November 25, 2025

Blue Acres is officially 30 years old! On November 7, 1995, New Jersey residents voted to pass the “Green Acres, Farmland and Historic Preservation, and Blue Acres Bond Act,” which had been approved by the legislature in August of that year. Receiving 68% voter approval, the Act allocated $340 million to the acquisition and preservation of lands and historic sites statewide, with $30 million dedicated to fund the two new Blue Acres bond programs. 

At its inception, Blue Acres was a subset of the Green Acres Program, with two distinct focus areas: “coastal Blue Acres” and “inland Blue Acres.” Originally, the coastal bond program received $15 million to provide grants and low-interest loans to local governments, who would then purchase land from willing sellers. The inland fund (which also received $15 million) was for the State to directly purchase flood-prone properties specifically in the Passaic river basin floodway, where Green Acres had conducted voluntary flood buyouts as early as March1987. Including those early pre-Blue Acres buyouts in Lincoln Park (which are now maintained by an ongoing partnership under the modern Blue Acres Program), more than 1200 voluntary flood buyouts have taken place in the program’s history. 

Over the past three decades, Blue Acres has evolved through several iterations. For more than a decade, a steady stream of inland Blue Acres buyouts took place across Morris, Essex, and Passaic Counties. Then, in October 2009, the first State-led coastal Blue Acres buyout took place in Fairfield Township, Cumberland County along the Delaware Bayshore. This important step paved the way for Blue Acres’ expansion into other Bayshore communities the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. As part of the state’s Sandy recovery efforts, the program began utilizing several hundred million in Federal disaster response funding to conduct voluntary buyouts in hard-hit coastal, tidal and riverine communities.   

Feedback from participating post-Sandy buyout homeowners and communities helped inform the Program’s response nine years later when Tropical Storm Ida caused widespread flooding in 2021. Blue Acres received strong Federal funding support for post-Ida voluntary buyouts: nearly $100 million in combined disaster recovery grants. To manage the resulting case load, the program reorganized into its current form, affectionately referred to by staff as “Blue Acres 3.0.” With a permanent, dedicated staff and a 30-year history of responding to flood events, Blue Acres has more recently turned its attention to proactive flood resilience work. 

In 2024, Blue Acres received its largest, single allocation of State funding ever: $24.7 million in dedicated buyout funding from the Garden State Preservation Trust (GSPT). Signed in January 2025, the bill authorizing this GSPT funding has allowed Blue Acres to offer buyouts in communities not otherwise covered by Federal sources and to rapidly respond to recent flooding. Also starting in 2024, Blue Acres has been working with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service on recovery buyouts in Cranford, East Hanover, and South Plainfield. Generously funded by the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, these buyouts have allowed Blue Acres to work with willing sellers and to take a more active role in engaging buyout community members in the post-acquisition land use discussion. 

Blue Acres has evolved over the past three decades and continues to look for ways to enhance program capacity. From humble beginnings, existing as an ad hoc program under the Green Acres umbrella and funded by bonds, Blue Acres has become a national model for successful flood buyouts. Blue Acres has preserved more than 360 acres for flood storage and public open space in nearly 50 municipalities across thirteen counties. Today, we continue to advance our mission of safeguarding people and property from repeat flooding while leveraging our success to focus on more proactive flood mitigation efforts. With an eye to the future, Blue Acres will continue to enhance and support New Jersey’s flood resilience in the coming decades.   

In response to significant flash flooding on July 14 (for which Governor Murphy declared a State of Emergency), Blue Acres hosted outreach events in August to provide information about the voluntary flood buyout process with impacted homeowners. These five consultation sessions served as opportunities for members of impacted communities to speak one-on-one with Blue Acres staff, receiving information on the voluntary buyout process based upon their individual circumstances.

Across the three in-person events (hosted in partnership with the Boroughs of Dunellen and North Plainfield and the City of Rahway) and two virtual events, Blue Acres engaged 99 participants from more than a dozen municipalities. Of the 80+ new voluntary buyout applications received since July 14, 2025, nearly 50% came from homeowners who attended a consultation session in August. Blue Acres continues to accept applications and is now working to determine funding priorities based on intake reports. 

From Outreach to Action: State-Funded Buyouts Approved 

In response to the flood buyout applications received as a result of the July 14 flash flood, the State of New Jersey has now approved 18 state-funded Blue Acres buyouts for properties most severely impacted. Most of these homes were deemed substantially damaged or unsafe, leaving many families displaced entirely, making them priorities for voluntary acquisition through the Blue Acres Program with state funding. 

The approved properties span several communities that experienced record rainfall and flash flooding, leading to widespread damage and displacement. The buyouts will allow homeowners to relocate to safer areas, while the acquired properties will be restored to open space to help reduce future flood risk. 

What is “Substantial Damage”? 

A property is considered substantially damaged when the cost to repair it equals or exceeds 50% of the building’s pre-damage market value. This determination is made by local floodplain administrators or building officials based on FEMA guidelines. 

When a home is substantially damaged, local ordinances and federal regulations may require that it be brought into compliance with current floodplain management standards—often a costly and impractical undertaking. In these cases, a Blue Acres buyout offers a safer, more sustainable alternative. 

What Happens Next? 

Homeowners approved for buyouts will be contacted by Blue Acres case managers to begin the next steps in the buyout process. Blue Acres remains committed to helping New Jersey families recover from this disaster and build resilience for the future. Blue Acres will be requesting additional state funding this fall to help more families relocate out of harm’s way.  

For more information about the Blue Acres Program, visit https://deptest.nj.gov/blueacres. 

Last modified on July 14th, 2025 at 1:10 pm

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved a fifth batch of Blue Acres buyout funding for four additional properties, following the first batch approval for 14 properties in January 2024, second batch approval for 37 properties in April 2024, third batch approval for 42 properties in May 2024, and fourth batch approval for 4 properties in February 2025. These approvals are part of the $50 million Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) allocation for voluntary buyouts in New Jersey following Hurricane Ida’s impact in September 2021. With this latest approval, the total obligated buyout funds under HMGP post-Ida is now $46.6 million.

Homeowners awaiting buyout funding opportunities, including HUD-funded buyouts, can be assured that Blue Acres will continue to provide timely updates as new information becomes available.

The newly approved properties are located in Hillsborough, Millstone Borough, Hopewell, and New Milford. Blue Acres staff notified the owners immediately via phone calls and emails, assigning case managers to guide them through the voluntary buyout process.

With this fifth batch approval, the total number of approved properties under HMGP has reached 101. All properties proposed for buyout funding meet State and FEMA criteria for reducing flood hazard risks to life and property. Among the priority categories represented by the homes in Batch 5:

• All four homes are in FEMA-mapped flood zones, including the 100-year Special Flood Hazard Area, with one located in the floodway, the highest-risk zone for fast-moving floodwaters.
• One home was declared substantially damaged (SD), meaning that flood damage exceeded at least 50% of the structure’s value.
• All four homes are classified as “repetitive loss” or “severe repetitive loss”, based on multiple flood insurance payouts through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program.
• One home is located in state-identified Overburdened Communities (OBC).

Currently, 13 properties remain under FEMA review, awaiting approval. As FEMA continues to approve additional buyouts, Blue Acres will promptly notify homeowners and local governments.

The Importance of Buyouts in Flood Resilience

The goal of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is to reduce losses from future disasters. Blue Acres helps achieve this by:

1. Removing homes from high-risk flood areas, allowing residents to relocate to safer locations.
2. Returning purchased land to open space, increasing flood storage capacity and reducing risk to surrounding communities.

By eliminating vulnerable structures and restoring flood buffers, buyouts not only protect homeowners but strengthen entire communities against future storms.

Blue Acres remains a fully voluntary program, working only with willing sellers. From initial interest to final closing, the buyout process ensures that homeowners make informed decisions about their next steps.

As part of NJDEP’s Office of Climate Resilience, Blue Acres continues to play a vital role in advancing New Jersey’s Climate Change Resilience Strategy—helping families move out of harm’s way and making communities stronger in the face of future floods.

Last modified on October 7th, 2025 at 9:22 am

May 23, 2025

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) formally approved the funding agreement for the $3.2 million Blue Acres buyout project for five specific properties located in East Hanover Township in Morris County and South Plainfield Township in Middlesex County. The project will be funded with $2.5 million from the USDA, while the remaining amount will be provided by the state. The NRCS administers the EWP to assist in protecting lives and property from flooding or soil erosion after a natural disaster. This federal funding comes in response to a declaration of watershed impairment by the State Conservationist following riverine flooding between December 18, 2023, and January 10, 2024. Prior to the full, formal approval of NRCS-EWP buyout funds, this new partnership between NRCS and the State of NJ was announced by NJDEP and covered by national and local media outlets. 

The five participating homeowners have been informed of the approval, and they are each actively working with a Blue Acres case manager. Homeowners awaiting buyout funding opportunities can be assured that Blue Acres will provide timely updates to them as new information becomes available. 

Using funds from the NRCS-EWP buyout program, Blue Acres will purchase homes from participating residents and remove the buildings from the flood-prone area. The area will then be stabilized and replanted to enhance natural flood storage. The restoration may also include passive recreation opportunities and improved wildlife habitats. To accomplish these goals, conservation practices such as obstruction removal, brush management, tree and shrub planting, critical area planting, and mulching will be implemented. 

Blue Acres is planning community engagement opportunities to inform residents about the voluntary buyout project and ongoing flood mitigation efforts in their community. While no meetings have been scheduled yet, community members will have the chance to ask questions and provide input on post-buyout land use as plans develop. Those interested can look out for upcoming updates about opportunities to participate. 

In communities impacted by constant flooding or severe erosion due to a natural disaster, a property buyout might be the best solution. Blue Acres is a voluntary buyout program that only works with willing sellers. The buyout process remains fully voluntary from the initial expression of interest in a buyout to the date of closing. As part of NJDEP’s Office of Climate Resilience, Blue Acres plays an integral part in advancing the State of New Jersey’s Climate Change Resilience Strategy. 

February 27, 2025

On January 30^th, 2025, Governor Phil Murphy signed Assembly bill 5121/ Senate bill 3943, appropriating a record-breaking $24.7 million in funding for the Blue Acres program from revenue generated through the state’s Corporate Business Tax (CBT). The appropriations made available under this bill have been and the board of the Garden State Preservation Trust (GSPT), and they will support the voluntary acquisition of flood-prone properties across New Jersey for flood storage, conservation and recreational use.

This marks the largest single-year funding increase in Blue Acres history. Historic allocations to the program were smaller, typically $3-$4 million but following Ida funding rose to $10.5 million, and this year’s $24.7 million allocation, showing New Jersey’s growing commitment to the program, state led flood mitigation efforts and the importance of nature-based climate resilience solutions.

Stay tuned, there will be additional buyout funding opportunities for homeowners. Blue Acres staff will reach out directly to engage eligible applicants. If you have already applied to Blue Acres, you do not need to reapply. These funds will not affect the approval status of buyout applicants or participants in federal grants.

How CBT Funds Are Used

Blue Acres uses CBT funds to:

1. Pay upfront expenses for federal grant-funded projects. Many federal buyout programs require project costs such as property appraisals and purchase prices to be fronted by state or local funds and then reimbursed by federal grant funds. CBT funding helps bridge this gap, ensuring projects move forward efficiently and that homeowner timelines can progress quickly once federal awards are attained. Blue Acres state funds safeguards homeowners and local government partners from having to deal with fits and starts or the delays associated with requesting and awaiting federal reimbursements at each step of the buyout process.
2. Pay local cost shares required as part of federal grant agreements. For example, the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Emergency Watershed Protection Program (NRCS-EWPP) covers 75% of buyout program costs, leaving the remaining 25% to be funded locally, a cost that will be covered entirely by CBT funds.
3. Carry out 100% state-funded buyouts. Fully state funded buyouts are implemented quicker and they require no external approvals or oversight which allow homeowners to transition to safer areas more efficiently.

The Blue Acres program remains committed to working with willing sellers of flood-prone homes to provide the option of a voluntary buyout with the goal of enhancing community climate resilience. With this historic CBT funding allocation, the program aims to implement state-funded buyouts in communities that continue to recover from Hurricane Ida (September 2021) and more recent storms in December 2023 and January 2024 which resulted in severe flooding for several New Jersey communities.

February 21, 2025

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved a fourth batch of Blue Acres buyout funding for 4 specific properties, following the first batch approval for 14 properties in January 2024, second batch approval for 37 properties in April 2024, and third batch approval for 42 properties in May 2024. These batch approvals are part of the $50 million Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) allocation for voluntary buyouts in New Jersey following Hurricane Ida’s impact in September 2021. This fourth batch approval brings the cumulative total of obligated post-Ida HMGP buyout funds to $44.6 million.

Homeowners awaiting buyout funding opportunities, such as HUD-funded buyouts, can be assured that Blue Acres will provide timely updates on their cases as new information becomes available.

Blue Acres staff notified the owners of these 4 properties approved immediately via phone calls, emails, and certified mail. Blue Acres also assigned case managers to begin guiding the homeowners through the steps to receive a formal buyout offer. The recently approved properties are across three municipalities: the Borough of Manville, Township of Montgomery, and the Borough of New Milford. Blue Acres staff looks forward to providing buyout offers to the Batch 4 homeowners, as well as those still awaiting approval.

The fourth batch approval brings the total number of approved properties to 97 under HMGP. All properties proposed for HMGP buyout funding meet State and FEMA criteria for reducing flood hazard risks to life and property.

Among the priority categories represented by the 4 homes in batch 4:

• All 4 homes are in a FEMA-mapped flood zone, specifically the 100-year Special Flood Hazard Area, with a greater than 1% chance annually of flood inundation.
• 2 homes were declared substantially damaged (SD), meaning calculated damages equated to at least 50% of the structure’s value;
• 3 homes are designated as “repetitive loss” or “severe repetitive loss,” based on the number of flood insurance payouts they have received over time from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program;
• 3 homes are in state-identified Overburdened Communities (OBC).

There are 17 properties that are waiting for approval and currently remain under federal review. As FEMA approves additional batches of properties, Blue Acres will continue to notify homeowners and local governments.

The goal of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is to reduce or mitigate losses from future disasters. The Blue Acres program works to achieve this goal in two ways – by removing homes from high flood-risk areas (thereby enabling those residents to relocate to safer locations) and by increasing flood storage by returning the land to open space. This reduces the number of structures at risk of damage from flooding during storms and provides additional buffers and storage for floodwaters, which protects the remaining homes in these areas. Overall, this process makes families and communities more resilient to climate change.

Blue Acres is a voluntary buyout program that only works with willing sellers. The buyout process remains fully voluntary from the initial expression of interest in a buyout to the date of closing. As part of NJDEP’s Office of Climate Resilience, Blue Acres plays an integral part of advancing the State of New Jersey’s Climate Change Resilience Strategy.

 

January 29, 2025

This past week, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) formally approved the funding agreement for $3.5M in Blue Acres buyout funding for five specific properties located along the Orchard Brook, a tributary of the Rahway River, in Cranford Township. This funding comes in response to a declaration of watershed impairment and property damages sustained in 2021 as a result of Hurricane Ida. This buyout project is 100% federally funded. Prior to the full, formal approval of NRCS buyout funds, this new partnership between NRCS EWP and the State of NJ was announced by NJ DEP and covered by national and local media outlets.

The five participating homeowners have been informed of the approval, and individually, they are actively working with a Blue Acres case manager. Homeowners awaiting buyout funding opportunities, can be assured that Blue Acres will provide timely updates to them as new information becomes available.

With NRCS EWP buyout funds, Blue Acres will acquire the homes from cooperating residents, remove the homes and structures from the flood hazard area. The flood prone area will be stabilized and revegetated to provide natural flood storage benefits and the restoration may include some passive recreation, and enhanced wildlife habitat. Conservation practices including obstruction removal, brush management, tree and shrub site prep, tree and shrub establishment, critical area planting and mulching will be utilized to achieve these objectives.

On January 27, 2025, Blue Acres hosted a community engagement meeting with the Township of Cranford and the County of Union at the Cranford Community Center. The goal of the meeting was to inform community members of the voluntary buyout project and other flood mitigation projects taking place nearby such as the County’s culvert project. Meeting attendees were able to ask questions about the different projects and sign up to receive updates, including future opportunities to provide input on post-buyout land use.  You can view a copy of the Blue Acres presentation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) administers the EWP to assist project sponsors in protecting lives and property from flooding or soil erosion after a natural disaster. In communities impacted by constant flooding or severe erosion due to a natural disaster, a property buyout might be the best solution.

Blue Acres is a voluntary buyout program that only works with willing sellers. The buyout process remains fully voluntary from the initial expression of interest in a buyout to the date of closing. As part of NJDEP’s Office of Climate Resilience, Blue Acres plays an integral part of advancing the State of New Jersey’s Climate Change Resilience Strategy.

As cross-posted from the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Environmental and Historic Preservation Review Information webpage:
https://www.nj.gov/dca/ddrm/resources/environmental.shtml   

The Environmental and Historic Program of the [DCA] Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation ensures that all funded projects meet federal compliance. The federal government requires all construction work done in Hurricane Ida recovery programs and Superstorm Sandy recovery programs that are funded with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) dollars be reviewed in a tiered environmental assessment to ensure projects undertaken will have no significant impact on the environment. Therefore, no construction work can begin on projects until all levels of environmental review have been complete and found to be in compliance. Public notices about the environmental review records for recovery projects are published in English and Spanish on this webpage. 

Any individual, group, or agency disagreeing with a project’s environmental review determination or wishing to comment on the project may submit written comments within a set public comment period to: 

Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation, Environmental Historic Program
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
101 South Broad Street
PO Box 823
Trenton, NJ 08625-0823 

Public comments may also be submitted via email at DRM.EHPComments@dca.nj.gov.
When submitting a public comment, please be sure to reference the project name and location in the comment. 

Public comments can additionally be submitted to: 

Tennille Smith Parker
DRSI, Division Director, HUD
451 Seventh Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20410 

The following are Hurricane Ida recovery projects that are currently in the environmental review public comment period: 

Posted on July 24, 2024 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION 

Hurricane Ida Tier 1 Environmental Assessments 

Project Title: New Jersey Blue Acres Tiered Environmental Reviews for Hurricane Ida 

Location: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Union, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, and Warren counties 

The total estimated project cost is $16,000,000. 

The projects would entail the acquisition of residential properties within a floodway, floodplain, or other disaster risk reduction area to reduce the risk from future flooding. Acquired properties would be cleared of all existing structures and related improvements and the land would be restored as wetlands and/or floodplains to serve a defined open space and climate-resilience purpose. 

COMBINED PUBLIC NOTICE 

All comments received by August 8, 2024, or fifteen (15) days from the actual date of publication, whichever is later, will be considered by DCA. 

DESCRIPCIÓN DEL PROYECTO 

Huracán Ida – Evaluaciones medioambientales de nivel 1 

Título del proyecto: New Jersey Blue Acres – Revisiones medioambientales por niveles para al huracán Ida. 

Ubicación: Condados de Nueva Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Union, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris y Warren. 

El costo total estimado del proyecto es de $16,000,000 dólares. 

Los proyectos implicarían la adquisición de propiedades residenciales dentro de un aliviadero, llanura de inundación u otra área con reducción de riesgo de desastre para aminorar posibles inundaciones en el futuro. En las propiedades que se adquieran se removerán todas las edificaciones existentes y conexas y se convertirá el terreno en humedales y/o llanuras inundables para servir como espacio abierto definido y propósitos de resiliencia frente al clima. 

AVISO PÚBLICO COMBINADO 

Todos los comentarios recibidos hasta el 8 de agosto de 2024 o quince (15) días a partir de la fecha vigente de publicación, la que sea posterior, serán considerados por el DCA. 

Bergen County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Essex County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Gloucester County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Hudson County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Hunterdon County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Mercer County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Middlesex County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Morris County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Passaic County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Somerset County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Union County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment 

Warren County Tier 1 Environmental Assessment