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Introduction

Since 1970 the State of New Jersey has rec-ognized and protected historic properties witha straightforward and effective law, the NewJersey Register of Historic Places Act. The lawallows historic properties to be nominated andentered in the New Jersey Register of HistoricPlaces, which is maintained by the Depart-ment of Environmental Protection, Division ofParks & Forestry, Historic Preservation Office.Once a property is listed in the New JerseyRegister of Historic Places, any public under-taking that would “encroach upon, damage ordestroy” the registered historic property mustreceive prior authorization from the Commis-sioner of the Department of EnvironmentalProtection. Strictly private undertakings arenot reviewable under the law. The HistoricSites Council, an advisory board to the Com-missioner, reviews all such proposed encroach-ments at an open public meeting and makesrecommendations to the Commissioner forfinal action. This publication presents the lawand its accompanying administrative proce-dures for project authorization in an easy-to-read format.

On September 15, 1997, the Departmentreadopted, with amendments, administrativeprocedures for the New Jersey Register of His-toric Places Act. The “Procedures Concerningthe New Jersey Register of Historic Places”(N.J.A.C. 7:4) establish the criteria and proce-dures for:

♦ the listing of historic properties in theNew Jersey Register of Historic Places(New Jersey Register);

♦ the removal of historic properties fromthe New Jersey Register;

♦ redelineation and/or relocation of his-toric properties already on the New Jer-sey Register;

♦ certifications of eligibility for listing inthe New Jersey Register in order toqualify for a historic preservation bondact grant or loan; and

♦ review of State, county, and municipalprojects affecting sites listed in the NewJersey Register (including emergencyreviews).

The rules enable the Historic PreservationOffice to more expeditiously authorize projectundertakings if they are judged to be in com-pliance with the Secretary of Interior’s Stan-dards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.Only those projects that are “encroach-ments” (not in compliance) are submitted tothe New Jersey Historic Sites Council forreview.

1997 amendments include updated citationsand definitions to conform with Federal his-toric preservation programs, increased publicnotification and participation procedures,clearer documentation requirements for demo-lition applications, a name change to the “His-toric Preservation Office” and various correc-tions to typographical errors.

Reprinted here are the selections of the Pro-cedures that pertain to review and authoriza-tion of public projects: Subchapter 1, “GeneralProvisions “(which includes definitions) andSubchapter 7, “Review Procedures...” (whichincludes the criteria for determining anencroachment). The text is exactly the same aslegally published.

Applications for project authorization areavailable from the Historic PreservationOffice, P.O. Box 404, Trenton, NJ 08625-0404.If you have any questions, please contact theTechnical Information and Regulatory Ser-vices Section, Historic Preservation Office, at(609) 984-0140.

New Jersey Register of Historic Places Act Laws of 1970, Chapter 268

An Act to establish a New Jersey Register ofHistoric Places and prescribing the powers,duties and functions of the Department ofEnvironmental Protection and the Division ofParks and Forestry and the Historic SitesCouncil in connection therewith.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and GeneralAssembly of the State of New Jersey:

New Jersey Register of Historic Places ActNJ Laws of 1970, Chapter 268

and Procedures for Project Authorization

New Jersey

Department of

Environmental

Protection

•

Division of

Parks &

Forestry

•

Historic

Preservation

Office

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C. 13:1B-15.128 New Jersey Register of HistoricPlaces.

1. A New Jersey Register of HistoricPlaces is established in the Division ofParks and Forestry of the Department ofEnvironmental Protection to consist ofa permanent record of areas, sites, struc-tures and objects within the State deter-mined to have significant historical,archeological, architectural or culturalvalue.

C. 13:1B-15.129 Establish-ment of criteria forapproval of areas, sites,etc., for inclusion in register.

2. The Commissioner of EnvironmentalProtection, with the advice and recom-mendations of the Historic Sites Coun-cil, shall establish criteria for receivingand processing nominations andapproval of areas, sites, structures andobjects, both publicly and privatelyowned, for inclusion in the Register ofHistoric Places, together with appropri-ate documentation thereof to be includ-ed and maintained in the register and forthe public identification of such historicplaces by appropriate plaques or docu-mentation. The owners of all areas,sites, structures or objects approved forinclusion in the register shall be provid-ed with appropriate written notificationthereof by the department.

C. 13:1B-15.130 Expenditureof State funds.

3. No State funds shall be expended for, orin aid of acquisition, preservation,restoration or maintenance as a historicplace or site of any area, site, structure orobject unless and until the same shall beapprove for inclusion in the Register ofHistoric Places, but this section shall notapply to presently owned or maintainedState Historic Sites.

Note: The New Jersey State Review Boardfor Historic Sites has superseded the HistoricSites Council with regard to recommendingproperties to the New Jersey Register.

