IN THE MATTER OF NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION CAFRA PERMIT NO. 0XXX-XX-0007.1 CAF 150001 AND FRESHWATER WETLANDS PROTECTION ACT PERMIT NO. 0XXX-XX-0007.1 FWW 15001 ISSUED TO NEW JERSEY NATURAL GAS (NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION) ( 2019 )


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  •                             NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
    APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
    This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the
    internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
    SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
    APPELLATE DIVISION
    DOCKET NO. A-3293-16T1
    IN THE MATTER OF NEW
    JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
    CAFRA PERMIT NO. 0000-15-0007.1
    CAF 150001 AND FRESHWATER
    WETLANDS PROTECTION ACT
    PERMIT NO. 0000-15-0007.1
    FWW 15001 ISSUED TO NEW
    JERSEY NATURAL GAS.
    ______________________________
    Submitted March 27, 2019 – Decided July 22, 2019
    Before Judges Fuentes, Vernoia and Moynihan.
    On appeal from permits issued by the New Jersey
    Department of Environmental Protection, Nos. 0000-
    15-0007.1 CAF 150001 and 0000-15-0007.1 FWW
    15001.
    Potter and Dickson, attorneys for appellants People
    Over Pipelines, Inc., Agnes Marsala, Rita Romeu, Glen
    Ashton, Katherine Marlin and Michael Marlin (R.
    William Potter, on the brief).
    Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney for
    respondent New Jersey Department of Environmental
    Protection (Jason W. Rockwell, Assistant Attorney
    General, of counsel; Bruce A. Velzy, Deputy Attorney
    General, on the brief).
    Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti LLP,
    attorneys for respondent-intervenor New Jersey Natural
    Gas Company (Dennis J. Krumholz, of counsel and on
    the brief; Laurie J. Sands and Michael S. Kettler, on the
    brief).
    PER CURIAM
    Appellants Agnes Marsala, Rita Romeu, Glen Ashton, Katherine Marlin,
    Michael Marlin, all individually, and People Over Pipelines, Inc. (POP)
    challenge the issuance of a joint permit by the New Jersey Department of
    Environmental Protection (the Department) under the Coastal Area Facility
    Review Act (CAFRA), N.J.S.A. 13:19-1 to -21, and the Freshwater Wetlands
    Protection Act (FWPA), N.J.S.A. 13:9B-1 to -30, authorizing intervenor New
    Jersey Natural Gas Company (NJ Gas) to install a .68 mile long portion of a
    thirty-mile natural gas transmission pipeline (SRL), which would cause "the
    permanent disturbance of 0.021 acres of freshwater wetlands and 0.170 acres of
    freshwater wetland transition area, and temporary disturbance of 0.378 acres of
    freshwater wetlands and 5.54 acres of freshwater wetland transition area."
    Appellants in their merits brief assert:
    Point I
    A-3293-16T1
    2
    The [Department] Failed To Identify Sufficient Facts In
    The Record Supporting The CAFRA Permit Granted To
    [NJ Gas] For A Segment Of The SRL Pipeline Project.
    Point II
    The CAFRA Criteria For Issuance Of A Permit Have
    Not Been Met By The Facts Of Record.
    Point III
    The [Response To Public Comments] Revealed Fatal
    Defects And Failed To Provide The Necessary Support
    To Sustain The [Department] Permits.
    Point IV
    The CAFRA Statute Requires Findings To Be Made By
    The Commissioner Of The [Department] And There Is
    Nothing In The Record To Show That [The Department
    Employee Who Prepared Those Findings] Was
    Properly Delegated The Required Statutory Authority.
    The Department's determination, fairly supported by sufficient evidence in the
    record which we have closely reviewed, was not arbitrary, capricious or
    unreasonable. Consequently, we affirm.
    We first address NJ Gas's challenge to appellants' standing. Typically,
    "[t]o possess standing in a case, a party must present a sufficient stake in the
    outcome of the litigation, a real adverseness with respect to the subject matter,
    and a substantial likelihood that the party will suffer harm in the event of an
    unfavorable decision." In re Camden County, 
    170 N.J. 439
    , 449 (2002). Under
    A-3293-16T1
    3
    New Jersey's liberal approach to standing, "owners of other properties in the
    vicinity of a property for which a permit or other land use approval has been
    granted may appeal the approval." In re Issuance of Access Conforming Lot
    Permit No. A-17-N-N040-2007, 
    417 N.J. Super. 115
    , 126 (App. Div. 2010). In
    a CAFRA case, all that is necessary is a "slight private interest, added to and
    harmonizing with the public interest." SMB Assocs. v. N.J. Dep't of Envtl. Prot.,
    
    264 N.J. Super. 38
    , 46 (1993) (quoting Elizabeth Fed. S & L Ass'n v. Howell,
    
    24 N.J. 488
    , 499 (1957)), aff'd, 
    137 N.J. 58
    (1994); see also N.J. Dep't of Envtl.
