New Jersey Mandating Reduction In Sewage Runoff

State regulators in New Jersey are mandating that municipalities reduce sewage runoff into surface water. 

"In the next few weeks, the state Department of Environmental Protection will issue final permits for 25 municipalities and regional sewage authorities to develop long-term strategies to deal with the problem. The issue has long been recognized by policymakers, but largely neglected, partly due to the huge cost, which could run to tens of billion dollars, according to some projections," NJ Spotlight reported. 

The mandate could be difficult for cash-strapped municipalities, but regulators tried to make it a manageable task. 

"The DEP is giving towns and authorities up to 5 years to develop strategies to reduce the problem, longer to figure out how to end the pollution," the report said. 

Regulators are "encouraging multi-agency collaboration in efforts to deal with CSOs and is providing $500,000 in principal forgiveness loans through the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust for the development of regional integrated plans," the DEP said, per a release.

DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said the state is seeking "realistic" solutions.   

“This new framework allows our urban communities to work with the state to establish realistic solutions to address the longstanding and difficult problem of combined sewer discharges," he said, per the release.

The Star-Ledger editorial board praised the plan. 

"Perhaps you had doubts that there could be happy news about sewage, but this time you may be wrong. For too long, New Jersey has under-invested in its water infrastructure, so this is a modest but reasonable first step toward repairing a crumbling, antiquated system – which may ultimately cost as much as $8.2 billion, the EPA said three years ago," the editorial said. 

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