When Gov. Sherrill moved in May to delay the REAL Rule — the sweeping flood and coastal development regulation created under the Murphy administration — it opened a narrow but critical window for the industry to shape what comes next. The Department of Environmental Protection has since convened a working group of just nine organizations to work through revisions to the rule over six weekly meetings running from now through September. CREDA New Jersey is one of them, sitting alongside NJBIA, the NJ Builders Association, and the League of Municipalities. CREDA New Jersey has been heavily involved in the process and has testified before the Legislature in recent months on how the REAL Rule would affect development timelines and project feasibility across New Jersey. That testimony laid the groundwork for the role we now hold in DEP's rulemaking process. With a seat in the working group, our Regulatory Committee's ongoing analysis of the REAL Rule's impact on commercial development now has a direct line into how the regulation gets rewritten — not just a chance to comment after the fact.

What's Next

Our full attention is on this issue for as long as the working group meets. We'll keep members updated as the process unfolds, and in the coming weeks we'll be looking for member input to help shape the positions CREDA brings to the table. This is exactly the kind of advocacy CREDA membership is built to deliver: showing up early, building credibility with regulators, and turning that credibility into influence when it matters most.