The restriction on highway expansion was debated as an anti-sprawl amendment to the NJ Transportation Trust Fund reauthorization last summer, but was ultimately deleted from the legislation (MTR #263).

Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco endorsed revisions to the State Plan that the NJ Planning Commission adopted last week. DiFrancesco said he would back tax incentives to encourage urban relocation. He was quiet on the issue of tighter sewer rules first proposed by Governor Whitman, which would impose stricter environmental standards on new developments outside of designated growth areas.

A recent Eagleton poll found that 80% of respondents agreed with the Plan's goals, saying that it was very important or somewhat important to them to ease traffic, preserve open space, and revitalize cities. But only 5% believed that the State Plan has been a success in slowing the spread of sprawl. Environmentalists point out that 350,000 acres of open space have been lost to development in New Jersey since its adoption in 1992.