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Zoning Bulletin February 25, 2016 I Volume 10 I Issue 4 <br />Pre-emption/Water-Related <br />Uses —New Jersey department <br />of environmental protection <br />adopts public access rules for <br />coastal zones <br />Organizations challenge rules, saying the <br />Department lacked authority to adopt them <br />Citation: Hackensack Riverkeeper, Inc. v. New Jersey Dept. of <br />Environmental Protection, 2015 WL 9281742 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. <br />Div. 2015) <br />NEW JERSEY (12/22/15)—This case addressed the issue of <br />whether public access rules relating to coastal zones that were <br />adopted by the New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protec- <br />tion ("DEP") were valid. More specifically, the case addressed <br />whether the DEP's adoption of the rules was authorized by the public <br />trust doctrine and/or New Jersey's Coastal Area Facility Review Act. <br />It also addressed whether the rules conflicted with New Jersey's Mu- <br />nicipal Land Use Law. <br />The Background/Facts: In 2012, New Jersey's DEP adopted new <br />Public Access Rules (the "Rules") related to coastal zones. (These <br />Rules were revised, merely with sections renumbered, in July 2015.) <br />The Rules amend DEP's Coastal Zone Management ("CZM") <br />regulations. They were adopted with the intention of "enhanc[ing] <br />public access opportunities by encouraging municipalities to work <br />with the [DEP] to develop plans to help ensure that the public's ac- <br />cess needs are met in a comprehensive and systematic approach." <br />Among the Rules are the "public trust rights rule" (N.J.A.C. 7:7- <br />9.48) and the "public access rule" (N.J.A.C. 7:7-16.9). Under the <br />public trust rights rule, the DEP requires public access to "lands and <br />waters subject to public trust rights" be provided in accordance with <br />the public access rule, and discourages any development that does <br />not comply with the public access rule. The public access rule, in <br />turn, encourages, but does not require municipalities to create Mu- <br />nicipal Public Access Plans (MPAPs) that, among other things, <br />identify current public access points and corresponding signage, <br />incorporate parking and other amenities to the maximum extent <br />practicable, and plan for future public access. The Rules provide that <br />©2016 Thomson Reuters 9 <br />