C. 13:1B-15.131 Priorauthorization requiredfor certain projects.

4. The State, a county, municipality or anyagency or instrumentality of any thereofshall not undertake any project whichwill encroach upon, damage or destroyany area, site structure or object includ-ed in the Register of Historic Placeswithout application to, and the priorwritten authorization or consent of, theCommissioner of Environmental Pro-tection. The Commissioner shall solicitthe advice and recommendations of theHistoric Sites Council in connectionwith any such application and maydirect the conduct of a public hearing orhearings thereon prior to granting ordenying authorization or consent. Thefailure of the Commissioner to author-ize, consent or deny any such applica-tion within 120 days of applicationtherefor shall constitute his consentthereto.

C. 13:1B-15.132 Appropria-tion for establishmentand maintenance of register.

5. There is appropriated to the Depart-ment of Environmental Protection forthe purpose of establishing and main-taining the New Jersey Register of His-toric Places such sums as shall be includ-ed in any annual or supplementalappropriation act.

6. This act shall take effect immediately.Approved November 4, 1970. Proce-dures Concerning the New Jersey Reg-ister of Historic Places, N.J.A.C. 7:4[Excerpts regarding project authoriza-tion] SUBCHAPTER 1. GENERALPROVISIONS

7:4-1.1 Purpose

This chapter shall constitute the rules of theDepartment of Environmental Protection con-cerning the preservation of the State’s historic,architectural, archaeological, engineering, andcultural heritage in accordance with the NewJersey Register of Historic Places Act, N.J.S.A.13:1B-15.128 et seq.

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7:4-1.2 Severability

If any section, subsection, provision, clauseor portion of this chapter is adjudged unconsti-tutional or invalid by a court of competentjurisdiction, the remainder of this chapter shallnot be affected thereby.

7:4-1.3 Definitions

The following words and phrases, whenused in this chapter, shall have the followingmeanings unless the content clearly indicatesotherwise.

“Acquisition” means the act or process ofacquiring fee title or interest other than feetitle of real property (including the acquisitionof development rights or remainder interest).

“ A c t ” means the “New Jersey Register of Historic Places Act”, P.L. 1970,c.268, N.J.S.A. 13:lB-15.128, et seq., or subse-quent amendments thereto.

“Area” means a district as defined in thissection.

“Area of undertaking’s potential impact”means that geographical area within whichdirect and indirect effects generated by theundertaking as defined in this section, couldreasonably be expected to occur.

“Building(s)” means a structure created toshelter any form of human activity. Examplesinclude a single construction such as a house,barn, courthouse, city hall, social hall, commer-cial building, library, factory, mill, train depot,fort, residence, hotel, theater, school, store, orchurch, or a small group of buildings consistingof a main building and subsidiary buildingsthat are functionally and historically relatedsuch as a courthouse and jail, house and barn,mansion and carriage house, church and recto-ry, or farm house and related out buildings, cre-ated to shelter any form of human activity.

“Certified Local Government” means a localgovernment certified by the Department andthe National Park Service to participate inFederal and State historic preservation pro-grams pursuant to the National HistoricPreservation Act of 1966 as amended.

“Chief elected local official” means themayor, county executive or other titled chiefelected administrative official who is the elect-ed head of the local political jurisdiction inwhich the property is located.

“Commissioner” means the Commissionerof the Department of Environmental Protec-tion.

“Contributing property” means a building,site, structure, or object that adds to the his-toric architectural qualities, historic associa-tions, or archaeological values for which a prop-erty is significant because:

1. It was present during the period of sig-nificance, and possesses historic integri-ty reflecting its character at that time oris capable of yielding important infor-mation about the period; or

2. It independently meets the New JerseyRegister criteria set forth in N.J.A.C.7:4-2.3.

“Cyclic maintenance” means that type ofmaintenance that is performed less frequentlythan annually and involves replacement ormajor mending of the fabric of a historic prop-erty; an example of which would be a completere-roofing of a building.

“Damage” means partial physical harm ordemolition of a historic property.

“Department” means the Department ofEnvironmental Protection, Division of Parksand Forestry, Historic Preservation Office.

“District” means a significant concentra-tion, linkage or continuity of sites, buildings,structures, or objects united historically or aes-thetically by plan or physical development. Adistrict may also comprise individual elementsthat although linked by association or functionwere separated geographically during the peri-od of significance, as a district of discontiguousarchaeological sites or a canal system whereman-made segments are interconnected bynatural bodies of water. The concept of a dis-contiguous district applies only where visualcontinuity is not necessary to convey the his-toric interrelationship of a group of relatedresources. Examples include, but are not limit-ed to, college campuses; central business dis-tricts; residential areas; commercial areas;industrial complexes; civic centers; rural vil-lages; canal systems; collections of habitation

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and limited activity sites; irrigation systems;large estates, farms, ranches, or plantations;transportation networks; and large landscapedparks.

