Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act facts for kids

The Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act is a very important law in New Jersey. It was passed on July 1, 1987. This law helps protect freshwater wetlands from being damaged or changed without good reason. Before this act, only big rivers and coastal areas were protected. This new law started protecting smaller rivers and wetlands that are not near the coast. These wetlands are super important! They help keep our water clean, prevent floods, and provide homes for many animals.

The law was passed after Governor Thomas Kean put a temporary stop to building in New Jersey's wetlands. This temporary stop is called a "moratorium." Governor Kean had asked for a law to protect wetlands for four years before he declared this moratorium. Another New Jersey governor, Brendan Byrne, had also declared a moratorium in the 1970s. That one stopped building in the Pinelands area before the Pinelands Protection Act was passed in 1979.

Why Wetlands Need Protection

For a long time, people thought wetlands were just useless land. They drained over 11 million acres of American wetlands between 1953 and 1983. Even more had been lost since the first European settlers arrived.

Discovering Wetland Value

But in the late 1960s and early 1970s, scientists learned something amazing. They found out that marshes and swamps are worth billions of dollars every year! They help with:

• Producing wildlife
• Refilling groundwater
• Controlling floods
• Cleaning up pollution
• Stopping erosion

This new understanding led to the federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1972.

New Jersey's Wetland Challenges

Even though New Jersey is one of the smallest states, it was losing a lot of its coastal wetlands in the 1980s. Many wetlands were also being lost in northern New Jersey because of new buildings and towns. New Jersey has a lot of people. In 1973, almost 10% of the U.S. population lived near New Brunswick. This meant there was a huge demand for new houses. Many towns even planned for houses or factories to be built in wetland areas.

In the 1980s, New Jersey was losing over 3,000 acres of wetlands every year to new construction. Wetlands were being drained for farms. They were being dug up for flood control. People filled them in for houses, roads, factories, and landfills. They were also dredged for boat channels and marinas.

Governor Kean's Efforts

Governor Kean cared a lot about protecting wetlands. Early in his first term, in 1983, he tried to create strong environmental rules. But builders and others didn't like the idea of more government rules.

In the spring of 1987, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked a group called the Conservation Foundation to lead a national discussion about wetlands. Governor Kean was chosen to lead this important discussion.

The Moratorium Decision

The problem of protecting wetlands was finally solved in 1987. On June 9, 1987, Governor Kean announced an 18-month moratorium. This meant no new building could happen in any of New Jersey's remaining 300,000 acres of freshwater wetlands. He said he would lift the moratorium as soon as the New Jersey Legislature passed a wetlands protection bill he could sign.

This order told the Department of Environmental Protection to say "no" to all building permits in wetlands. It affected about 500 to 600 building projects.

Because it was unclear exactly where wetlands were, almost all building in New Jersey stopped when the moratorium began. This was even worse for builders than the proposed new law. So, on July 1, 1987, the New Jersey Legislature quickly passed the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act.

What the Act Does

The Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act brought protection to wetlands all over New Jersey, not just the coastal ones. It created a full program to control all activities in freshwater wetlands. It also protected "transition areas," which are buffer zones right next to wetlands.

Before the Act

Before this act, wetlands were protected by some federal and state laws. The federal program was run by the Army Corps of Engineers. They mostly focused on big rivers and waters where boats could travel. This left many inland waters unprotected. State laws before this act only protected coastal areas.

New Protections and Goals

One of the main goals of the Act was to reduce confusion. It aimed to make the state's environmental programs work together better. This way, rules would be applied in a clear and consistent way.

The Act required the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to take over part of the federal Clean Water Act. This part, called Section 404, controls filling and dredging in "the waters of the United States." The EPA agreed to let New Jersey take on this responsibility in 1994, after a lot of discussion.