Signon Letter to McGreevey

July 26, 2004

Governor James McGreevey

The State House

Trenton, NJ 08625

Dear Governor McGreevey:

We, the undersigned members of the Highlands Coalition, are writing to urge you to sign the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act as quickly as possible. Swift enactment of this landmark legislation is essential to ensure the long-term protection of critical lands and water supplies in this precious and threatened region. With every day that passes, development is continuing in the region, threatening the very lands and waters that the legislation is intended to protect.

We also urge you to implement the legislation swiftly and effectively. Strong candidates who are committed to protecting the Highlands must be appointed to the Council at the earliest possible opportunity so that they can begin the important work of conducting the resource assessment and developing the regional master plan. A skilled Executive Director and staff with strong environmental credentials will be necessary to carry out this important work effectively.

We greatly appreciate your strong commitment to protect the Highlands. However, we are very concerned about the potential implications of the recently enacted fast-track legislation on the Highlands and the State as a whole. As you know, the Highlands Coalition and our member groups worked tirelessly to attain passage of the Highlands Act. We are extremely disappointed that you signed this legislation and that it has been linked to the Highlands Act. We believe the Highlands Act can, and should, stand on its own merits since protection of critical water supplies and other vital resources are goals that embody their own justification, and must not require “balance” from a fast-track bill that undermines these same resources.  

Approximately one-third of the Highlands Planning Area could be subject to inappropriate development as a result of the fast-track law, undermining the goals of the Highlands Act and Council to foster sustainable development in appropriate locations within the Planning Area based upon the resource assessment and regional master plan. While the goal of promoting smart growth in appropriate locations is legitimate, the lack of public input on the fast-track legislation resulted in a highly flawed and dangerous approach to achieving that goal.

In order to prevent such damage to the Highlands Planning Area and urban and suburban areas of the State, we ask that you commit to taking the following actions:

• Adopt rules and laws this fall that minimize the damage the fast-track law does to the environment and public health, including exempting the Highlands Planning Area from the fast-track provisions,
• Adopt previously announced, but yet to be proposed, rules and laws within the year that advance environmental and public health protections, e.g., threatened & endangered species, sewer & septic, surface & ground water quality standards, and water allocation & c1 rules (including additional c1 designations in the Highlands Planning Area, such as the Musconetcong and Pequest).

Ultimately we believe that the fast-track legislation should be repealed and replaced with alternate legislation to promote smart growth without threatening public health and the environment. However, the steps outlined above would go a long way to minimize the impacts of the fast-track legislation and to prevent what should be a tremendous legacy for you in the Highlands from being tarnished.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss these concerns with you further. We are hopeful that with some resolution of these issues, we could join you in celebrating enactment of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act in the very near future.

Sincerely,

Thomas A. Gilbert, Highlands Coalition

Jim Tripp, Environmental Defense (Highlands Coalition Chair)

Michele Byers, NJCF (Chair, NJ State Committee)

Sandy Batty, ANJEC (Chair, Local Govt. Committee)

Amy Goldsmith, NJ Environmental Federation

Suzanne Wilder, Musconetcong Mountain Conservancy

Beth Styler Barry, Musconetcong Watershed Association

Christopher Tausch, ADK - North Jersey Chapter

Tom Koven, Bethlehem Twp. Residents for a Rural Community 

Laura Kushner, Friends of Liberty Corner Greenways

Christina Guido, Peapack Gladstone Environmental Commission

Ted Koven, Tewksbury Land Trust

Nick Corcodilos , Clinton Township Community Coalition

Karen Buckley, Preserve Our Scotts Mountain

Jason Ardis, Lamington Conservancy

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