THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND USE
AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
by
E. J. Croke, K. G. Croke,
A. S. Kennedy, and L. J. Hoover
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
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Ohio University
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ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
9700 South Cass Avenue
Argonne, Illinois 60439
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND USE
AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
by
E. J. Croke, K. G. Croke,
A. S. Kennedy, and'L. J. Hoover
Center for Environmental Studies
A Briefing Document for
the Joint Meeting of the
President's Water Pollution Control Advisory Board
and Air Quality Advisory Board
March 27-31, 1972
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FOREWORD
On March 27, 1972 a joint meeting of the President's
Air Quality Advisory Board and Water Pollution Control
Advisory Board will convene to evaluate the issues and prob-
lems associated with the employment of land use controls as
a mechanism for environmental protection. The meeting will
focus on some of the issues raised by the impact of land use
decisions on environmental quality. These include: the effect
of past land use decisions on present environmental quality;
the impact of present land use decisions on the future attain-
ment and maintenance of environmental quality standards;
the availability of planning tools in assessing the environ-
mental impact of present land use decisions; the need for
enabling legislation to support land-use-oriented environ-
mental protection programs; methods by which local, state,
and federal land-use-oriented environmental protection pro-
grams could be initiated; and ways by which the public can
manifest its preferences with regard to environmental pro-
tection programs which involve the monitoring and channel-
ing of urban and regional growth.
In order to obtain information regarding the complex
relationship between land use and environmental quality,
witnesses from a broad spectrum of backgrounds have been
invited to testify at this meeting. Their testimony will aid
the President's Air Quality Advisory Board and Water Pol-
lution Control Advisory Board in the preparation of recom-
mendations regarding the applicability of land use controls
to environmental protection.
This report was prepared as a briefing document to
assist the board members in their preparation for this meet-
ing. It presents background information relating to the land
use issue, and includes examples of the impact of past land
use development practices; examples of development deci-
sions that will affect the quality of our environment in the
future; historical perspectives of environmental protection
activity and land use development practices; and isolated
examples of the merging of environmental concerns with the
land use development process. Although the report is not a
definitive treatment of this complex issue, it is hoped that it
will stimulate the witnesses and the board members to ad-
dress the many and difficult questions associated with the
application of land use planning and controls to the environ-
mental protection process.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
FOREWORD 3
ABSTRACT 9
1. INTRODUCTION 11
2. THE IMPACT OF LAND DEVELOPMENT ON ENVIRONMEN-
TAL QUALITY 15
2.1 The Pervasive Nature of Environmental Impacts Caused by
Past Land-Use Decisions 15
2.2 The Irreversibility of Environmental Problems Caused by
Land-Use Practices 17
2.3 The Capability of Pollution Control Technology to Lessen
the Environmental Impact of Land-Use Decisions 18
2.4 Land Development and Unknown Environmental Impacts ... 18
3. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF LAND-USE PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES 21
3.1 Land Guidance Institutions 21
3.2 Land Guidance Tools and Techniques 23
3.3 The Effectiveness of the Land-Guidance System 25
3.4 Introducing Environmental Objectives into the Land-
Guidance System 26
3.5 The Responsiveness of Planners and Planning Agencies
to Environmental Objectives 27
4. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
PROGRAMS 29
4.1 Environmental Protection Legislation „ 29
4.2 Environmental Protection Institutions 31
4.3 Environmental Protection Planning Procedures 34
4.4 The Responsiveness of Environmental Protection Planners
to Urban and Regional Planning Issues 36
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
5. ALTERNATIVE INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS TO COM-
BINE LAND-USE PLANNING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTROL 37
5.1 New Institutions Which Combine Environmental Protection
and Land-Use Management 37
5.2 Separate Environmental and Development Agencies—an
Alternative to Functional Integration 40
6. THE NEED FOR ANALYTICAL TOOLS TO EVALUATE THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND-USE AND ENVIRONMEN-
TAL QUALITY 41
6.1 Present Analytical Tools for Evaluating the Relationship
between Land-Use and Environmental Quality 41
6.2 Future Trends in Environmental Land-Use Research 43