    Prot. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 
    453 N.J. Super. 272
    , 301 (App. Div. 2018), certif.
    denied, 
    233 N.J. 378
    (2018). We have explained
    the right to seek judicial review of administrative
    decisions "inheres not only in those who are direct
    parties to the initial proceedings before an
    administrative agency . . . but also belongs to all
    persons who are directly affected by and aggrieved as a
    result of the particular action sought to be brought
    before the courts for review."
    [SMB 
    Assocs., 264 N.J. Super. at 46
    (alteration in
    original) (quoting Elizabeth Fed. S & L 
    Ass'n, 24 N.J. at 499-500
    ).]
    In SMB Associates, we concluded that the appellants – "a non-profit
    organization whose goal is to encourage the study and conservation of marine
    life and its habitat," the executive director of that non-profit group who
    A-3293-16T1
    4
    "personally use[d] the coastal waters of New Jersey for recreation," and a
    fisherman whose fishing waters were affected by the Department's decision –
    had standing, despite failing to participate in the public proceedings prior to the
    approval of CAFRA permits. 
    Id. at 44-45,
    47. We asked rhetorically, "if
    appellants do not have standing, 'who then is there who can or will challenge'
    the [agency action], thereby advancing the public interest?" 
    Id. at 47
    (quoting
    In re Waterfront Dev. Permit No. WD88-0443-1, Lincoln Harbor Final Dev.,
    
    244 N.J. Super. 426
    , 438 (App. Div. 1990)).         Affirming our decision, the
    Supreme Court ruled "the Appellate Division did not err in concluding that [the
    non-profit group], as an association concerned with the preservation of our
    coastal resources, had sufficient interests in the water-dependent development
    issues of this case to appeal the [government] action under Rule 2:2-3(a)(2)." 1
    SMB Assocs. v. N.J. Dep't of Envtl. Prot., 
    137 N.J. 58
    , 61-62 (1994). More
    recently, we held an environmental group had standing to challenge a settlement
    between the Department and Exxon because of "their broad representation of
    1
    "[A]ppeals may be taken to the Appellate Division as of right . . . to review
    final decisions or actions of any state administrative agency or officer, and to
    review the validity of any rule promulgated by such agency or officer . . . ." R.
    2:2-3(a)(2).
    A-3293-16T1
    5
    citizen interests throughout this state." Exxon Mobil 
    Corp., 453 N.J. Super. at 301
    .
    Under those standards, POP – which essentially argues the equitable relief
    of a remand to the Department is required because, in granting the permit, the
    Department took inadequate action to protect the environment – has standing.
    Rita Romeu, vice president of POP, commented at the public hearing that POP
    represents "the community members from Chesterfield, Bordentown, North
    Hanover, Upper Freehold, and other cities that are going to be affected by this."
    As such, POP's representation of people from various municipalities through
    which the pipeline will be constructed established its standing. 2 See Exxon
    Mobil 
    Corp., 453 N.J. Super. at 294
    .
    The standard for individual standing, however, is not as broad. In Exxon
    Mobil, we determined that although an environmental group had standing, the
    residency of a state senator who lived in a city adjacent to that in which the
    refinery in question was located did not provide him with standing because he
    lacked "a sufficient 'personal or pecuniary interest or property right adversely
    2
    The permit lists the project as affecting lots in Chesterfield, North Hanover,
    Plumstead, Upper Freehold, Jackson and Manchester.
    A-3293-16T1
    6
    affected by the judgement.'" 
    Id. at 301
    (quoting State v. A.L., 
    440 N.J. Super. 400
    , 418 (App. Div. 2015)).
