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Constituents have identified a series of circumstances
in which the operation of Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Administrator
Order No. 2002-22 have presented uncertainty to the
affected townships, to builders and developers, and to
individual homeowners. These uncertainties surround a
number of circumstances that the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) did not intend to reach under the order.
Pursuant
to the provision for hardship exemptions under DEP's water
emergency authorities and Administrative
Order 2002-22, I am approving and by this memorandum
granting a categorical hardship exemption that exempts
the following from the operation of Administrative
Order 2002-22:
- A subdivision that has received all
required planning and zoning approvals from the
relevant municipality, in which an owner, builder,
or developer has begun actual construction of
one or more units of residential dwelling on any
lot within the subdivision prior to the date of
this exemption letter.
- A subdivision that has received all
required planning and zoning approvals from the
relevant municipality, in which all infrastructure
necessary to support the entire subdivision has
been fully constructed by the date of this exemption
letter. Necessary infrastructure includes paved
streets, curbing, sewer lines, utility mains,
street lighting, and all other site improvements
required by the planning or zoning approvals of
the relevant municipality.
- Any construction or subsequent utilization
by an individual of a building consisting of one
or two residential dwelling units on a lot existing
as of the date of Administrative
Order No. 2002-22, provided that: 1) in cases
where the lot is part of a subdivision of more
than two lots, the lot is not the first to be
developed in the subdivision; or 2) the lot is
not or was not part of a larger subdivision.
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For
purposes of this Order, the term "construction"
shall not include clearing or other site preparation activities.
Any
interested party may rely on the exemption hereby granted.
The Department of Environmental Protection stands ready
to consider additional hardship exemption requests on
a case-by-case basis. Commercial projects, in particular,
typically impose minimal additional burdens on water supply
and will be expeditiously considered when hardship exemption
requests are presented.
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