In the Matter of the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, A-1646-08T1; Appellate Division; opinion by Fuentes, J.A.D.; decided and approved for publication July 22, 2010. Before Judges Skillman, Fuentes and Gilroy. On appeal from the final decision of the Department of Environmental Protection. DDS No. 26-2-8727 [23 pp.]

The township of Rockaway challenges a decision by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that exempts a proposed church campus construction project submitted by the Christ Church from the provisions and regulations of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act (the Highlands Act). The DEP found that the church’s project was exempt under N.J.S.A. 13:20-­28a(4), as a reconstruction project that is “within 125% of the footprint of the lawfully existing impervious surfaces on the site, provided that the reconstruction does not increase the lawfully existing impervious surface by one-quarter acre or more.”