NJDEP Municipal Stormwater Grant Application Deadline Arriving December 31st, 2023

Applications from NJ municipalities for either $25,000 or $75,000 in non-competitive grant funding to assist in Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program upgrades required by the new 2023 Tier A Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit Renewal regulations are due to NJDEP on December 31, 2023. The grant application only takes a few minutes to complete. Get the grant funding your community deserves!

Each of the 101 Tier B municipalities reassigned as Tier A in July 2022 is eligible to receive $75,000, and each of the 465 Tier A municipalities, which were already Tier A prior to July 2022, is eligible to receive $25,000. 

New Jersey faces considerable public safety, health and environmental risks due to increasing rainfall and resulting flood events. Local stormwater infrastructure throughout the State often is not properly sized or sufficiently maintained to manage existing or increasing risks. Inadequate stormwater management and storm sewer systems limit our ability to manage intense rainfalls and lead to significant economic losses. Flooding increases costs associated with managing our source water for drinking, reduces water-oriented recreational opportunities, harms waterfront businesses, leads to public health impairments, and increases the cost for watershed restoration, if such restoration is even possible. Therefore, a proactive approach to understanding stormwater infrastructure and implementation of infrastructure upgrades is needed to prevent losses, nonpoint source pollution, and system failure.

Depending upon your municipality, required MS4 program improvements may include the following:

• Prepare a MS4 stormwater infrastructure map using GIS.
• Prepare a Watershed Improvement Plan (WIP) that addresses flooding and water quality.
• Adopt stormwater related municipal ordinances.
• Implement a street sweeping program.
• Implement a Best Management Practices for municipal maintenance yards.
• Conduct required DPW employee training.
• Implement a program to detect and eliminate illicit stormwater discharges.

Contact Christopher Schmitt at GZA GeoEnvironmental for a free no-obligation conversation about your municipality’s MS4 obligations and how to obtain funding to comply with the new regulations.