“Emergency” means a situation in which thecondition of a property is so damaged by anevent such as, but not limited to, a natural dis-aster, major fire, serious accident or structuralcollapse, that it constitutes an immediate,direct, demonstrable, and severe hazard to thepublic safety. The poor condition of a propertycaused by long term deterioration shall not beconsidered an emergency.

“Encroachment” means the adverse effectupon any district, site, building, structure orobject included in the New Jersey Registerresulting from the undertaking of a project bythe State, a county, municipality or an agencyor instrumentality thereof, as determined byapplication of the Criteria for DeterminingWhether an Undertaking Constitutes anEncroachment set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:4-7.4 andthe Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for theTreatment of Historic Properties (36 C.F.R.Part 68) and “Guidelines for Preserving, Reha-bilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing His-toric Buildings” (guidelines issued by theNational Park Service, incorporated herein byreference and available from the HistoricPreservation Office, P.O. Box 404, Trenton,New Jersey 08625-0404) or subsequentamendments thereto adopted by the Secretaryof the United States Department of the Interi-or and the National Park Service.

“Historic Preservation Office” means thatoffice of the Division of Parks and Forestry,Department of Environmental Protection, andany successors in right, with the responsibilityfor maintaining the New Jersey Register ofHistoric Places and administering the StateHistoric Preservation Program.

“Historic property” means any district, site,building, structure or object significant inAmerican history, architecture, archaeology,engineering and culture.

“Historic Sites Council” means the bodywithin the Division of Parks and Forestry,Department of Environmental Protectionestablished by P.L. 1967, c. 124, N.J.S.A.13:1B15.108 et seq. and amended by P.L. 1984,c. 562, N.J.S.A. 13:lB-15.111 et seq., for thepurpose of recommending policies to theCommissioner for the following actions; theacquisition, development, use, improvementand extension of historic sites (includingarchaeological sites); the development of a

broad historic sites preservation program on aStatewide and local basis; the identification,authentication, protection, preservation, con-servation, restoration, and management of allhistoric sites within the State; and the provi-sion of advice on encroachments by the under-takings of State, county or municipal govern-ments or any agency or instrumentality thereofon properties listed in the New Jersey Regis-ter.

“Housekeeping” means light cleaning per-formed at short term intervals.

“Local government” means a city, borough,town, municipality, township, village, countyor other general purpose political subdivisionof the State.

“ M a i n t e n a n c e ” means treatment thatincludes housekeeping, routine, and cyclicwork scheduled to mitigate wear and deterio-ration of a historic property.

“Major revisions” means alteration of theboundaries of a property or important substan-tive changes to the nomination which could beexpected to change the ultimate determina-tion as to whether or not the property is listedin the New Jersey or National Registers.

“National Park Service” means that agencyof the United States Department of the Interi-or to which the Secretary of the Interior haddelegated the authority and responsibility foradministering the National Register of His-toric Places program under the National His-toric Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, 16U.S.C. 470 et seq.

“National Register” means the NationalRegister of Historic Places, which consists ofdistricts, sites, buildings, structures and objectssignificant in American history, architecture,a r c h a e o l o g y, engineering and culture, andwhich the Secretary of the United StatesDepartment of the Interior is authorized toexpand and maintain pursuant to the NationalHistoric Preservation Act of 1966, 16 U.S.C.470 et seq.

“National Register Nomination Form ”means the legal document and reference forhistorical, architectural and archaeological dataupon which the registration of properties isfounded. Said document is the National ParkService’s Form NPS 10-900, with accompany-ing continuation sheets (where necessary) orForm NPS 10-306 with continuation sheets(where necessary) now in use by the NationalPark Service and as may be subsequently mod-ified, changed or amended.

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“New Jersey Register” means the New Jer-sey Register of Historic Places, consisting ofareas, sites, buildings, structures and objectswithin the State determined to have signifi-cant historical, archaeological, architectural, orcultural value, which the Commissioner isauthorized to expand and maintain pursuant tothe Act.

“Nominate” means to propose that a dis-trict, site, building, structure or object be listedin the New Jersey and National Registers bypreparing a nomination application withaccompanying maps and photographs, whichclearly documents the significance of the prop-erty and is technically and professionally cor-rect and sufficient in accordance with the pro-cedure set forth in N.J.A.C. 7:4-2.2.

