New Jersey Resilience Planning
New Jersey released a draft of its first statewide Climate Change Resilience Strategy for public comment. The statewide Strategy provides a suite of forward-looking policy options to promote the long-term resilience of New Jersey to climate change, including 125 recommended actions across six priority areas. Under Priority 6 of the Strategy, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Coastal Zone Management Program developed the draft Coastal Resilience Plan (CRP), which addresses issues specific to New Jersey’s coastal zone. The CRP is the first step for the DEP to evaluate how its policies and programs allow for local, regional and state response to climate change within the coastal zone to combat threats of climate change and flooding. The plan guides policies, regulations, resource allocation and funding in the coastal zone to: reduce the impacts of coastal hazards; increase resilience for structures, infrastructure systems, environmental resources, and coastal communities; address the needs of socially vulnerable populations; and attract equitable and sustainable investment. The CRP represents the early steps of a long-term strategy for climate change resilience and adaptation in New Jersey.