One of the focal points during the final days of the legislative session is, at a casual glance, uninteresting — giving counties an extra two years to update sewer maps that were supposed to be done in 2009.

Look deeper, though, and what you'd find is the latest flashpoint in New Jersey's endless battle over sprawl. For the beleaguered construction industry, sewers are key. Where sewers are built, houses, condos and shopping malls are sure to follow. No sewers, no construction.

In 2008, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued the Water Quality Management Planning rule, removing some 300,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land from New Jersey’s sewer plans. Environmental groups say those acres are critical to a clean water supply. Builders, who are pushing the bill (scheduled for a vote tomorrow), say there is room for development on that land and the jobs it would create.

Lawmakers must shelve this bill. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing that promises only the possibility of jobs while posing a credible threat to clean water.

FRAMING THE DEBATE Positions on A4335/S3156

FOR: Developers and other business groups say the bill protects ongoing construction projects and could lead to millions of dollars in new business over the next several years. An important byproduct, they say, is bank financing that will come with the certainty that existing sewer maps will stay in place for an additional two years.

AGAINST: Environmental groups say developers will be able to win DEP approval of new projects on sensitive lands that will then be grandfathered beyond the two-year extension sought in this bill. Developing these environmentally sensitive areas will add millions of pounds of new pollution to New Jersey waterways every year.

THE EPA: The federal government, which gave New Jersey $1.6 million to update its sewer planning maps after 2008, agrees the bill would lead to more water pollution and condemns a provision of the bill that would allow sewer extensions into undeveloped land without considering how much existing sewage treatment plants could handle.

The Star-Ledger

Developers insist the extra two years give New Jersey time to make sure its sewer maps are drawn correctly — that current projects aren’t compromised and jobs are protected. They say the bill is a measure of help through a tough economy. Environmentalists call the bill destructive and dangerous — the latest salvo in a multipronged assault on decades of hard-won environmental laws.

Late last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signaled its opposition to the bill, especially a provision allowing sewer extensions into undeveloped land without considering whether treatment plants could handle them. The EPA said that section “defies common sense” and could violate the Clean Water Act.

Construction jobs — if they were to ever materialize — are a one-time, short-term benefit. Long-term, building on these 300,000 acres will cost taxpayers billions more for water treatment. Houses, roads and shopping centers are sources of pollution, while the construction itself destroys the natural water-cleaning benefits that the undeveloped land had provided.

Environmentalists are rightly suspicious of this bill. Earlier drafts contained language identical to the Christie administration’s proposed “waiver rule,” a pending regulation to give the DEP the power to ignore environmental laws in favor of development. They also fear that the two-year “extension” buys time for Christie to undo the 2008 rules that set the new sewer maps in motion.

The Legislature demonstrated the extraordinary value it places on clean water when it passed the landmark Highlands Act in 2005. Polls show New Jersey voters value clean water above all other issues. By rejecting this bill, lawmakers will uphold those values — and save billions in the process.