“Noncontributing property” means a build-ing, site, structure, or object that does not addto the historic architectural qualities, historicassociations, or archaeological values for whicha property is significant because:

1. It was not present during the period ofsignificance;

2. Due to alterations, disturbances, addi-tions, or other changes, it no longer pos-sesses historic integrity reflecting itscharacter at that time or is incapable ofyielding important information aboutthe period; or

3. It does not independently meet theNew Jersey Register criteria set forth inN.J.A.C. 7:4-2.3.

“Object(s)” means a construction that is pri-marily artistic in nature or is relatively small inscale and simply constructed, as distinguishedfrom a building or a structure. Although it maybe movable, by nature or design, an object isassociated with a specific setting or environ-ment such as statuary in a designed landscape.Objects should be located in a setting appro-priate to their significant historic use, roles, orcharacter. Examples include, but are not lim-ited to, sculpture, monuments, mileposts,boundary markers, statuary, and fountains.(Objects relocated in a museum setting aregenerally considered inappropriate for listingin the New Jersey Register.)

“Preservation” means the act or process ofapplying measures to sustain the existing form,integrity and materials of an historic property.Work, including preliminary measures to pro-tect and stabilize the property, generally focus-es upon the ongoing maintenance and repair ofhistoric materials and features rather than

extensive replacement and new construction.New exterior additions are not within thescope of this treatment; however, the limitedand sensitive upgrading of mechanical, electri-cal, and plumbing systems and other code-required work to make properties functional isappropriate within a preservation project .

“Project” means a planned undertaking.

“Reconstruction” means the act or processof depicting, by means of new construction,the form, features, and detailing of a non-sur-viving site, landscape, building, structure, orobject for the purpose of replicating its appear-ance at a specific period of time and in its his-toric location.

“Rehabilitation” means the act or process ofmaking possible a compatible use for a prop-erty through repair, alterations, and additionswhile preserving those portions or featureswhich convey its historical, cultural, or archi-tectural values.

“Restoration” means the act or process ofaccurately depicting the form, features, andcharacter of a property as it appeared at a par-ticular period of time by means of the removalof features from other periods in its history andreconstruction of missing features from therestoration period. The limited and sensitiveupgrading of mechanical, electrical, andplumbing systems and other code-requiredwork to make properties functional is appro-priate within a restoration project.

“Routine maintenance” means minor repairssuch as in-kind replacement of a broken win-dow pane or in-kind patching of a few roofshingles.

“Site(s)” means the location of a significantevent, prehistoric or historic occupation oractivity, or a building or structure, whetherstanding, ruined or vanished, where the loca-tion itself maintains historic or archaeologicalvalue regardless of the value of any existingstructure. Examples include, but are not limit-ed to, habitation sites, funerary sites, rock shel-ters, village sites, hunting and fishing sites,ceremonial sites, petroglyphs, rock carvings,battlefields, ruins of historic buildings andstructures, campsites, ruins of industrial works,sites of treaty signings, trails, shipwrecks,cemeteries, designed landscapes, and naturalfeatures, such as springs, rock formations, andlandscapes which have cultural significance.

“State Historic Preservation Officer” meansthe Commissioner of the Department of Envi-ronmental Protection, who is designated by

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the Governor to administer the State HistoricPreservation Program, including the identifica-tion and nomination of eligible properties tothe National Register. The Commissioner isalso authorized by the Act to establish criteriafor receiving and processing nominations andapproval of areas, sites, buildings, structuresand objects, both publicly and privatelyowned, for inclusion in the New Jersey Regis-ter.

“State Historic Preservation Plan” meansthe document that sets forth long-range goalsof the State Historic Preservation Program anddescribes specific ways that the HistoricPreservation Office will work to achieve thosegoals. The State Historic Preservation Planorganizes primary preservation activities–iden-tification, evaluation, registration, and treat-ment of historic properties–in a logicalsequence. The plan is based on 12 statewide“historic contexts,” which are thematic studyunits such as “Initial Colonial Settlement,A.D. 1630-A.D. 1775.” Goals and priorities areestablished for the historic properties associat-ed with each historic context.

“State Historic Preservation Program”means the program established by the Depart-ment and approved by the Secretary of theUnited States Department of the Interior forthe purposes of carrying out the provisions ofthe National Historic Preservation of 1966, asamended, and related laws and regulations.

“State Review Board” means a body whosemembers represent the professional fields ofAmerican history, architectural history, prehis-toric and historic archaeology, and other pro-fessional disciplines appointed by the StateHistoric Preservation Officer as part of theState Historic Preservation Program for thepurpose of reviewing and recommending tothe State Historic Preservation Off i c e rwhether to approve New Jersey and NationalRegister nominations based on whether or notthey meet the criteria for evaluation inN.J.A.C. 7:4-2.3.

“Structure(s)” is a term used to distinguishfrom buildings those functional constructionsmade usually for purposes other than creatingshelter. Examples include, but are not limitedto, bridges, tunnels, gold dredges, firetowers,canals, turbines, dams, power plants, corncribs,silos, highways, shot towers, windmills, grainelevators, kilns, mounds, cairns, palisade forti-fications, earthworks, railroad grades, systemsof roadways and paths, boats and ships, railroadlocomotives and cars, telescopes, carousels,and aircraft.