    The burden of providing facts to establish standing is on appellants . See
    N.J. Shore Builders Ass'n v. Twp. of S. Brunswick, 
    325 N.J. Super. 412
    , 419-
    420 (App. Div. 1999). Our review of the record, which appellants have not
    moved to supplement, Rule 2:5-5(b), reveals: Agnes Marsala did not state where
    she resided, only that she had previously driven past the affected area; Rita
    Romeu noted that she was a resident of Chesterfield but, beyond her office in
    POP and her statement that she is a resident of Chesterfield, and unlike the
    executive director in SMB Associates, did not provide any facts to establish her
    personal, pecuniary or property interest that will be affected by the pipeline ; 3
    Glen Ashton did not state where he resides or his personal interest in the pipeline
    project; Katherine Marlin did not say where she resides; and Michael Marlin
    did not speak at any hearings and the record is bereft of any interest he has in
    the pipeline project.   Thus the record before us is insufficient to establish
    standing for the individual appellants. Nevertheless, since POP has standing,
    3
    We note that when affirming our decision in SMB Associates, the Court
    expressly declined to address our determination that the executive director of
    the non-profit group had 
    standing. 137 N.J. at 62
    . Given that our recent decision
    in Exxon Mobil examined personal interest when determining individual
    
    standing, 453 N.J. Super. at 301
    , we adhere to that analysis here.
    A-3293-16T1
    7
    we will address the merits of the appeal. We note that POP and the individual
    appellants advanced the same arguments in a joint merits brief. Our ruling that
    the individual appellants do not have standing, therefore, has no effect on our
    ultimate determination of this appeal.
    We are unpersuaded by POP's arguments that the Department granted the
    permit without making requisite factual findings and that there is insufficient
    credible evidence in the record that the statutory CAFRA criteria were met. Our
    review of the permit and related twenty-six page environmental report and
    fourteen-page response to public comments belies POP's former argument
    which, itself, is a meager, bald assertion unsupported in the merits brief by any
    facts. The documents prepared by the Department adequately "set forth basic
    findings of fact, supported by the evidence and supporting the [Department's]
    ultimate conclusions and final determination," thus fulfilling its substantive
    responsibility to the public and the courts. In re Issuance of a Permit by Dep't
    of Envtl. Prot. to Ciba-Geigy Corp., 
    120 N.J. 164
    , 172-73 (1990) (quoting In re
    Application of Howard Savings Inst., 
    32 N.J. 29
    , 52 (1960)).
    A-3293-16T1
    8
    Those same documents evidence facts that supported the Department's
    grant of the CAFRA permit thus surmounting POP's latter argument. 4 "In our
    review of this administrative decision we are necessarily limited to a narrow
    function, namely, to determine whether there is sufficient evidence in the record
    as a whole to justify the determination reached below." Pub. Interest Research
    Grp., Inc. v. State, Dep't of Envtl. Prot., 
    152 N.J. Super. 191
    , 203 (App. Div.
    1977). "Such a limited scope of review is particularly significant in this area of
    highly technical and scientific knowledge, wherein a court must accord a high
    degree of deference to the administrative agency and its expertise." 
    Ibid. "The Commissioner of
    the Department . . . may not issue a permit unless
    he finds that the statutory standards have been met." SMB Assocs., 264 N.J.
    Super. at 41. The Legislature requires the Department, before issuing a CAFRA
    permit, to find that the proposed development:
    a. Conforms with all applicable air, water and radiation
    emission and effluent standards and all applicable water
    quality criteria and air quality standards.
    b. Prevents air emissions and water effluents in excess
    of the existing dilution, assimilative, and recovery
    4
    POP does not advance any argument in its merits brief challenging the
    substantive grounds for the Department's issuance of the FWPA permit. Nor
    does it argue that the mandated CAFRA regulatory criteria have not been met.
    It likewise does not challenge the permit conditions imposed by the Department.
    A-3293-16T1
    9
    capacities of the air and water environments at the site
    and within the surrounding region.
    c. Provides for the collection and disposal of litter,
    recyclable material and solid waste in such a manner as
    to minimize adverse environmental effects and the
    threat to the public health, safety, and welfare.
    d. Would result in minimal feasible impairment of the
    regenerative capacity of water aquifers or other ground
    or surface water supplies.
    e. Would cause minimal feasible interference with the
    natural functioning of plant, animal, fish, and human
    life processes at the site and within the surrounding
    region.
    f. Is located or constructed so as to neither endanger
    human life or property nor otherwise impair the public
    health, safety, and welfare.
    g. Would result in minimal practicable degradation of
    unique or irreplaceable land types, historical or
    archeological areas, and existing public scenic
    attributes at the site and within the surrounding region.
    [N.J.S.A. 13:19-10(a) to (g).]