7. LAND-USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY--
THE FEDERAL HOLE. 47
7.1 The Role of the Federal Government in Land Development,
Regulation and Utilization 47
7.2 The Framework for Assessing Environmental Impacts of
Federal Programs 48
7.3 Federal Authority to Establish Environmental Land-Use
Controls 50
8. TRENDS IN NATIONAL POLICY WITH REGARD TO GROWTH,
LAND USE AND THE ENVIRONMENT 55
8.1 Toward an Urban Growth Policy . 55
8.2 Land-Use Policy 56
8.3 Alternative Institutional and Organizational Systems for
Environmental Land-Use Planning and Management 57
9. IN SUMMARY 61
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 62
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FIGURE
No. Title Page
1. A Regional Activity Model . . 44
LIST OF TABLES
No. Title Page
I. Some Specific Federal Laws Relating to Environmental
Protection 49
II. COMMENT MATRIX--Federal Agencies with Jurisdiction by
Law or Special Expertise to Comment on Various Types of
Environmental Impacts 49
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND USE
AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
by
E. J. Croke, K. G. Croke,
A. S. Kennedy, and L. J. Hoover
ABSTRACT
Present environmental protection programs have, for the most part,
been aimed at the application of the best available control technology to
existing sources of pollution. It is anticipated that these programs will, for
the most part, result in the attainment of the environmental quality stand-
ards established for the more significant pollutants. However, in certain
highly developed and urbanized areas, the concentration of pollution pro-
ducing sources is such that the application of the best control technology
may not suffice to achieve environmental quality standards. In other areas,
economic development and population growth may result in the obsolescence
of pollution control programs that are initially effective.
The geographical concentration of pollution producing sources and
economic developments are a direct result of past and present land use
decisions. The impact of these decisions on the environment is difficult to
assess, but the initial indications make it appear that these decisions have
had a significant effect on environmental quality. This effect, moreover,
may be difficult to reverse through the use of available control technology
if it is not supplemented by some type of control of the future location of
pollution producing activities.
If some form of land use guidance or control is employed to channel
economic development in such a way as to assure the maintenance of envi-
ronmental quality standards, the methods, procedures and activities of land
use planning and regulatory agencies would have to be integrated with those
of environmental protection agencies in order to administer such programs.
Traditionally, these two types of agencies have employed distinct techniques
and have promoted separate programs at the local, state, and federal levels.
Recent recognition of the relationship between land use and environ-
mental quality has indicated the need to assess the feasibility of developing
a national policy with respect to the application of land use planning and
control to environmental protection. If sucha policy is formulated, it could
be implemented either through the creation of new institutions or through
the establishment of new responsibilities and relationships among existing
agencies and departments of government.
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1. INTRODUCTION
In the past five years, the term "environmental protection" has
been transformed from a concept existing in the minds of a select group of
specialists and concerned citizens groups to a national issue of the highest
priority. In response to this development, it became necessary to review
the processes by which goods are produced, consumed, and ultimately dis-
posed of in the United States, with respect to the environmental consequences
of these activities.
In order to accomplish this, the federal government initiated a com-
prehensive series of programs. Numerous studies were conducted to iden-
tify the environmental damages resulting from industrial, commercial,
residential, agricultural, and transportation activities which constitute the
prime sources of pollution. Federal, state, and local legislative programs
giving broad powers to regulatory and enforcement agencies were enacted,
and enforcement actions have taken place at every level of government.
One of the more significant steps forward occurred when the Federal
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established within the executive
branch of the government. Simply stated, the mandate of the EPA is to de-
fine environmental quality standards and to provide leadership and assist-
ance to state and local governments in establishing programs designed to
achieve and enforce these standards. In particular, The Clean Air Act as
amended in 1970 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act provide the
EPA with the authority and responsibility to restore and maintain the quality
of our air and water resources.