“ U n d e r t a k i n g ” means an action by theState, a county, municipality, or an agency orinstrumentality thereof, which has the poten-tial to result in direct or indirect effects on anydistrict, site, building, structure or object listedin the New Jersey Register. An action shall beconsidered to have an effect whenever anycondition of the action causes or may cause anychange, beneficial or adverse, in the quality ofthe historical, architectural, archaeological, orcultural characteristics that qualified a historicproperty to meet the criteria for evaluation(N.J.A.C. 7:4-2.3) for the New Jersey Register.For the purpose of determining effect, alter-ation of features of the property’s location, set-ting or use may be considered relevantdepending on a property’s significant charac-teristics. An effect may be direct or indirect.Direct effects are caused by the undertakingand occur at the same place and time. Indirecteffects include those caused by the undertak-ing that are farther removed in distance or laterin time, but are still reasonably foreseeable.Such indirect effects may include changes inthe pattern of land use, population density orgrowth rate that may affect the quality of thehistorical, architectural, archaeological, or cul-tural characteristics that qualified a historicproperty to be listed in the New Jersey Regis-ter. Consistent with the above language, thefollowing are examples of what shall be con-sidered undertakings; acquisitions, sales, leas-es, transfers of deed, easements, an agreementor other form of permission allowing use of aregistered property, cyclic maintenance, andalterations or relocation of a registered proper-ty. The following are examples of actions thatshall not be considered as undertakings:

1. Changes in local zoning ordinances;

2. Issuance of building or demolition per-mits to private individuals or corpora-tions;

3. Granting of zoning variances to privateindividuals or corporations; and

4. Housekeeping and routine maintenance.

Subchapter 7. Review Procedures for Pro-jects Encroaching upon New Jersey RegisterProperties

7:4-7.1 Application procedure forencroachment authorization

(a) During the earliest stage of planning forany undertaking and before taking any actionthat could result in physical effect on a proper-

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ty listed in the New Jersey Register, the State,a county, municipality or an agency or instru-mentality thereof shall:

1. Consult with the Department for thepurpose of defining the boundaries ofthe area of the undertaking’s potentialimpact;

2. Consult the latest edition of the NewJersey Register to determine if there areany registered properties within the areaof the undertaking’s potential impact;and

3. Contact the Department and determineif other properties within the area of theu n d e r t a k i n g ’s potential impact havebeen listed in the New Jersey Registersince the most recently published list.Public projects or actions for whichacquisition or construction contractshave been let prior to listing on the NewJersey Register shall not require reviewand approval.

(b) If there is no property on the NewJersey Register in the area of theundertaking’s potential impact, theundertaking may commence withoutfurther review and approval by theDepartment pursuant to the Act andthis chapter.

(c) If there is property on the New JerseyRegister in the area of the undertak-ing’s potential impact, the State, acounty, municipality or an agency orinstrumentality thereof shall submitan application to the Department forproject authorization.

(d) The application shall be prepared bythe State, county, municipality oragency or instrumentality thereof planning the undertaking or itsauthorized representative on formsavailable from the Department andshall include: maps, photographs,plans, specifications, and proposedagreements sufficient to completelydescribe the planned undertaking. Ifdemolition of all or a substantial por-tion of a property is proposed, theapplication shall include a structuralassessment and an evaluation ofwhether the property could be rea-sonably repaired, to be prepared byan architect or engineer with demon-strated experience with historic prop-erties. In addition, the applicationshall include a complete list of ownersof registered properties that would bedirectly affected by the undertakingand a complete list of local historicalsocieties and historic preservation

commissions in the area of the under-taking’s potential impact. The appli-cation shall also include a list of allaffected local government units, anyagencies or instrumentalities thereofconcerned with historic preservation,and any Statewide organization andlocal organization specifically con-cerned with historic preservation inthe area of the undertaking’s poten-tial impact. The list of property own-ers shall be the list of private andpublic property owners (includingright-of-way owners) named in o fficial municipal tax records andmaps as of the date of the applica-tion’s submission and shall be nota-rized by the appropriate municipalofficial. An application for relocating aproperty on the New Jersey Registershall also include the information anddocumentation required in N.J.A.C.7:4-3.2(c).

7:4-7.2 Review of an applicationfor project authorization

(a) Within 30 days of receipt of an appli-cation for project authorization, theDepartment shall review the applica-tion for technical and professionalcompleteness and sufficiency andshall notify the applicant in writing asto whether or not the application iscomplete and sufficient. If the appli-cation or material is not complete andsufficient, the Department shall noti-fy the applicant in writing of whatinformation is needed.

