Open space preservation is an important component in New Jersey's effort to protect natural resources. Local communities need to consider preserving open space as a part of their long-term strategy for healthy development. To assist communities in setting aside open space, the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program is making low-interest loans available. Open space preservation helps to protect New Jersey's rich natural, historic, and cultural heritage. It ensures that animal and plant habitats are protected and that areas of scenic beauty and agricultural importance are preserved. It safeguards streams and water supplies, and provides opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Open space preservation lies at the core of the quality of life of New Jersey's communities - from urbanized cities to the most remote rural areas of the state. The degradation and loss of open space and important natural and historic resources continues at a rapid pace in New Jersey. Though the state's population has not increased significantly in recent years, many suburban and rural communities are continuing to experience the pressures of sprawl development. In some areas of the state, more than 90 percent of lands are already developed and open spaces are extremely limited. In other areas, there are many acres that are undeveloped; some is forested, some is wetlands, some is farmed and some of it is protected as open space. However, most of the open lands in New Jersey are not protected. Whether farmland or forest lands, more acres are developed into other uses each year than are set aside for open space preservation. Many of the state's historic resources also continue to be lost due to lack of adequate resources to protect and preserve them.

Recognizing that the rapid loss of open space was threatening both the quality of the environment and the quality of life in New Jersey, Governor Christine Whitman called upon New Jersey's voters to support an ambitious new goal of adding one million acres of protected open space to the 854,000 acres already preserved in the state.

The preservation of open space protects land from future development, but far more importantly, preservation efforts provide the foundation for maintaining healthy ecosystems and sustainable communities in New Jersey.

New Jersey is growing at a rapid rate. As development spreads, threats to the state's natural resources increase. Water quality is especially vulnerable. Expansive impervious surfaces prevent rainwater from properly re-charging aquifers. Known as runoff, this condition washes pollutants into our surface waters. To reduce the encroachment of impervious land cover into environmentally sensitive areas, land acquisition through the Financing Program is available. Land acquisition complements other water quality initiatives by creating buffer areas around stream corridors to filter pollutants and sediments from surface waters and stormwater runoff.

The New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program is a partnership between the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust and DEP. Since 1987, the Financing Program has provided low-interest loans for 219 projects for wastewater, nonpoint source pollution and combined sewer overflow controls, and for improvements to both publicly and privately owned drinking water systems. Tax-exempt bonds sold by the Trust are combined with federal dollars that come to DEP as capitalization grants intended for financing improvements to water quality through loan awards. By combining an interest-free loan from the DEP with a market rate loan from the proceeds of Trust bond sales, borrowers are able to finance their projects at half the prevailing market interest rate. These substantial savings in interest costs, combined with other cost-saving features of the Financing Program, typically result in savings of 25% to 30% of the overall cost of a project.

To be eligible for financing through the Financing Program certain criteria must be satisfied:

Allowable land acquisition costs include the cost of purchase by fee simple or easement (based on fair market value), property appraisals(s), site surveys and assessments, title search and other related legal fees.

To arrange for a preplanning meeting and to learn more about the Financing Program, contact Stanley V. Cach, Jr., Chief, Bureau of Engineering North at (609) 292-6894, or Gautam Patel, Chief, Bureau of Engineering South at (609) 984-6840.