[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-1; Ord. No. 8-20-74; Ord.
No. 3-21-78]
No building permit shall be issued for any building or structure
to be used otherwise than as a one family, private dwelling or as
an accessory building thereto, no site plan shall receive approval,
no major subdivision shall receive preliminary approval and no zoning
use ordinance change shall be adopted until an environmental impact
statement shall have been submitted to and approved by the Rockaway
Township Planning Board or the Board of Adjustment, as appropriate,
and shall have been submitted to the Environmental Commission. The
purpose of requiring an environmental impact statement is to permit
the Planning Board or the Board of Adjustment, as appropriate, and
the Environmental Commission to assess the impact of the proposed
project upon the environment.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-2]
The environmental impact statement shall include the following:
A.
Plan and description of development. A project description,
complete with maps and drawings, which shall specify what is to be
done and how it is to be done during construction and operation. The
description shall include but not be limited to contours, buildings,
roads, paved areas, grading and regrading, adjacent natural streams
and the project's relation to surrounding property and utility
lines.
B.
Inventory of existing environmental conditions. An inventory
of existing environmental conditions at the project site and in the
affected region which shall describe air quality, water quality, water
supply, hydrology, geology, soils and properties thereof, including
capabilities and limitations, sewerage systems, topography, slope,
vegetation, wildlife, habitat, aquatic organisms, noise characteristics
and levels, demography, land use, aesthetics, history, archeology
and socioeconomic aspects. Air and water quality shall be described
with reference to standards promulgated by the Department of Environmental
Protection of the State of New Jersey and soils shall be described
with reference to the Morris County Soil Survey and the criteria contained
in the Morris County Soil Conservation District Standards and Specifications.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-3]
An assessment, supported by environmental data, of the environmental impact of the project upon the factors described in Section 21-2A. shall be submitted, and shall include an evaluation of water use, liquid and solid wastes on the quality and quantity of surface and groundwaters. The assessment shall also include an evaluation of the public costs of the project, including but not limited to the costs of additional schools, roads, police, etc., and indirect costs, such as the loss of open space.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-4]
There shall be a listing and evaluation of adverse environmental
impacts and damages to natural resources which cannot be avoided,
with particular emphasis upon, but not limited to, air or water pollution,
increase in noise, damage to plant, tree and wildlife systems, displacement
of people and businesses, displacement of existing farms, increase
in sedimentation and siltation, increase in municipal services and
consequences to municipal tax structure. Off-site impact shall also
be set forth and evaluated.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-5]
A description of steps to be taken to minimize and mitigate
adverse environmental impacts during construction and operation, both
at the project site and in the affected region, shall be included,
such description to be accompanied by necessary maps, schedules and
other explanatory data as may be needed to clarify and explain the
actions to be taken.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-6]
There shall be a statement of alternatives to the proposed project
which might avoid some or all of the adverse environmental effects
of the proposed project. The statement should include the reasons
for the acceptability or nonacceptability of each alternative.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-7]
It shall be shown that sewage can be disposed of through facilities
adequate to preclude water pollution, and:
A.
If disposal is on-site: data on underlying geology;
water table; soil analysis; soil stratigraphy; percolation tests for
every sewage disposal site; topography; location and depth of aquifers;
depth, capacity and type of construction of all wells within 100 feet
of the site; and any other pertinent data.
B.
If disposal is off-site: plant design capacity; monthly
average and peak flows for the past 12 months, daily average and peak
flows and enforcement action against the plant, if any; capacity of
the plant to treat industrial or commercial wastes, if applicable,
receiving water quality standards; stream quality data from State,
Federal or private sources; stream flow [minimum average seven consecutive-day
flow with frequency of occurrence of 10 years], plans for a sewage
treatment facility, i.e., local plans, State regional planning policy
and flows expected from other approved subdivisions which are dependent
upon sewage treatment facilities in question.
C.
Compliance with all State and local sewage and health
regulations.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-8]
It shall be shown that an adequate water supply is available
and not threatened by nearby use of other land, and:
A.
If the supply is from off-site public facilities, including
private water companies: the amount of diversion granted by the Division
of Water Resources (maximum gallons of water pumped during any month);
present diversion [maximum gallons of water pumped during the past
24 months]; diversions expected from other approved subdivisions which
are dependent upon the present diversions granted by the New Jersey
Division of Water Resources.
