N.J. Admin. Code § 7:25-24.6 - Consideration of lease applications for new ground

(a) Once the Department has received a fully completed lease application and biological survey fee, submitted by a person satisfying the requirements at 7:25-24.5(b), (d), (f) and (g), the Department shall consider the area of new ground applied for closed to use by the public and the applicant until the Council decides to deny the lease or until the applicant receives the executed lease from the Department.

(b) Once an applicant satisfying the requirements at 7:25-24.5(b), (d), (f), and (g) has submitted a fully completed lease application and biological survey fee to the Department, the applicant shall delineate the approximate boundary of the proposed lease area with temporary corner stakes or buoys marked with the applicant's last name, to enable the Bureau to conduct the biological survey specified in (c) below.

(c) Except as specified in (c)1 and 2 below, before the Council grants any lease application for new ground, the Bureau will conduct a biological survey to determine the shellfish productivity of the proposed lease area. If the applicant fails to place temporary stakes on the proposed lease area within six months of submitting the lease application, the Council shall automatically deny the application.

1. Any application to lease new ground in the area west of the exterior line delineated by lot numbers 2239, 2240, 2224, 2236.1, 2262.1, 2262, 2261, 2267, 2271, 2269, 2252, 2251, 2254, 2213.1, 2213, and 2282, on the Bureau's Section B, Chart 24.2, available for public inspection at the Nacote Creek Shellfish Office, in the region known as Dry Bay/Hammock Cove shall be exempt from the requirement of a biological survey and from payment of the biological survey fee.

2. Any application to lease new ground in the following areas will be exempt from the requirement of a biological survey and from payment of the biological survey fee, provided, however, that after September 18, 1989 applications for new ground in the following areas will only be accepted from applicants who possess no other leases:

i. Big Creek (Great Bay) lot numbers: 398, 399, 400.1, 401.1, 402.1, 403.1, 404.1, 405.1, 406, 407.1, 408.1, 409.1, 410, 411.1, 412.1, on the Bureau's Section B, Chart 10, available for inspection at the Nacote Creek Shellfish Office; and

ii. Mordecai Island (Little Egg Harbor Bay) lot numbers: 1136, 1137, 1138, 1139, 1140, 1141, 1142, 1143, 1144, 1145, on the Bureau's Section B, Chart 13.1, available for inspection at the Nacote Creek Shellfish Office.

(d) The leasing of new ground in areas classified as productive is discouraged.

1. Applications to lease new ground will not be accepted for the following productive areas, as delineated by the Bureau by reference to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Nautical Chart 12316 (23rd Ed., November 15/86), available for inspection at the Nacote Creek Shellfish Office:

i. Cape Horn (Great Bay);

ii. Goosebar (Little Egg Harbor Bay);

iii. Lakes Bay; and

iv. Sunflower Island.

2. For lease applications in all other areas, the Bureau will classify the productivity of the proposed lease area based on the results of the biological survey, and provide this information to the Council to aid the Council's evaluation of the lease application.

(e) Consideration of lease applications by the Council shall be governed by the following:

1. Upon completion of the biological survey, the Bureau shall place the application to lease new ground on the agenda, filed with the Secretary of State pursuant to 10:4-6 et seq., of the next regularly scheduled Council meeting for the Council's consideration;

2. At each regularly scheduled meeting, the Council will receive public comment on all lease applications on its agenda; and

3. The Council shall render a decision to deny a lease application or grant a lease application subject to approval by the Commissioner by the second regularly scheduled meeting after receiving public comment on the lease application.

(f) The applicant shall attend at least one of the Council meetings at which the lease application is discussed in order to answer any questions that the Council might have about the lease application. Failure to attend at least one of the Council meetings at which the lease application is discussed shall constitute grounds for denial of the lease application, and the area applied for shall revert to public bottom.

(g) Once the Council and the Commissioner have decided whether to grant or deny the lease application, the applicant shall remove any temporary corner stakes or buoys placed pursuant to (b) above. If a lease application is approved by the Council and the Commissioner, the lessee is subject to the staking requirements of 7:25-24.10 upon receiving the executed lease from the Department.

Notes

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:25-24.6