Under this mandate, environmental quality standards have been
established, and the guidelines and framework within which state and local
governments must plan and implement programs designed to achieve these
standards have been developed. As part of this program, the EPA has en-
gaged in and promoted surveillance, enforcement and monitoring activities;
provided financial and technical assistance to state and local governments;
and supported research, planning and technological assessment programs
at the federal level.
This effort has, until now, emphasized the abatement and control of
pollutant discharges through the application of appropriate control technology
to individual sources of pollution. This emphasis occurred because of the
acute need for prompt and effective control of existing pollution sources
and the current availability, at the state and local levels, of institutions
geared to the administration of traditional, technology-oriented regulatory
activities.
The initial focus on source control technology represented an es-
sential first major stage of the national environmental protection program.
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Although the installation of air pollution emission control devices,
completion of fuel and process conversion programs, construction and up-
grading of waste water treatment .facilities, etc., which occur as a result
of this program, will have a significant effect on the control of environ-
mental pollution; in many instances such controls may not be sufficient to
achieve and maintain environmental quality standards. Even in many areas
where currently available pollution control technology can temporarily
achieve environmental quality standards, rapid development may render
present control regulations and programs ineffective within a few years.
A prime case in point is Illinois' modern Hanover sewage treatment plant,
which two years ago was regarded as one of the most advanced in the nation.
Explosive development of the surrounding area served by the plant has sat-
urated its capacity, caused it to become an environmental nuisance and
forced a moratorium on further sewer connections.
Since technology-oriented pollution control programs, however
effective, cannot fully ensure that environmental quality standards will be
achieved and maintained, it is necessary to explore and evaluate the need
for the national environmental protection program to enter a second stage
in which environmental protection is viewed within the broader perspective
of urban and regional development. For the most part, the more sophisti-
cated pollution control plans developed to date are dominated by traditional,
technology-oriented regulatory practices and do not take account of the eco-
nomic and population development trends which have led to environmental
degradation. The pressures of economic growth and development, prolifera-
tion of transportation systems, increasing population densities and rapid
expansion in housing developments may pose both actual and potential threats
to the maintenance of environmental standards.
The real or potential environmental dangers of past and present land
use decisions raise many difficult policy questions regarding the future of
the environmental protection program. These include:
1. Is an orderly process of monitoring and controlling the changes
in land use and development needed to reflect the natural assimilative ca-
pacity of the land?
2. If such a process is needed, how can environmental protection
programs determine the fact that certain areas are not capable, from an
environmental point of view, of tolerating certain types of development?
3. How can such programs monitor efficient economic growth in
environmentally suitable areas within the constraints imposed by the capa-
bility of pollution control technology to allow for such growth?
The remainder of this paper presents background information re-
garding the scope and character of the impact of land use on environmental
quality. The historical developments of land use guidance controls and
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environmental protection controls are presented separately and recent
attempts at integrating these forms of control are documented. Finally,
the federal role is considered with regard to its present and potential capa-
bility of fostering land use planning and environmental control.
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2. THE IMPACT OF LAND DEVELOPMENT
ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
The full impact of past and present land use decisions on environ-
mental quality is still not fully understood of documented. From a pre-
liminary examination of individual instances when past land use or
developmental decisions have generated a significant degree of environ-
mental degradation, four conclusions may be drawn:
1) The environmental impact of land use development is pervasive
in that almost all forms of economic activities--residential, industrial,
transportation, recreation, etc.--have contributed to some instances of
environmental degradation.
2) The environmental impact of present economic developmental
decisions will be of a prolonged nature and may be irreversible.
3) The environmental problems posed by past land use or develop-
mental processes are not always susceptible to solutions involving the
application of a control technology.
4) The environmental consequences of land development decisions
are not fully perceived when these decisions are made.
