Strategic counsel navigating Highlands Act regulations to secure exemptions or approvals for projects in the Highlands Region.
New Jersey’s Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act is an expansive regulatory framework specifically developed to protect the state’s essential natural resources. The Act applies to a region of more than 800,000 acres covering over 1,250 square miles and 88 municipalities in seven counties (Bergen, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren) in Northern New Jersey. Among other things, the Highlands Region is an essential source of drinking water for half of the residents of the state.
The Act is also a major factor in any kind of significant development in the region. Rutter & Roy is one of the few law firms in the state with significant experience counseling clients whose projects implicate the Act and thus require working with the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, the body that administers the Act along with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
As with any complex regulatory framework, effective management of the Act, the Council, and the NJDEP requires a delicate, expert and strategic balance of knowledge, negotiation and relationships. The Act incorporates numerous exemptions. Whenever possible, our objective is to develop a strong case for the applicability of an exemption to a particular project. Depending upon the exemption, the request will be considered by either the Council, the NJDEP, or municipality. Obtaining an exemption allows clients to avoid the Act’s more onerous review process, and proceed more expeditiously.
Our firm successfully defended an appeal of NJDEP’s issuance of a Highlands Applicability Determination (HAD) to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C (Tennessee). Rutter & Roy fought all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court twice to protect Tennessee’s interest in the HAD. The first appeal involved the New Jersey Appellate Division’s denial of Tennessee’s motion to intervene in the appeal of the HAD, in which the Supreme Court held that Tennessee was an interested party to the appeal and can participate to defend its approval. The second appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court came after the Appellate Division vacated and remanded the HAD based on its interpretation of Exemption #11 under the Highlands Act. Rutter & Roy, on behalf of Tennessee, challenged the Appellate Division’s interpretation of Exemption #11, and the Supreme Court agreed with Tennessee’s interpretation and reversed the Appellate Division.
Rutter & Roy is one of the few firms in New Jersey with Highlands Act experience.
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