B.
If the supply is from on-site sources: the location
and depth of all private and public water supplies within 100 feet
of the realty improvement; location, depth and adequacy of proposed
private or public water supplies to serve the proposed realty improvement;
geologic description of subsurface conditions including expected groundwater
yields, using published geologic reports or a report by a geologist.
C.
Compliance with all State and local regulations.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-9]
The following information relating to drainage shall be submitted:
A.
A showing that stormwater runoff from the site is so
controlled than on- and off-site erosion is neither caused not worsened,
and that the potential of downstream flooding is not increased.
B.
Peak flow rates of stormwater runoff expected from the
undeveloped site and to be generated by new improvements, including
rates for one-, five-, ten-, twenty-five-, fifty-, and one-hundred-year
storm frequencies having durations producing maximum flow rates before
and after the proposed development.
C.
Data on landscaping, vegetation map and tree and ground
cover existing on the site compared with that proposed.
D.
Changes of runoff, rates and volumes to be caused by
changes in land use and the time of concentration.
E.
Plans for the disposition of stormwater, whether by
retention on the site or the means of channeling so as to protect
downstream property.
F.
Stream encroachments. An encroachment permit is required
from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for fill
or diversion of a water channel, alteration of a stream and repair
or construction of a bridge, culvert reservoir, dam, wall, pipeline
or cable crossing.
G.
Floodplains description of potential flood damages,
including a summary of flood stages from State and Federal sources.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-10]
A plan for solid waste disposal by means of a facility operating
in compliance with the State Sanitary Code shall be submitted.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-11]
It shall be shown that no visible smoke or deleterious chemical
changes will be produced in the atmosphere by heating or incineration
devices nor by any processing of materials.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-12]
A list of all licenses, permits and other approvals required
by municipal, County or State law and the status of each shall be
submitted.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-13]
There shall be an inventory of existing and projected traffic
flow on bordering and access roads and a determination of air pollution
and noise caused thereby.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-14]
A.
Fourteen copies of the environmental impact statement
shall be submitted to the Planning Board, together with a filing fee
of $200 plus $10 per acre to cover the cost of reviewing and processing
it.
B.
Upon submission of the environmental impact statement,
the Planning Board shall schedule a public hearing upon due notice
to the general public in the legal newspaper of the Township, at which
time residents of the Township may come forth and render their comments
regarding the environmental impact of the proposed project. Ten copies
of the statement shall be submitted to the Environmental Commission
at the same time as submission to the Planning Board.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-14]
A.
In reviewing an environmental impact statement the Planning
Board shall take into consideration the effect of the applicant's
proposal upon all aspects of the environment, including but not limited
to sewage disposal, water quality, water supply, fire protection,
preservation of trees and vegetation, protection of watercourses,
protection of air resources, protection of aquifers, protection of
public lands and their uses and eco-systems, and the presence of any
nuisance factors. Supporting data provided by the applicant shall
be collected on site and off-site where required. The Planning Board
may submit the environmental impact statement for review to the Township
Council, and to such other governmental bodies and to such consultants
as it may deem appropriate. The Planning Board shall request that
an advisory report be made to it by the governmental body or consultant
within 60 days of the submission of the environmental impact statement
to such governmental body or consultant. The Planning Board shall
approve an environmental impact statement only if it determines that
the proposed development:
B.
The Environmental Commission may conduct such review
of the environmental impact statement as in its discretion it may
deem desirable and feasible.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-14]
The steps to be taken to minimize adverse environmental impacts during construction and operation under Section 21-5 and the alternatives which may be approved by the Planning Board under Section 21-6 shall constitute conditions of the approval of the environmental impact statement, together with such other conditions as the Planning Board may impose. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued until compliance shall have been made with such conditions.
[Ord. No. 4-16-74 § 41A-14]
The Planning Board, at its sole discretion, may waive the requirement
for an environmental impact statement, in whole or in part, if sufficient
evidence is submitted to support a conclusion that the proposed project
will have a negligible environmental impact or that a complete environmental
impact statement need not be prepared in order to evaluate adequately
the environmental impact of the project.