2.1 The Pervasive Nature of Environmental Impacts Caused by Past
Land-Use Decisions
The extent of environmental impacts caused by past developmental
decisions can be graphically illustrated by documenting several examples
drawn from the area of transportation planning, industrial and residential
development, and recreational and agricultural activities.
In the area of transportation planning and development, many in-
stances of severe environmental consequences caused by the introduction
of new transportation systems can be cited. For example, as of Janu-
ary 15, 1972, it appears that many major urban areas will be unable to
attain current air quality standards for the vehicular pollutants unless
current emission control technology is supplemented by transportation
system controls. The urban areas which may require such environmental
land-use control are not limited to any specific geographical area of the
United States. They include Los Angeles, New York City, Sacramento,
Portland, Seattle, Boston, Salt Lake City, Denver, San Francisco, Dayton,
Phoenix, Fairbanks, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Baltimore, San Diego, the San
Joaquin Valley, Las Vegas, Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso.
Increased air transportation has caused a trend toward industrial
location and housing developments near major airports. Problems of air
pollution, water pollution, noise nuisance, and potential accident'hazard to
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the resident population have resulted, even though the airport was initially
located in an isolated area. The construction of the Palmdale, Everglades,
and Jamaica Bay airports has been delayed in consequence of the need to
assess the potential environmental hazards associated with these facilities.
(i.
Urban expressways generate noise which has proved to be a serious
handicap to school activities. Among the growing number of suits filed
against state highway departments are included an award of $165,000 to
the Elizabeth, New Jersey, Board of Education for damages arising due
to noise from Interstate 278.
Rapid or excessively intensive residential development is also
causing environmental problems in various regions of the United States.
In Fairfax County, Virginia and Du Page County, Illinois moratoria were
placed on sewage connections because the capacity of local waste water
treatment facilities has been saturated as a result of rapid development.
In effect, these actions constitute a moratorium on land development. In-
tense geographical concentrations of industrial activities have long been
recognized as placing a stress on the air quality of surrounding regions.
Steel mills in Illinois and Indiana along Lake Michigan now account for 40%
of the maximum SOz concentrations and 75% of the particulate concentrations
in that area.
The wide dispersion of residential communities and suburban indus-
try can, on the other hand, compromise the development of efficient and
economical waste water treatment systems. Appropriate clustering of such
activities can enhance the effectiveness and reduce the cost of pollution con-
trol. In Cleveland, Ohio, joint treatment, recycling and reclamation systems
for the waste produced by metal plating firms became feasible because these
activities were spatially clustered.
Failure to take account of the fact that some intensively developed
areas are particularly susceptible to environmental pollution as a result
of meteorological conditions, topographical features, soil structure etc.
often leads to environmental degradation. For example, the densely
populated Willamette valley of Oregon now has a chronic air pollution
problem that has been compared to that of Los Angeles. In the absence
of restrictions on development, the population of the valley is expected to
increase by more than 80% between now and 1985. This population growth
will further aggravate the problem by generating significant increases in
automotive travel.
Lastly* the pursuit of recreational activities has also had adverse
effects on our national forest and scenic areas. Burgeoning second^home
and resort development has caused considerable alarm in states such as
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Vermont, Maine, Colorado, and Hawaii. These states are moving to protect
their natural areas by developing strict land-use regulatory programs to be
administered by state agencies.
2.2 The Irreversibility of Environmental Problems Caused by Land-Use
Practices
We may distinguish two cases of irreversibility--physical irrevers-
ibility and socioeconomic irreversibility. Physical irreversibility implies
that even if we ceased to pollute or degrade the environment, natural regen-
eration would not restore the resource to an acceptable or desirable quality.
Such is not the case with air contaminants that would be washed out, for the
most part, in a. short period of time if all emissions were to stop. Water
resource regeneration, however, generally will take much longer; indeed,
certain lakes may become essentially irreversibly polluted. Reforestation,
strip mine reclamation, and shoreline dunes regeneration are other examples f
where regeneration by natural processes may take many years to accomplish.
\
In the absence of a land management program, the use of unsuitable ~~
land disposal methods for liquid and solid wastes may result in nearly ir-
reversible contamination of groundwater supplies and surface receiving
waters. The discharge of 20,000 gallons per week of toxic industrial waste
on a land disposal facility in Logan Township, New Jersey, may generate
irreversible damage to both the local groundwater resource and nearby
Raccoon Creek--a tributary of the Delaware. Orange County, Florida, is
another example, where intensive urbanization, the discharged waste from
citrus processing plants, and indiscriminate use of pesticides and fertilizers
has resulted in the pollution of the groundwater supply.
A second form of environmental irreversibility has to do with the
workings of our socioeconomic system. Our large urban complexes have
evolved over several decades and some have been in existence for centuries.
Buildings, transportation systems, and public services are designed for long
economic lifetimes. Decisions to encourage and even subsidize private
automotive transport systems ha,Ve evolved a certain urban form and life-
style. Although strict controls on automotive emissions have been pro-
mulgated and will have a significant effect on the amount of these pollutants,
the continued rise in vehicular miles in large urban areas, such as Los An-
geles, may again threaten the air quality of that city regardless of the con-
trol technology employed.
The investment in new town development and urban renewal through-
out the nation has been quite substantial in the past few years. The conse-
quences of these large scale public and private investment programs are
also likely to be difficult to reverse. Decisions being made now with regard
to the location, type and quantity of such housing developments may have an
effect upon the localized environment within the area of these projects for
long periods to come.
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The interlocking urban system that has evolved because of these
transportation and development decisions cannot be rearranged easily.
Many years must be spent before such areas can be restored to environ-
mental balance, if indeed this is possible.
2.3 The Capability of Pollution Control Technology to Lessen the Environ-
mental Impact of Land-Use Decisions
The effectiveness of the application of control technology to environ-
mental problems caused by past land-use decisions is often severely limited.
Reference has already been made to the projected failure of automotive
emission controls to attain certain air quality standards in some major
American cities. Other serious pollution problems regarding the use of
land have also arisen which do not seem susceptible to the application of
control technology or the alteration of present techniques. For instance,
although some states are currently considering restrictions on the amount
of nitrogenous fertilizer that can be applied per acre, such controls may not
be effective unless they are applied in conjunction with the establishment of
buffer zones between agricultural areas and natural receiving waters. Buf-
fer zoning may also be the only effective means of preventing silting and
sedimentation of streams as a result of erosion due to farming, earthmovihg,
and strip mining activities.
In many instances, land-use regulation may be the only feasible
strategy of pollution control available. This is particularly the case for
area-wide sources of pollution, such as agricultural activities, strip mining,
and indiscriminate dumping of liquid and solid wastes on land disposal sites.
It is estimated by the EPA and the Department of Agriculture that between
50 and 75% of the 4 billion tons of sediment washed into the nation's waters
annually comes from crop and pasture lands. Much of this sediment is high
in fertilizer, nutrients, pesticides and herbicides. Feedlot operations com-
plicate agricultural runoff even further. A feedlot for 10,000 cattle, for
example, produces nearly 750,000 pounds of waste per/day,? and much of this
waste finds its way to ground and surface waters.
Recognition of the fact that control technology alone may be insuffi-
cient to protect natural receiving waters adjacent to developing areas has
resulted in such shoreline land-use regulatory programs as those adopted
for San Francisco Bay, Lake Tahoe, and the coastal areas of Maine,
Vermont, Wisconsin, and Hawaii.
2.4 Land Development and Unknown Environmental Impacts
<4
The long-range environmental effects of past land development
decisions are not always perceived or known when development decisions
were made. Even when adverse effects were perceived, they may have
been discounted in the face of economic growth incentives.
*Souree: Office of Water Programs, EPA.
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Public capital expansion programs provide excellent examples of this
phenomenon. Airports sited in rural areas almost inevitably cause rapid
economic expansion that compounds environmental problems. Sewer facility
construction encourages growth and residential development in open space
and scenic areas. New or improved road systems induce congestion and
sprawl, and are saturated in a short time. Water treatment facilities im-
prove riverside property and may subsequently lead to development which
overloads the capacity of the treatment facilities and returns the water to
its polluted state.
Significant decline of land values has been experienced in the vicinity
of many major airports. The unsightly and uncoordinated developmental
sprawl that has occurred in the area of facilities such as Chicago's O'Hare
Airport could have been avoided if it had been foreseen. To remedy the
problem caused by airport noise and air pollution, massive and extremely
costly land acquisition programs have been undertaken in the vicinity of
some airports. The City of,Los Angeles is spending almost $300 million
to eliminate nearly 2000 private homes ranging in value from $28,000 to
$115,000 in a 400-acre area surrounding Los Angeles International Airport.
More than 8000 people will be displaced in order to develop a buffer zone
which could have been established at minimal cost through effective use of
airport zoning a few years ago.
Our economic system, in the past, has been geared to allow question-
able facilities to locate and operate before all the environmental risks have
been evaluated. These examples indicate a need for a unified system of
projection, evaluation, and information dissemination before environmentally
hazardous or degrading facilities are constructed.
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3. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF LAND-USE PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES
The process by which the public effects changes in land-use patterns
can be thought of as a matrix of interacting institutions and techniques. The
process is a complex and frequently confusing one consisting of the formula-
tion by planning institutions of land guidance policies whose adoption and
execution ultimately depend upon the diverse political, social and economic
constraints affecting land use. Thus, although planning institutions and tech-
niques cannot be considered as independently functioning systems of land
use guidance, these institutions and techniques do represent a potential
source of policy guidance in assessing the environmental impact of land-
use decisions.
3.1 Land Guidance Institutions
The public institutions most concerned with guiding land use are pri-
marily planning agencies. The term "planning agency" refers to any of
several organizational forms with various scopes of responsibility at dif-
ferent levels of government. These are public and quasi-public agencies
operating at the local (city or county), metropolitan, regional, and state
levels and having "comprehensive" planning responsibilities.
The traditional concern of local (city and county) planning agencies
has been with land use as exemplified by their research and plans, and the
land-use controls they frequently administer. Land use remains their prin-
cipal concern, although many have broadened their activities to include social
and environmental issues. In the past, most agencies took the form of a
planning staff reporting to a lay commission or board which, in turn, reports
to the chief executive. An increasing number of planning directors report
directly to the chief executive.
Planning agencies at the local government level essentially consist
of city, county, and combined city-county agencies. Such agencies research,
prepare, and, to varying degrees, implement plans for a variety of local con-
cerns such as the use of land, transportation, public services, community
facilities, and so forth. They also conduct research and studies in such
areas as housing, open space and recreation, urban renewal, and educational
and health care facilities. They collect and analyze data in support of public
policy regarding many phases of community development. Local planning
agencies have traditionally been concerned largely with land use, and have
assisted in administering such controls as zoning and subdivision regulation.
State enabling legislation in all fifty states has delegated the powers of land-
use regulation to local city and/or county governments.
Planning at the metropolitan and regional level has undergone dra-
matic change in the last few years with the enormous increase in the number
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of councils of governments (COGs) governed by local elected officials, many
of which replaced existing metropolitan or regional lay planning commis-
sions. A recent listing of some 585 metropolitan and regional agencies
includes 328 COGs and 111 economic development districts, with most of
the remainder being regional planning agencies.
The rapid increase in the number of COGs (from 19 in 1966 to 328 in
1971) and the regional planning agencies in general is directly attributable
to their favored treatment by the federal government. Starting with the
initial funding authorization in the 1965 Housing Act, federal matching funds
have been available to regional councils for an increasing number of pro-
grams, including planning for housing, criminal justice, and water and
sewer systems.
