NJ’s plans to combat ocean up-rising

New Jersey is working on a plan to better protect its coast and inland waterways from the effects of sea-level rise and severe storms.

The state Department of Environmental Protection said Tuesday it will seek input from residents, businesses and coastal sciences over the next year. The resulting plan will become a blueprint for protecting lives and property by guiding state policies, regulations, resources and funding with sea-level rise in mind.

It comes as pockets of the shoreline still have not fully recovered from Hurricane Sandy six years ago, and it attempts to address an issue on which environmentalists and scientists have long sought action.

The plan includes grants of up to $200,000 each for four regional planning teams to identify and implement solutions to coastal and river flooding. The regional groups are: Jersey City, Newark, Hoboken and Bayonne; Middlesex County; Long Beach Island; and the Atlantic City area.

Funding for the regional stud- ies comes from the federal National Disaster Resilience grant program.

The plan came the day after the release of a study by scientists at Rutgers University and elsewhere predicted that global average sea levels could rise by nearly 8 feet by 2100, and 50 feet by 2300 if greenhouse gas emissions remain high.