EDITORIAL: Battle of the Highlands rages on.
We applaud the effort.
New Jersey has a fight on its hands to protect our environment, and we need help from all available fronts.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has adopted a new rule change allowing for more septic tanks in the Highlands, an area of nearly 900,000 acres in which development was significantly restricted under the Highlands Act, enacted in 2004.
The rule change, however, would mean more new construction as well as an estimated 12 percent increase in septic tanks prone to leaking nitrates, a prime source of water pollution.
Protecting clean water is among the fundamental green initiatives in which Gov.
President Trump similarly disdains the environment.
The state Assembly last week fired off a needed shot, therefore, approving a resolution declaring that the new septic density rules are inconsistent with legislative intent.
Christie has sought to weaken Highlands protections throughout his tenure, packing the Highlands Commission that oversees development in the region with more anti-environment allies to do his bidding.
No mechanism was ever put in place to provide that compensation, and attempts to deliver on that pledge, including a proposed water tax, have gotten nowhere.