(b) Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 13:lB-15.131, the Department shall have 120 daysto review an application for projectauthorization. The 120 day reviewperiod shall commence on the datethat the Department receives anapplication that is technically andprofessionally complete and suff i-cient. In the event that the Department does not authorize, con-sent to, conditionally authorize orconsent to, deny, or temporarily denyan application within the 120 dayperiod, the application shall bedeemed to have been approved. Nowaiver or extension of the 120 dayperiod shall be allowed. This prohibi-tion shall not apply in those cases inwhich the Commissioner issues atemporary denial based on a need foradditional information. See N.J.A.C.7:4-7.2(e)7iii.

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(c) Upon determination by the Depart-ment that an application for projectauthorization is technically and pro-fessionally complete and sufficient,the Department shall:

1. Conduct a review to determine if theundertaking for which the application issubmitted constitutes an encroachmentor will damage or destroy the historicproperty under the criteria set forth inN.J.A.C. 7:4-7.4 and the Secretary of theInterior’s Standards for the Treatment ofHistoric Properties (36 C.F.R. Part 68)and “Guidelines for Preserving, Reha-bilitating, Restoring, and Reconstruct-ing Historic Buildings” (guidelinesissued by the National Park Service,incorporated herein by reference andavailable from the Historic PreservationOffice, P.O. Box 404, Trenton, New Jer-sey 08625-0404) or subsequent amend-ments thereto, adopted by the Secretaryof the United States Department of the Interior and the National Park Service;and

2. Within 45 days after the Department’sissuance of notice to the applicant thatan application is technically and profes-sionally complete and sufficient, notifythe applicant in writing whether or notthe undertaking constitutes anencroachment or will damage or destroythe historic property. The notificationshall include an explanation of the rea-sons for the Department’s determina-tion. The Department shall send a copyof any notification that an undertakingdoes not constitute an encroachment orwill not damage or destroy the historicproperty to local historical societies andhistoric preservation commissions, aslisted by the applicant in the applicationfor authorization, pursuant to N.J.A.C.7:4-7.1(d).

(d) If the Department determines that anundertaking does not constitute anencroachment or will not damage ordestroy the historic property, theapplicant may proceed with the proj-ect upon receipt of the Department’swritten notice under (c) 2 above.

(e) If the Department determines that anundertaking constitutes an encroach-ment or will damage or destroy thehistoric property:

1. Within 15 days of receipt of a notice thatthe undertaking constitutes anencroachment, an applicant shall pro-

vide written notice to owners of regis-tered properties that would be directlyaffected by the undertaking and a com-plete list of local historical societies, his-toric preservation commissions and alla ffected local government units, anyagencies or instrumentalities thereofconcerned with historic preservation,and any Statewide organization and localorganization specifically concerned withhistoric preservation the area of theundertaking’s potential impact (as listedby the applicant in the application forauthorization, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:4-7.1(d)) that an application has been sub-mitted to the Commissioner for authori-zation and has been determined toconstitute an encroachment. The writ-ten notice shall contain a statement thatindicates that the entity receiving thenotice or any person directly affected bythe undertaking may request in writingthat the Commissioner may ask the His-toric Sites Council to conduct a specialpublic meeting specifically on theencroachment application. If the Com-missioner receives a written request fora special public meeting from such anentity or from at least five personsdirectly affected by the undertaking, theCommissioner may ask the HistoricSites Council to conduct a special publicmeeting within the 120 day review peri-od. If the Commissioner does notreceive a written request for a publicmeeting from such an entity or from atleast five persons directly affected bythe undertaking, the Commissionermay, on his or her own initiative, requestthe Historic Sites Council to conduct aspecial public meeting within the 120day review period or determine thatsuch a special public meeting is unnec-essary. Preference shall be given to hold-ing the special public meeting in themunicipality wherein the area, site,building, structure or object included inthe New Jersey Register of HistoricPlaces that would be affected by theapplication is located, or in a municipal-ity as close thereto as can reasonably bearranged.

2. The application for project authoriza-tion shall be scheduled to be reviewedby the Historic Sites Council at a regu-larly scheduled meeting or a specialpublic meeting pursuant to (e)1 above.At least 21 days before the regularlyscheduled or special meeting date, the

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Department shall determine the agendafor the Council meeting and consistentwith the Open Public Meeting Act,N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq. send written noti-fication of the meeting to:

i. The applicant;

ii. The chief elected local official of themunicipality in which the proposedundertaking would occur;

iii. Two major circulation newspapers,including a major circulation newspa-per in the area of the municipality inwhich the proposed undertakingwould occur;

iv. Local historical societies and historicpreservation commissions, as listedby the applicant in the application forauthorization pursuant to N.J.A.C.7:4-7.1(d);

v. All affected local government units,any agencies or instrumentalitiesthereof concerned with historicpreservation, and any recognizedo rganization specifically concernedwith historic preservation in the Stateand in the area of the undertaking’spotential impact as listed by theapplicant in the application forauthorization pursuant to N.J.A.C.7:4-7.1(d);

vi. Owners of registered properties thatwould be directly affected by theundertaking, as listed by the appli-cant in the application for projectauthorization pursuant to N.J.A.C.7:4-7.1(d). For an application wheremore than 25 owners would be direct-ly affected by the undertaking, theDepartment may publish a publicnotice to property owners concerningthe Council’s meeting instead of indi-vidually notifying alI property own-ers. Such public notice shall be pub-lished 21 days before the scheduledmeeting date; and

vii. Interested parties who have advisedthe Department in writing of theirinterest in the application.

