In what state officials are calling the most comprehensive set of water protections in the country, "they will prove to be a critical tool in our fight against sprawl," according to McGreevey. Environmentalists were quick to weigh in on the rules, with Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, calling them "a huge victory."

And while a half-dozen other states have enacted protective buffers, "no other state calls for a 300-ft buffer around all of its [Category 1] waterbodies and no net loss of recharge into underground aquifers," according to McGreevey.

The first set of rules updates the state's existing stormwater management rules for the first time since they were adopted in 1983. The rules essentially provide a basis for municipalities to develop stormwater management plans while stiffening the requirements for a number of state-issued permits, including permits for freshwater wetlands and stream encroachment.

The second set requires municipalities and a variety of large projects, including public complexes and highway systems, to develop stormwater management programs through the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program. For any such program, 100% of rainfall would have to go into the ground rather than running off into nearby bodies of water.

The key element in all of this is that 300-ft buffer which, according to observers, would effectively halt development within that distance of more than 6,000 miles of shoreline along rivers, lakes and reservoirs. There is some flexibility in areas where stormwater plans are already in place and for "minor" expansions of existing projects. And some of the rules would be waived in urban areas, which is where the McGreevey administration wants growth to happen instead of suburban and rural areas.

Implementation of the rules is more likely to impact residential developers than those on the commercial side, according to observers, although any intrastate waterfront project could be affected. During the public comment period, the New Jersey Builders Association, which represents most of the state's major homebuilders, has actively crusaded against the rules as written. That multi-media effort has been packaged under the title, "Where will people live?"