Much of their strength derives from the Department of Housing and
Urban Development requirement that there be a "certified" regional planning
activity in every metropolitan area in order to qualify communities for re-
ceipt of bonus grants for water supply and sewage system construction and
for open space purchase. The 1966 Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan
Development Act added additional strength by empowering such agencies to
review applications for federal grants from public and private bodies.
Among documents requiring their review are environmental impact state-
ments prepared in conjunction with any federal or federally-assisted project
or program. As of April 1971, the federal Office of Management and Budget
had designated 403 metropolitan and regional bodies, commonly called
"clearinghouses," to conduct such reviews. The eventual result of this pro-
gram will be to set up the machinery for an orderly review of the environ-
mental impact of federal grant projects on a regional level.
From their initial concern with public works in the 1930's, state
planning agencies have also grown in numbers and have changed their ac-
tivities substantially. There are now planning agencies in all 50 states,
many of which perform statewide physical, social, economic, and environ-
mental planning. Much of the impetus again comes from the federal govern-
ment in the form of planning funds (since 1961), and federal program review
responsibilities. A few state planning agencies continue to focus on eco-
nomic development, or the administration of local planning assistance funds.
The focus of state planning has largely been on staff assistance to
governors and legislatures. Twenty-seven states have planning agencies
which are concerned with state government generally and are not restricted
to industrial development and other limited-purpose functions. The location
of the state planning agencies within the state governmental hierarchy as
shown in the following table is an indication of their general emphasis.
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Location of State Planning Agencies, 1969
Location
Governor's Office 20
Department of Administration or Finance 7
Department of Community Affairs 3
Department of Commerce, Development or
Planning and Development Agencies 13
Independent Planning Agency 5
Other Agencies 2
Total State Planning Agencies 50
Source: The Book of the States, 1970-1971 (Lexington,
Ky., The Council of State Governments, 1971), p. 441.
When located at the governor's office, state planning agencies are used as
staff support to the governor in making government-wide policy decisions.
There exists a general trend toward bringing state planning agencies into
the central decision-making arena and out of the special purpose functions
of the past. However, some states have yet to regard planning as having an
important role in central policy-making. Some state planning agencies
serve as mere "data-banks" or carry out other specific support functions,
such as federal grantsmanship or providing planning assistance to local
governments. State planning is often not supported by state legislatures,
many of which are not convinced of the need for planning at the state level.
Planning agencies at all levels may be considered key advisors to
those who make land-use guidance decisions: local, state and federal gov-
ernments. Except in some rare instances discussed below, planners do not
make final decisions themselves. Even on the regional level, a policy-
making body of elected officials or lay citizens determines official agency
policy, not the professional planners.
Many other public bodies influence or guide land use. These include
state and local highway and public works departments as well as environ-
mental control agencies (e.g., California's pollution control districts) and
special districts for transportation (e.g., Bay Area Rapid Transit District;
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority) and utilities (e.g., The Metro-
politan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago). These agencies, unlike the
planning agencies, have not been given direct responsibility over land use,
yet their decisions have a significant and lasting influence over the pattern
and character of land use. Frequently, their decisions are at odds with the
objectives of the planning agencies.
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3.2 Land Guidance Tools and Techniques
The system of land-use guidance techniques used by planning agencies
may be divided into five categories: advice, ^controls, inducements, develop-
ment,* and acquisition.
Advice is the oldest and most frequently-used device. Planning
agencies give advice to governmental departments and officials, to other
governments, to private organizations, and to individuals. They may do
this in response to requests for assistance, because of a state or federal
review requirement, or at their own initiative. The most common form of
planning advice is the comprehensive plan itself, which sets forth policies
and guidelines for future development, usually based on a set of objectives
and future projections. Such plans seldom carry any legal authority except
to commit a legislative body to a general course of action and, when used
effectively, to establish the framework for the laws and ordinances which
control private development decisions. Many planning agencies also pre-
pare capital improvement programs which set forth the community's in-
tended capital expenses over the next 5 to 7 years.
