Environmental report updated
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer

HOWELL- The Howell Environmental Commission recently received an updated Environmental Resource Inventory.

The update was completed by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

The Environmental Resource Inventory is a reference book that is used to identify and describe the natural resources of a community.

The revised Environmental Resource Inventory does not completely replace the 1976 version, which was compiled by Tectonic Engineering, Somerville. What it does do is reflect changes in the community, "providing the basis for the development of methods and steps to preserve, conserve and utilize those resources," according to information in the document.

According to Alison Hastings, environmental planner for Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the biggest change between the 1976 and 2008 reports is the effect of development that has occurred.

Hastings said the document highlights the tremendous amount of human development that has taken place in Howell over the past 30 years and the diminishing farmland.

According to the document, under the subsection "The Built Environment," "The population (of Howell) increased by nearby 10,000 people during the 1990s alone, from 38,987 in 1990 to 48,903 in 2000.

"The U.S. Census estimated that Howell's population reached 50,512 in 2005, an increase of 2.8 percent between 2000 and 2005. Between 1990 and 2000, Howell's housing stock increased 22 percent," according to information found in the document.

The Environmental Resource Inventory includes other data such as a brief history of the town, its biological, natural and surface water resources, air quality, and other information.

The updated document cost about $10,500 to produce and it was funded by the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions Smart Growth Assistance Grant Program, funded by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the township of Howell and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's Open Space and Greenways Program.

The plan remains under review by municipal boards and could be recommended for adoption into the township's master plan within two to three months.