Highland Coalition Resolution
on Highlands Task Action Plan
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We, the undersigned members of the New Jersey State Committee of the Highlands Coalition, strongly support the overall recommendations of the Highlands Task Force and call for immediate legislative action to implement those recommendations and protect the Highlands Region, including the provisions below. The Highlands have been recognized as a region of National Significance by the US Forest Service and as a Special Resource Area in the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan. The entire Highlands region has important watershed values and provides drinking water for more than 4 million residents in the State of New Jersey. The region provides habitat for nearly 150 threatened and endangered species, and hosts over 14 million recreational visitors annually. The Highlands of New Jersey are threatened by sprawl with the loss of approximately 5,000 acres of land per year to development. We must act quickly to protect these resources before they are lost forever. We, therefore, urge the Governor and the Legislature to protect the Highlands through legislation, executive order, regulations, and other means.
As recommended by the Highlands Task Force, legislation should clearly identify a core preservation area within the Highlands of at least 350,000-390,000 acres in size based on protection of key natural resources, especially contiguous forest and water supply. The goal within the core preservation area should be to permanently preserve the remaining unprotected lands using a variety of tools, including acquisition, strong state regulations, and transfer of development rights. The highest priority unprotected lands within the core preservation area should be identified as preservation zones within the regional master plan and zoned accordingly. There should be emergency rules and strong regulatory protections for the entire core preservation area that include anti-degradation standards for ground water and surface water, protection of steep slopes and forests, land clearing limits, and impervious cover limits. All streams and rivers within the core area should be designated C1. An immediate freeze should be put in place on all development approvals within the core preservation area until the emergency rules, regulations and regional plan have been adopted.
While we believe there needs to be quick action to provide for stronger protection within the core preservation area, to help protect the many environmentally sensitive areas outside of the core, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) needs to move quickly to adopt regulations, such as C1 upgrades for all streams in the Highlands, the septic rule, the threatened and endangered species rule, water quality planning rules, and the ground water standard.
We strongly support creating a regional entity that will adopt a regional plan for the entire Highlands. The foremost concern of the regional plan should be the protection of water and natural resources. The Highlands Council should not designate mandatory growth areas or mandate unwanted growth upon municipalities. However, the Council shall work with municipalities to identify appropriate areas outside the core that could receive higher-density growth as well as other means of effectively participating in the TDR program essential to limit development in the core and other environmentally sensitive areas outside the core. Mandatory consistency with the regional plan of municipal master plans, zoning and other ordinances must be required for those municipalities or portions of municipalities within the core preservation area of the Highlands. Municipalities within the core should review development proposals in their communities if their zoning and planning is in compliance with the Regional Plan. Strong incentives shall be offered to encourage municipal master plans, zoning and other ordinances outside the core to be made consistent with the regional master plan.
The Council should conduct a carrying capacity analysis for the region to determine the level of future growth that can be accommodated within water and other resource constraints. The carrying capacity analysis should include a water budget with depletive use analysis and a nitrate dilution model with deep aquifer recharge. Municipalities within the core that have received substantive certification from the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) should be allowed to change their plans to protect the core areas. Communities outside the core should be allowed to opt into the regional plan voluntarily.
Members of the Highlands Council should be appointed by the Governor with advice and consent from the Senate, and be made up of people who strongly support protecting the natural resources of the Highlands, including a majority of local officials from NJ Highlands communities. The State Planning Commission should rely on the adopted plans and regulations of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council in developing the State Development and Redevelopment Plan. The Council should be authorized to review and approve or disapprove state, county and local projects in the Highlands based upon consistency with the regional master plan.
Regulatory authority should remain with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for state designated programs. The DEP should adopt stricter regulations for the protection of the natural resources of the Highlands, including protection of steep slopes and forests and enhanced protection of its waters, including fractured rock aquifers, source water and wellhead protection. In order to protect the Highlands, the DEP needs to better assess the ecological impact of its permitting programs. This should include permit coordination and an analysis of permitting that includes cumulative, secondary and ecological impacts.
The State of New Jersey should coordinate land acquisition strategies in the Highlands with county, local and non-profit entities. The State should work with these entities and the Highlands Council to set acquisition priorities. The State of New Jersey needs to commit at least $500 million over 10 years, augmented by federal, county, local government, private and non-profit funds, for the acquisition of land throughout the Highlands region.
The DEP must manage lands within the Highlands for the protection of water supplies and should develop a special designation for ecologically important land so they stay "forever wild". The Department of Agriculture should work with the Natural Resource Conservation Service to better manage farmland to protect water supplies, including limiting impervious cover and buffering streams and headwaters.
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