    In considering the 19-10 statutory criteria, the Department reviewed over
    1800 public comments made during an extended comment period.           It also
    received and reviewed agency comments from the United States Fish and
    Wildlife Service, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, New Jersey State
    Historical Preservation Office, the Department's Green Acres Program, the
    A-3293-16T1
    10
    Pinelands Commission, the Bureau of Water Allocation & Well Permitting, the
    Department's Site Remediation Program, the Division of Land Use Regulation
    (DLUR) Endangered and Threatened Species Unit (ETSU), the DLUR engineer,
    and the DLUR Mitigation Unit.
    In addition to setting forth, in over nine single-spaced pages of its
    environmental report, its reasons for finding compliance or conditional
    compliance with the CAFRA regulatory scheme, the Department similarly
    addressed the N.J.S.A. 13:19-10 criteria; its findings are buttressed by its
    regulatory analysis as well as the agency's comments and responses to public
    comments.
    In addressing the air and water quality criteria in subsections (a) and (b),
    the Department noted in its regulatory findings that "no stream crossings [were]
    proposed in the CAFRA zone" but protection against possible disturbance to
    contaminated soil or water in streams and tributaries within the wate rshed of
    Manapaqua Brook, which drains into a CAFRA zone and which will be crossed
    by the pipeline, required NJ Gas, to have a plan in place for identifying and
    managing contaminated material and to contact the Department Bureau of Site
    Remediation if it encountered contaminated material.          Further, approved
    construction crossing streams, "utilizing either HDD [Horizontal Directional
    A-3293-16T1
    11
    Drill] methods, jack and bore or trenching under existing culverts," would allow
    those crossings to be made "without disturbing the surface characteristics." A
    November 29, 2016 letter to the Department written by AECOM on behalf of
    NJ Gas explained both these construction methods and other limitations of
    construction activity. AECOM also prepared a March 24, 2015 Horizontal
    Directional Drill Contingency Plan for Handling Inadvertent Releases of
    Drilling Mud and a compliance statement as part of the application process
    which details construction methods designed to meet the CAFRA statutory and
    regulatory requirements.
    Air standards were also addressed. The only anticipated air emissions
    from the project were "temporary emissions of combustion-related pollutants"
    from construction equipment and "fugitive particulate matter" – earth related to
    excavation and construction activities – neither of which would have a
    significant impact on air quality. Nonetheless, the compliance statement details
    the mitigation measures NJ Gas will implement to reduce those emissions.
    The Department, assessing subsection (c), reviewed NJ Gas's application
    and submissions. Although those documents did not reveal that the project
    would generate waste, the Department nonetheless included a standard condition
    A-3293-16T1
    12
    in the permit regarding waste management, removal and disposal:             permit
    standard condition 22.
    In addressing subsection (d), the Department considered that the project
    "is limited to installation of natural gas pipelines below ground level, and
    primarily within paved roads" and, therefore, concluded construction was not
    expected to intersect the aquifer or impair the "regenerative capacity of the water
    aquifers." The Department also relied on the comment by the Bureau of Water
    Allocation & Well Permitting in limiting the amount of water for construction
    dewatering and requiring the cessation of construction if amounts exceeded the
    thresholds in place.
    The Department, utilizing recommended and required conditions –
    comprehensively synopsized in the environmental report – from the United
    States Fish and Wildlife Service, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and
    the DLUR ETSU regarding a number of detailed species inhabiting the proposed
    construction route, mandated extensive construction restrictions in its regulatory
    findings under N.J.A.C. 7:7-9.36 and its evaluation of subsection (e).
    In assessing subsection (f), the Department again noted the project "is
    located primarily beneath existing paved roads and within the road [right -of-
    A-3293-16T1
    13
    ways] and will be constructed using best management practices, "5 thus
    dangerous conditions to "human life or property, public health, safety and
    welfare" were not anticipated.       The Department required, however, that
    conditions recommended by the Department's Site Remediation Program be
    implemented. As the environmental report related, the Program commented that
    the project would "traverse known contaminated sites as well as areas where
    potential unexploded ordnance has been identified on the Joint Base McGuire-
    Dix-Lakehurst," and required NJ Gas to "have a plan in place for identifying and
    managing contaminated soil, groundwater, surface water, and/or sediments
    encountered during construction and installation." It also required NJ Gas to
    coordinate construction activities with the Air Force. The Department echoed
    those requirements in its analysis of this subsection.
    5
    N.J.A.C. 7:7a-1.3 provides:
    "Best Management Practices" or "BMPs" means
    methods, measures, designs, performance standards,
    maintenance procedures, and other management
    practices which prevent or reduce adverse impacts upon
    or pollution of freshwater wetlands, State open waters,
    and adjacent aquatic habitats, which facilitate
    compliance with [enumerated federal and state
    environmental laws] and effluent limitations or
    prohibitions under Section 307(a) of the Federal Act
    and the Department's Surface Water Quality Standards,
    N.J.A.C. 7:9B.
    A-3293-16T1
    14
    The Department considered, in connection with subsection (g), extensive
    comments by the Historical Preservation Office, as fully set forth in the section
    of the environmental report regarding N.J.A.C. 7:7-9.34, and required NJ Gas
    to consult with the Office and comply with its requirements in order to minimize
    "practicable degradation of historic and archeological areas." As set forth more
    fully in the Department's analysis of N.J.A.C. 7:7-9.38 of the environmental
    report, the project would have minimal impact on Green Acres encumbered
    parcels, except for one parcel for which NJ Gas entered into a right of entry
    agreement. The Department also included a condition that required NJ Gas to
    obtain approval from the Green Acres Program if changed plans impacted Green
    Acres property.
    The Department's documents, considered as a whole, evidence that the
    Department properly exercised its power under N.J.S.A. 13:19-10, and issued
    the permit after making "specific findings . . . regarding the development's
    impact on the environment." Crema v. N.J. Dep't of Envtl. Prot., 
    182 N.J. Super. 445
    , 453 (App. Div. 1982), aff’d as modified, 
    94 N.J. 286
    (1983).            The
    Department need not, contrary to POP's contention, respond to each individual
    criticism or concern raised by public comment or scrutinize all potential
    alternatives to an applicant's proposal. Nor does it need to address factors that
    A-3293-16T1
    15
    are not set forth in N.J.S.A. 13:19-10, including alleged impact of the project on
    global warming. It need only set forth, as it did here, its findings regarding the
    enumerated factors. We accord a high degree of deference to the Department's
    findings in light of its expertise in this "highly technical and scientific" field.
    Pub. Interest Research Grp., 
    Inc., 152 N.J. Super. at 203
    . In that those findings
    were, as we delineated, supported by sufficient, credible evidence in the record,
    the Department's issuance of the permit was justified. 
    Ibid. POP also argues
    the freshwater wetlands component of NJ Gas's
    application was unlawfully segmented from a permit application submitted by
    Transco, another energy company, for construction of a natural gas valve station,
    gas meter and regulating station, gas compressor station, electrical substation,
    storm water management facilities, an office building, parking and a
    communications tower for its project, the Garden State Expansion (GSE), which
    would supply the gas that passed through NJ Gas's pipeline. POP contends both
    applications involved parts of single project and segmentation allowed NJ Gas
    to apply for a general permit instead of an individual permit, 6 preventing "a
    6
    N.J.A.C. 7:7a-1.3 provides the definitions of these permits:
    "General permit" means a permit, adopted as a rule,
    under which the Department issues authorizations. A
    A-3293-16T1
    16
    comprehensive review of the cumulative primary and secondary impacts" of the
    combined projects. Citing Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 
    401 U.S. 402
    (1971), it asserts segmentation fails the "independent utility" test. That
    test requires multiple projects to be considered the same project for permit
    purposes under the federal National Environmental Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. §§
    4321 to 4370m-12, "if the segmented project has no independent utility, no life
    of its own, or is simply illogical when viewed in isolation." Stewart Park &
    Reserve Coalition, Inc. v. Slater, 
    352 F.3d 545
    , 559 (2d. Cir. 2003).
    The Department, however, does not utilize the independent utility test.
    Instead, it analyzes segmentation under its own regulatory provisions. Although
    POP argues the provision cited by the Department, N.J.A.C. 7:7A-7.1(c) (Oct.
    6, 2008), was repealed after NJ Gas's application was approved on February 24,
    general permit may authorize regulated activities in
    freshwater wetlands, State open waters, and/or
    transition areas. An authorization issued under a
    general permit satisfies the requirement for a
    freshwater wetlands permit, open water fill permit,
    and/or transition area waiver, as applicable.
    ....
    "Individual permit" means a freshwater wetlands
    permit or open water fill permit that is issued by the
    Department after an alternatives analysis and other site-
    specific and project-specific reviews required at
    N.J.A.C. 7:7A-10.