3. If an applicant wishes to withdraw anapplication for project authorization, theapplicant shall notify the Department inwriting of said withdrawal and shall alsoimmediately notify all parties listed bythe applicant in the application for proj-ect authorization pursuant to N.J.A.C.7:4-7.1(d) and interested parties whohave advised the Department in writingof their interest in the application, pur-suant to (e)1 above. If a withdrawal is

within 48 hours of a regularly scheduledor special meeting of the Historic SitesCouncil and if it is not possible for allpeople to be notified of the withdrawal,then the Historic Sites Council, at itsdiscretion, may accept public commenton the withdrawn application on theday for which the application was sched-uled. Such comments may be consid-ered if pertinent to a new application onthe same encroachment.

4. The Historic Sites Council shall meet toreview the application for projectauthorization and evaluate theencroachment using the criteria setforth in N.J.A.C. 7:4-7.4 and the Secre-tary of the Interior’s Standards for theTreatment of Historic Properties (36C.F.R. Part 68) and “Guidelines for Pre-serving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, andReconstructing Historic Buildings”(guidelines issued by the National ParkService, incorporated herein by refer-ence and available from the HistoricPreservation Office, P.O. Box 404, Tren-ton, New Jersey 08625-0404) or subse-quent amendments thereto, adopted bythe Secretary of the United StatesDepartment of the Interior and theNational Park Service. The Councilshall also consider the following:

i. The public benefit of the proposedundertaking;

ii Whether or not feasible and prudentalternatives to the encroachmentexist; and

iii. Whether or not sufficient measurescould be taken to avoid, reduce ormitigate the encroachment.

5. The Historic Sites Council shall submitwritten recommendations to the Com-missioner.

6. In addition to considering the recom-mendations of the Historic Sites Coun-cil, the Commissioner may direct theconduct of a public hearing on the appli-cation prior to granting or denyingauthorization of the encroachment.

7. Within the 120 day review period under(b) above, the Commissioner shall trans-mit to the applicant a written decisionwith specific reasons therefor whichshall either:

i. Authorize or consent to the encroach-ment as described in the application;

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ii.. Authorize or consent to the encroach-ment with conditions. The conditionsmay include, but are not limited to,placement of a preservation covenantin the deed for the property in theevent of the conveyance of any inter-est in the property; marketing of thehistoric property over a reasonableperiod of time; recordation of the his -toric property to the standards andapproval of the Historic AmericanBuildings Survey or Historic Ameri-can Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) through photographs, draw-ings and written narrative; archaeo-logical survey or data recovery; sal-vage of significant architecturalfeatures; and revisions to the architec-tural plans or other conditions thatwould enable the project to meet theSecretary of the Interior’s Standardsfor the Treatment of Historic Proper-ties (36 C.F.R. Part 68) and “Guide-lines for Preserving, Rehabilitating,Restoring, and Reconstructing His-toric Buildings” (guidelines issued bythe National Park Service, incorporat-ed herein by reference and availablefrom the Historic Preservation Office,P.O. Box 404, Trenton, New Jersey08625-0404) or subsequent amend-ments thereto, adopted by the Secre-tary of the United States Departmentof the Interior and the National ParkService, or other-wise avoid, reduceor mitigate the encroachment.

(l) The applicant shall respond to theconditions within 60 days of theissuance of the Commissioner’s deci-sion. If the applicant agrees in writingthat all the conditions are acceptableand will be met, the undertaking mayproceed. If the applicant does notrespond within 60 days or does notagree with all the conditions, theCommissioner shall deny the applica-tion for project authorization. Prior tothe undertaking, the applicant shallsubmit to the Department writtenand photographic documentation orrevised final architectural plans andspecifications to show how the condi -tions of the approval have been or willbe satisfied. Upon completion of theundertaking, the applicant shall docu-ment to the satisfaction of theDepartment that the applicant hascomplied with all the conditions;

iii. Deny the application for projectauthorization temporarily based onsuch factors as need for additionalinformation, exploration of additionalalternatives for avoidance or mitiga-tion of the encroachment, damage,destruction or other adverse effects.

The applicant shall respond to theDepartment within 60 days from thedate of issuance of a temporarydenial. In the event that no responseis received by the Department within60 days, the Commissioner shall denythe application. If the applicant sub-mits a complete response includingall information requested by theDepartment, it shall be within thediscretion of the Department to referadditional information to the HistoricSites Council, and the Departmentshall make a final determination with-in 60 days after receipt of theresponse; or

iv. Deny the application for projectauthorization with specific reasonstherefor.

