In a story for the New Jersey Law Journal, Ryan Benson, a member of Connell Foley LLP’s Environmental Law and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups, describes the arguments against a New Jersey Pinelands Commission rule that regulates proposed water diversions of 50,000 gallons per day or more from the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer in the New Jersey Pinelands and reduces the quantity of water that may be diverted therefrom.
Ryan and veteran Connell Foley partner Kevin Coakley drafted an initial brief seeking to invalidate the regulation—published at 54 N.J.R. 1668(a)—on behalf of Clayton Sand Company, a party that uses large amounts of water from the aquifer. The case is before the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court and is captioned In re Challenge of Clayton Sand Company to Dec. 4, 2023 Amendments to N.J.A.C. 7:50-1.1 et seq. (Docket No. A-001476-23).
The Clayton Sand Company brief argues that the regulation impermissibly—among other things— encroaches upon the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). Clayton further argues that the regulation fails to meaningfully exempt non-consumptive diversions (i.e., diversions that return virtually all the diverted water back to the source).
Read the full New Jersey Law Journal story here.