    A-3293-16T1
    17
    2017, and this appeal should consider the "readopted and amended" provision
    that became effective on December 18, 2017, N.J.A.C. 7:7A-10.1(c), we observe
    those provisions apply to FWPA individual permits, not general permits, the
    segmentation of which are analyzed under N.J.A.C. 7:7A-5.3(f).
    In any event, all of the regulatory provisions provide that the permit,
    including any activity conducted thereunder, applies "to the entire site" upon
    which activities occur. N.J.A.C. 7:7A-5.3(f); N.J.A.C. 7:7A-7.1(c) (Oct. 6,
    2008); N.J.A.C. 7:7A-10.1(c). And each regulation provides:
    [a]n applicant shall not segment a project or its impacts
    by applying for [a general permit] for one portion of the
    project and applying for an individual permit for
    another portion of the project. Similarly, an applicant
    shall not segment a project or its impacts by separately
    applying for [a separate permit] for different portions
    of the same project.
    [N.J.A.C. 7:7A-5.3(f); N.J.A.C. 7:7A-7.1(c) (Oct. 6,
    2008); N.J.A.C. 7:7A-10.1(c).]
    Giving "'great deference'" to an agency's "'interpretation of statutes within
    its scope of authority and its adoption of rules implementing' the laws for which
    it is responsible," N.J. Ass'n of Sch. Adm'rs v. Schundler, 
    211 N.J. 535
    , 549
    (2012) (quoting N.J. Soc'y for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. N.J. Dep't of
    Agric., 
    196 N.J. 366
    , 385 (2008)), and focusing not on "whether the agency
    interpretation [of its regulations] is indisputably correct, but on whether it is not
    A-3293-16T1
    18
    plainly unreasonable," Ge Solid State, Inc. v. Dir., Div. of Taxation, 1
    32 N.J. 29
    8, 322 (1993), we determine the Department correctly ruled that the NJ Gas
    and Transco projects were discrete.
    NJ Gas and Transco are separate entities and independently discretely
    applied for approval of their respective projects.      Thus, they were not "an
    applicant" which was prohibited by the regulations from segmenting a project.
    Moreover, a "site" is "the area within the legal boundary of the property(ies) or
    right-of-way . . . upon which a regulated activity is proposed, is occurring, or
    has occurred, plus any contiguous land owned or controlled by the same
    person(s)."    N.J.A.C. 7:7A-1.3 (emphasis added).       The Department, in its
    response to public comments, set forth the basis for its decision that the projects
    were not segmented:
    The [NJ Gas] project primarily takes place in the
    right of ways of roads or on easements leased or
    purchased from property owners along the route. The
    roadways include municipal, County, State roads, as
    well as federal roads located on Joint Base [McGuire-
    Dix-Lakehurst]. The GSE compressor station and
    electrical substation in Chesterfield and Bordentown
    are proposed on two lots owned by Transco, within an
    easement to cross a PSEG right of way, and to cross a
    third property that is owned by Bordentown. The
    Bordentown parcel is Green Acres encumbered.
    Transco has initiated condemnation proceedings for an
    easement through the Bordentown property. With the
    exception of the pipe connection between the proposed
    A-3293-16T1
    19
    Transco GSE compressor and the proposed [NJ Gas]
    SRL pipeline in the roadway, the two project locations
    are not contiguous land owned or controlled by the
    same person(s).
    Further, Transco and [NJ Gas] are not co-
    applicants for either project. Although the two projects
    are associated with transporting natural gas, the
    Transco project is regulated by the Federal Energy
    Regulatory Commission and the [NJ Gas] project is
    regulated by the NJ Board of Public Utilities.
    In that the NJ Gas and Transco projects, except for the site of the necessary
    junction, are being built on separate, non-contiguous parcels not owned or
    controlled by the same entity, the Department's classification of the projects was
    not plainly unreasonable.
    We determine POP's argument that the permit was issued by a Department
    official who did not have delegated authority to do so to be without sufficient
    merit to warrant further discussion.        R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E).   POP's argument
    mistakenly postulates that the permit was issued by a DLUR environmental
    specialist. It was issued by the DLUR director, to whom authority was properly
    delegated by the Land Use Management assistant commissioner, who derived
    that authority from the Commissioner via Administrative Order No. 2014-10,
    see N.J.S.A. 13:1B-4.
    Affirmed.
    A-3293-16T1
    20