7:4-7.3 Emergency undertakings

(a) In the case of an emergency under-taking which needs to be implement-ed by the State, a county or munici-pality or an agency or instrumentalitythereof, within 30 days of an emer-gency, the State, county or municipal-ity or agency or instrumentality there-of, in lieu of the applicationprocedure in N.J.A.C. 7:4-7.1, shallnotify the Department by telephoneand in writing as soon as possible.Said notification shall include: thename and address of the property list-ed in the New Jersey Register, a writ-ten description of the scope of theemergency undertaking, photographsdocumenting the condition of theregistered property, a statement froman appropriate expert demonstratinghow the condition of the propertyconstitutes an immediate, direct,demonstrable and severe hazard tothe safety of the public, and a state-ment as to how the undertaking willencroach upon the registered proper-ty. If demolition of all or a substantialportion of a property is proposed, thenotification shall include a structuralassessment and an evaluation ofwhether the property would be rea-sonably repaired, to be prepared byan architect or engineer with demon-strated experience with historic prop-erties.

(b) The Department shall respond with-in seven calendar days after receiptby the Department of the completenotification as described in (a) above.If the Department determines thatthe condition of the property consti-tutes an immediate direct, demon-

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strable, and severe hazard to the safe-ty of the public, Historic Sites Coun-cil review is not required and theDepartment shall respond inaccordance with N.J.A.C. 7:4-7.2(e)5 but within seven calendardays after receipt by the Depart-ment of the complete notificationas described in (a) above. Untilthe Department authorizes thee m e rgency undertaking, theState, county or municipality oragency or instrumentality thereofconducting the emergency under-taking shall only take measuresnecessary to stabilize or isolatethe affected property to preventdanger to the public. The Depart-ment may determine that the sit-uation does not constitute anemergency and require that theapplicant follow the applicationprocedure in N.J.A.C. 7:4-7.2.

7:4-7.4 Criteria for determiningwhether an undertaking consti-tutes an encroachment or willdamage or destroy the historicproperty

(a) An undertaking will have an adversee ffect and therefore constitute anencroachment when the effect of theundertaking on a property listed inthe New Jersey Register may dimin-ish the integrity of the property’slocation, design, setting, materials,workmanship, feeling, or association.Encroachments include but are notlimited to:

1. Physical destruction, damage, or alter-ation of all or part of the registered prop-erty;

2. Isolation of the registered property fromor alteration of the character of the prop-erty’ setting when that character con-tributes to the property’s qualificationfor the New Jersey Register;

3. Introduction of visual, audible, oratmospheric elements that are out ofcharacter with the registered property oralter its setting; and

4. Acquisition, transfer, sale, lease, ease-ment on, or an agreement or other per-mission allowing use of a registeredproperty.

(b) An undertaking that would otherwisebe found to constitute an encroach-ment pursuant to (a) above may beconsidered by the Department as notbeing an encroachment when:

1. The registered property is of value onlyfor its potential contribution to archaeo-logical, historical or architecturalresearch, and when such value can besubstantially preserved through the con-duct of appropriate research and suchresearch is conducted in accordancewith applicable professional standardsand guidelines;

2. The undertaking is limited to thepreservation, rehabilitation, restoration,or reconstruction of buildings and struc-tures and is conducted in a manner that preserves the historical and architecturalvalue of affected historic propertythrough conformance with the Secretaryof the Interior’s Standards for the Treat-ment of Historic Properties (36 C.F.R.Part 68) and “Guide-lines for Preserv-ing, Rehabilitating, Restoring, andReconstructing Historic Buildings”(guidelines issued by the National ParkService, incorporated herein by refer-ence and available from the HistoricPreservation Office, P.O. Box 404, Tren-ton, New Jersey 08625-0404) or subse-quent amendments thereto, adopted bythe Secretary of the United StatesDepartment of the Interior; and theNational Park Service; or

3. The undertaking is limited to the acqui-sition, transfer, sale, lease, easement on,or an agreement or other permissionallowing use of a registered property,and adequate restrictions or conditionsare included to ensure preservation ofthe property’s significant historic fea-tures.

State of New JerseyNJ Department of Environmental Protection

Natural & Historic ResourcesHistoric Preservation officeP.O. Box 404, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0404

Tel: (609) 984-0176 Fax: (609) 984-0578

visit our Website at:www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo

This publication has been financed in part with federal funds from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, and administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Historic Preservation Office. The contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of the Interior. This program receives federal financial assistance for the identification and protection of historic properties. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in its federally assisted programs. If you believe that you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, 1849 C. Street NW (NC200), Washington, D.C. 20240

Rev. 12/08