For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jackie Greger, Jackie.Greger@sierraclub.org
Statewide Environmental Leaders Call for Protecting New Jersey from Increasing Climate Related Flooding Threats and Implementing NJPACT REAL Rules
TRENTON - The New Jersey Protecting Against Climate threats (NJPACT) Resilient Environment and Landscapes (REAL) rules are integral for mitigating the flooding impacts of climate change and ensuring the safety and long-lasting wellbeing of our communities. New Jersey is threatened by climate change impacts, especially rising sea levels, more intense and frequent storm events, flooding, and increasing temperature.
Investments in climate resiliency are investments in livable, workable communities that support local businesses and create the foundation for neighborhoods to endure and prosper amid the increasingly severe challenges posed by climate change.
The New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threats Resilient Environments and Landscapes (NJPACT REAL) rules were adopted January 20, 2026 and are slated to be implemented on July 20, 2026. The NJPACT REAL use climate modeling to assess the impact of climate change on New Jersey through the year 2100. The NJPACT REAL rules modernize New Jersey’s land use regulations so that residents and businesses become more resilient to sea-level rise, extreme weather, chronic flooding, and other impacts of our changing climate by following the peer-reviewed climate science that indicates there is an 83% chance that sea level rise will be 4.4-ft by the year 2100 for New Jersey.
“New Jersey can’t afford to ignore climate reality—our flooding and disaster recovery costs already rank fifth highest in the nation. Storms are growing stronger, sea levels are rising, and the damage to homes, infrastructure, and local economies continues to mount. The REAL Rule helps us build smarter and more resilient communities by factoring these risks into how we develop. It’s far more cost‑effective to plan for climate impacts now than to pay much more to rebuild later.” Michael L. Pisauro, Jr., Esq, Policy Director The Watershed Institute.
The NJPACT REAL rules require new housing development and critical infrastructure to be built above where it currently floods and will flood by the year 2100. The ground level floors that flood can be used for storage, but not for bedrooms or living rooms where people can be trapped. Other types of development, including restaurants and stores, may have first floors that are flood proof but do not have to be above future sea levels.
“The NJPACT REAL rules are fundamentally about protecting what matters: the lives and family homes of New Jersey residents,” Jennifer M. Coffey, Executive Director Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC). “The flooding risk to New Jersey homes, critical infrastructure including schools, police and fire stations are under increasing threat of flooding from sea level rise. It’s time we start requiring that new development be built to withstand our new reality. The NJPACT REAL rules are common sense policies.”
“New Jersey’s precedent-setting REAL rule is a critical policy realignment that acknowledges that far too many of the state’s communities were developed in areas that are now, and will increasingly become, at risk of damaging flooding. We cannot change the fact that we have developed in these places, but we can change how we develop and redevelop moving forward, proactively avoiding putting future New Jerseyans in harm’s way. There will be much yet to figure out around existing development in the flood zone, but implementing the REAL rule with practical improvements is pivotal, and sends a clear signal that the state is responsibly governing to ensure the well-being of residents today and into the future.” Robert Freudenberg Vice President, Energy & Environment, Regional Plan Association.
New Jersey is the fastest warming state in the country and regularly among the five states with the highest amount of flood insurance claims for homeowners. S&P Global and Moody’s have made positive reference to New Jersey’s climate resiliency work in recent credit assessments and rating improvements.
“Insurance pricing simply follows the cost of risk, if we want lower prices, we need to find ways to lower the relative risk of loss. The industry is encouraging stronger efforts of mitigation and loss prevention. That’s why I support the NJPACT REAL regulations as they stand on the books now. These regulations bring increased resiliency and an increased ability to withstand loss, to minimize loss. Which means lower costs of the loss itself which leads to lower insurance costs.” Robin Suydam , Past President of the Professional Insurance Agents of NJ.
