University and the NJDEP. The package of rules, which was dubbed NJPACT for Protecting Against Climate Threats, moved forward with a partial down payment in 2023.

“In 2024, the second part of that promise was issued with rules to ensure new development would not put families at risk in the future, and to reverse historic environmental damage,” reads the release.” These rules are on the cusp of adoption but continue to be delayed because of strong opposition from developers.”

Pisauro said several thousand people have mailed Gov. Murphy in recent months, urging adoption of the bill.

“We hope this inspires a new flood of emails, no pun intended, and we certainly hope he listens,” Pisauro said. “This isn’t some extreme wish of environmentalists. This is common sense to protect ourselves.”