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ARTICLE · 02 OCTOBER 2025

NJDEP's REAL Rule Revisions Enter Final Phase: What It Means For Coastal Development

Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti
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The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("NJDEP") published a Notice of Substantial Change on July 21, 2025 to significantly revise its proposed Resilient Environments and Landscapes ("REAL")...

United StatesEnvironment
Michael S. Kettler
Michael S. Kettler
Alexa Richman-La Londe
Alexa Richman-La Londe
Steven T. Senior
Steven T. Senior
Marilynn Greenberg
Marilynn Greenberg
Dennis Krumholz
Dennis Krumholz
Jeffrey B. Wagenbach
Jeffrey B. Wagenbach
Michael Antzoulis
Michael Antzoulis
Allison Straub-Dolan
Allison Straub-Dolan
Amelia Whiting
Amelia Whiting

What You Need to Know

  • The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("NJDEP") published a Notice of Substantial Change on July 21, 2025 to significantly revise its proposed Resilient Environments and Landscapes ("REAL") rules that will impose new development restrictions to mitigate coastal flooding. This opened a second 60-day comment period before final adoption, which closed on September 19, 2025.
  • The revised proposal reduces the added coastal flood elevation requirement from 5 feet down to 4 feet above FEMA's 100-year base flood level, reflecting updated sea-level rise forecasts.
  • NJDEP removed a controversial 3% impervious cover limit for projects in new Inundation Risk Zones ("IRZ"), easing what many feared would be a de facto building ban in coastal flood-prone areas.

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