The 4 feet of additional elevation corresponds to the upper range of the sea level rise scientists think New Jersey is likely to see by the year 2100, said Janine Barr, a senior research specialist at Rutgers\u2019 Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.\n<\/p>\n
In a 2025 report<\/a>, Barr and other researchers at Rutgers University estimated that under an \u201cintermediate\u201d greenhouse gas emissions scenario, coastal areas of the state are likely to experience 2.2 to 3.8 feet of sea level rise by 2100, or as much as 4.5 feet if rapid ice-sheet loss occurs.\n<\/p>\n Barr said these estimates take into account factors including the expanding volume of ocean water as it warms and melting of ice. They also incorporate the sinking of New Jersey\u2019s land due to a glacial ice sheet retreating during the last ice age, groundwater pumping and changes in winds and currents.\n<\/p>\n Last year, officials with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection lowered their proposed elevation standard from 5 additional feet to 4, citing newer science<\/a>. They also allowed permit applications to be reviewed under the old rules for up to 180 days after the regulation was finalized.\n <\/p>\n Some business representatives and local government officials<\/a> opposed the regulation, arguing it could hurt the Jersey Shore\u2019s homeowners, economy and property values.\n<\/p>\n Ray Cantor, deputy chief government affairs officer of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, called it an \u201cextreme measure\u201d in a statement last fall<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt will have devastating economic impacts to coastal and river communities and their residents and exacerbates the affordability crisis while making it harder to build affordable housing,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n Construction proposals can receive exemptions from the rules under certain circumstances, including when elevating would be unreasonably expensive or when a project is subject to \u201cextraordinary\u201d physical or engineering constraints. Exemptions may not harm nearby properties or undermine public health and safety.\n<\/p>\n Projects can also receive an exemption when they include affordable housing. Jennifer Coffey, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, criticized this Tuesday.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt is unconscionable to provide a waiver to permit the development of homes for people who are least financially able to recover from impacts in the most risky areas of New Jersey,\u201d Coffey said. \u201cIt\u2019s the opposite of our environmental justice regulations<\/a>, and we think that needs to be fixed by Governor Sherrill<\/a>.\u201d\n<\/p>\n But overall, Coffey said she\u2019s happy with the new rules.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes new roadways, new police stations, new hospitals and new residents out of the floodplain from this increasing sea level rise,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is going to save lives.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 4 feet of additional elevation corresponds to the upper range of the sea level rise scientists think…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,201913,79,34970],"class_list":["post-423741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-new-jersey-flooding","tag-science","tag-whyy-news-climate-desk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}