The federal government has made it clear that disaster recovery aid and resiliency funding for projects such as beach replenishment will be dramatically reduced. The NJPACT REAL rules are a logical step in creating a safer, more resilient Garden State that can better withstand the impacts of climate change.
“In a state surrounded by water, planning for flooding makes sense. You don’t have to be a scientist to notice the impacts of increased flooding in our state. These rules help bolster our natural defenses, like living shorelines, and they make sure new construction is built to last. It’s a practical step that keeps us safer and helps avoid the repeated water damage that costs families and taxpayers money.” Danielle McCulloch, Executive Director American Littoral Society.
“This Earth Day, our legislature has an obligation to protect the people of New Jersey from the impacts of climate change, like severe flooding, storms, and beach erosion. We must move forward with the REAL rules in their strongest form in order to be resilient and best prepare the next generation. Right now, our beaches are eroding, towns are trying to prepare for the summer season, and there is no funding coming from the Federal government. The REAL rules will help provide nature-based solutions that will better protect our coast for decades to come. These rules do not curb development, but ensure we are building smarter and for the long-term. The NJ Sierra Club urges the legislature to move forward with full implementation of the rules.” Anjuli Ramos- Busot, Executive Director, NJ Chapter Sierra Club
The NJPACT REAL rules also include policies that for the first time require stormwater management for redevelopment projects to reduce flooding. Additionally, the NJPACT REAL rules include permitting efficiency improvements and preferences for permitting nature-based solutions such as green infrastructure to clean and filter flood water before it is discharged to a stream or recharges an aquifer to later be used as drinking water.
“The NJPACT REAL rules are a critically important science-based policy to preserve and protect the delicate ecosystem within the one million acres of the Pinelands. In particular, the 17-trillion-gallon Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer underlying the Pinelands provides drinking water for about one million people and irrigation for 200,000 acres of farmland. Flooding threatens the quality of this vital water supply. In addition, rising sea water and storm surges are forcing saltwater upstream into the Pinelands’ forests, killing trees at the root and creating “ghost forests”: extensive stands of dead trees inside the
Pinelands. New Jersey needs to retain and enforce the REAL rules to help save the precious resources of the Pinelands. Michael W. Klein, JD, Ph.D, Director of Government Relations.
Senate Continuing Resolution 106 and Assembly Continuing Resolution 59 allege that the NJDEP lacks the authority to adopt the NJPACT REAL rules. The New Jersey’s Flood Hazard Area Control Act, however, explicitly directs the Department to “adopt rules and regulations which delineate as flood hazard areas such areas as, in the judgment of the department, the improper development and use of which would constitute a threat to the safety, health, and general welfare from flooding.” N.J.S.A. 58:16A-52. The NJDEP has been regulating New Jersey’s expanding floodplains for decades using old historical data. Climate change has shown us that the past is no longer a predictor of future conditions. Therefore, climate modeling through the year 2100 is essential in building safer communities that are more resilient to current and future flooding.
“More than 55 years after the first Earth Day, climate change is intensifying, especially in New Jersey's coastal communities. NJDEP's REAL coastal flooding rules are the logical response to rising sea levels and more frequent coastal flooding -- and went through a six-year process leading to adoption earlier this year. Legislative efforts to overturn flood protections would be both unprecedented and ignore both the science on coastal flooding and the reality. Climate change and coastal flooding can't be ignored and we urge the Legislature to follow the science," said Doug O'Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey.
"Surfrider Foundation's New Jersey Chapters haven't forgotten how the coastal communities they live in were devastated after Hurricane Sandy. Scientists tell us that more storms like Sandy, plus bigger rainfalls, flooding, and more beach erosion is in our future--we can't let real estate developers, who are focused on profit--guide how we protect and prepare our coastal communities going forward--HANDS OFF the NJPACT REAL rules." Matt Gove, the Mid Atlantic Policy Manager from Surfrider Foundation
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About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information about our work in New Jersey, visit www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey.