Legislation introduced yesterday by state Sens. Bob Smith (D- Middlesex) and Robert Martin (R-Morris) would virtually ban development on important watershed lands in the northern Highlands.

The proposed law - and an identical version sponsored by Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) - largely follows the recommendations of Gov. James E. McGreevey's Highlands Task Force.

"I think it's historic and tremendously important to the people of New Jersey," Smith said in an interview. "This is the water supply for 4.5 million people, and it's at terrible risk."

Eric Shuffler, counselor to McGreevey, said the governor is pleased that the bill (S1) takes such a strong preservation stance, but he is continuing to work with legislators to ensure it has enough incentives to channel growth to the right places.

"It's a very good start," Shuffler said. "It reflects a lot of the task force's action report. We have to work to ensure it has the proper balance between preservation and appropriate growth."

Builders have voiced concern that the bill chokes off development in large segments of the Highlands without designating other areas for growth.

The Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act would establish a regional council with veto power over all major development in an environmentally critical area still being defined by the task force.

A draft map being drawn up in consultation with local and county officials includes roughly half the Highlands, which stretches across seven northwestern counties and encompasses nearly 800,000 acres. The bill says the map will be completed by May 1.

Sources said the map will largely focus on an area north of Route 80 and west of Route 287 in Bergen, Passaic, Sussex and Morris counties, with two forklike tines running far south to pick up the area around Spruce Run Reservoir and west of the Musconetcong River.

Critics of the Highlands effort, including builders and some Republican legislators, have said the debate shouldn't continue until a map is generated.

"There is so much at stake here," said Matt Sprung, a long-time Highlands builder and member of the Morris County Planning Board. "They are dealing with people's lives, and they are treating it so willy-nilly."

But Smith, McKeon and other supporters insist that the preservation area - expected to be roughly 350,000 to 390,000 acres, about one-third of which is privately owned - is being delineated on the basis of science. The region contains streams, rivers and reservoirs that provide drinking water to half the state's residents.

"This is one of the most far-reaching land-use bills ever introduced," said Jeff Tittel of the state Sierra Club chapter. "It's about protection of the water and the natural resources."

Democrats are actively seeking to make the Highlands bill a bipartisan effort, meeting with high-level Republicans with strong environmental records in an effort to win their support.

They also are attempting to put the bill on a fast track, scheduling a series of joint legislative hearings that begin tonight in Ringwood and are scheduled to culminate with an environment committee vote on April 22. The bill would then require passage by both houses of the Legislature.

McGreevey has predicted a fierce battle over the proposal, which would effectively seal off more than 100,000 acres of private land in a region under fierce development pressures. Roughly 3,000 acres a year is being developed in the Highlands, and the population is rising faster than in other parts of the state.

Some builders argue those market forces cry out for designated growth outside the "core" preservation area.

Susan Bass Levin, commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, which oversees the state blueprint for growth, said she also would like to see more concentration on growth incentives in the right places.

"What we have here is a very complex intertwining of smart-growth initiatives," she said. "It's not easy to do that through the legislative process, but I think we're getting there."

The council will have 18 months to draft a master plan for the region, but towns outside the preservation areas won't be required to conform to it. The plan, which will be updated every five years, will be the law in preservation areas.

The 15-member council - eight members would be elected local and county officials representing all counties in the region with another seven members of the public - would be appointed by the governor with Senate approval.

The council will have dramatic impact in the long run, but the bill also calls for immediate action in the form of sweeping new regulatory powers by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

DEP would be given the right of first refusal on all property sales in the core, and all development on more than one acre would require a special Highlands permit.

The permitting process would ban development on steep slopes, within 300 feet of all streams and upland forests. It would tighten restrictions on water withdrawals, septic tank installations and "impervious" cover.

In an effort to woo Republican legislators, the bill would order the regional council to devise aid figures for towns within the preservation area in order to stabilize their tax rates. The aid is a hot-button issue, because McGreevey has cut those payments in recent years.

* * * Steve Chambers covers land-use issues. He can be reached by schambers@starledger.com or (973) 392-1674.

Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger.