New Sewage Facilities Planning Strategies Proposed for NJ and PA

In order to ensure adequate wastewater planning for potential residential, commercial, and industrial development as well as water quality protection, both Pennsylvania and New Jersey are proposing new implementation strategies and regulations for their Sewage Facilities and Wastewater Management Plan requirements.

The Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act 537) requires proper planning in all types of sewage disposal situations, and in general when a new land development project is proposed, municipalities are required to revise their official plan. To assist local municipalities in fulfilling this responsibility, the PA DEP provides technical assistance, financial assistance, and oversight. In New Jersey, the Statewide Water Quality Management (WQM) Planning rules, N.J.A.C. 7:15 require a Wastewater Management Plan (WMP) for sewage planning areas that provides 20-year planning for wastewater and certain other water quality concerns. 

PA DEP recently released a new document supporting efforts to implement Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy in Sewage Facilities Planning under Act 537. Municipalities must now evaluate alternatives in a manner that recognizes the need for compliance with the cap loads for Total Nitrogen )TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP). Pennsylvania’s “cap load”, for all sources, is the mass load limitation that Pennsylvania must maintain to meet the new water quality standards adopted by Maryland to address impairment of the Bay. Point sources are being asked to provide 14 percent of the required reductions in TN and 22 percent of the required reductions in TP. For existing point sources, cap loads for TN and TP are to be established in NPDES permits. Since the point source cap loads do not include an allocation for new point sources, which includes new discharges or expansions of existing discharges, maintaining the “zero net” increase to the cap load will be accomplished using such methods as land application of effluent, recycle and reuse, acquiring offsets for loads from replacement, reduction or retirement of existing sources, or the purchasing of credits elsewhere (trading).

NJ DEP recently advanced a major regulatory proposal that will address the impacts of septic systems on groundwater, and establish new standards for wastewater management planning, removing environmentally sensitive lands from sewer service areas. Under these rules, municipal planning authorities would be required to update their wastewater management plans. Currently, 141 municipalities are without plans and another 298 municipalities have outdated plans. Further, the new rules, once adopted, would give counties a nine-month grace period to submit an application to update their wastewater management plan or face withdrawal of their sewer service area designation. Without a sewer service area designation, developers cannot obtain sewer hookups for new development. The rules propose that upon completion of a wastewater management plan, the appropriate sewer-service area designation will be restored. The proposed regulations will be published in the May 21 edition of the New Jersey Register. Following a 60-day public comment period, final rules will be adopted. 

F. X. Browne, Inc. is experienced in all aspects of wastewater planning and design, including the preparation of Act 537 Plans, Wastewater Management Plans, Planning Modules, NPDES Permitting, Socio-Economic Justification Analyses, and municipal ordinances. F. X. Browne, Inc. is also experienced in the design of all types of wastewater treatment facilities, both community and individual, traditional and alternative. For more information, contact info@fxbrowne.com.