Controls, especially land-use controls, have been the major tools
used by local governments to implement their plans. Such controls include
zoning, which separates land-use activities into districts and establishes
density, height, bulk, and related provisions; subdivision regulations, which
set standards for land conversion and new development; and -the less-
commonly used official map, which delineates and reserves sites for future
parks, schools, streets, and other public uses. Related to these are housing
and building codes which set standards for new building construction and
dwelling maintenance. Although zoning has traditionally been oriented to
the separation of different land use activities, it may take other forms, such
as: the setting of performance standards under which zoning districts are
established, based upon the allowable external nuisance impact of an opera-
tion, the regulation of the location of special sources of pollution such as
power plants, or the establishment of special buffer zones to protect areas
from environmental contamination.
Inducements or incentives have been used to attract particular land
uses and development which contribute to certain objectives. Land-use
programs, for example, have begun to offer incentives through (a) planned
unit development provisions which encourage improved subdivision design
and greater retention of open Spaces, and (b) density bonuses for buildings
which provide.,such amenities as open plazas, direct access to public trans-
portation, and enclosed walkways.
Such other devices as low-interest loans, tax exemptions, aids in
land assembly, and direct subsidy payments have been used to attract
activities deemed especially desirable.
*JohnReps, "Requiem for Zoning," Planning 1964 (ASPO. 1964), pp. 56-67.
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Public land development or public works had a great effect on shaping
and directing urban growth through construction of transportation systems,
public institutions (e.g., state colleges and hospitals), and utilities. In the
past, public works have usually been constructed in response to development
or market pressures; recent years have brought an increasing awareness
of the impact of public investment decision on establishing an infrastructure
for private decisions. The role of a new highway or a sewer system in in-
fluencing development direction has clearly been recognized, although not
fully utilized.
Finally, acquisition involves the direct purchase of lands for the
purpose of conserving their present recreational characteristics. The pur-
chase of land for forest preserves, parks or green belts would fall under
this category.
3.3 The Effectiveness of the Land-Guidance System
Overall, the land-guidance "system" does not operate very sys-
tematically. The failings of the system--or nonsystem--have been well
documented. The more fundamental problems with the system include the
following:
1) A far more extensive history of applying controls than using
preventive or incentive devices;
2) The balkanization of guidance techniques among numerous local
governments (balkanizatioh presents a special problem since environ-
mental issues almost always are regional in scale);
3) The lack of effective techniques to resolve competition among
jurisdictions for high tax ratables--usually industry--which underlies all
other land-use decisions;
4) The fact that most decisions remain private, reflecting the
feeling that land is a private commodity rather than a community resource;
i
5) The weakness of enforcement power and its susceptibility to
political and economic pressures;
6) The lack of relation between--and occasional conflict among--
the various techniques, and their sponsoring governments;
7) The frequent lack of relation of the system to a generally-
accepted plan.
The lack of a single institution with total responsibility for guiding
or directing land use, and the occasional lack of cohesiveness among the
techniques, does not mean that the system itself is ineffectual or a failure;
it simply means that it is not "comprehensive." It is not surprising that
the system is not systematic or complete given our attitudes concerning
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land as a private commodity and our desire to interfere in land-use decision-
making as little as possible in meeting public interest objectives. The es-
sential point, however, is not that the system is less than perfect, but that
the system can and does achieve limited purpose objectives. For example,
techniques and institutions are available to assure the provision of adequate
streets in subdivisions, to separate so-called "incompatible" uses, to guar-
antee that new homes are not built in the right-of-way of a proposed road
extension, and so on. By the same token, there are many land-use objectives
for which there exist no adequate institutions or techniques.
3.4 Introducing Environmental Objectives into the Land-Guidance System
When asking whether environmental objectives can become an inte-
gral part of the present land-guidance system, the answer, as usual, depends
on the particular objective. If, for example, the objective is to guarantee
that all future development in a metropolitan area is located so as to achieve
air quality standards, then the answer would have to be no. Metropolitan
and regional planning agencies simply don't have the expertise or resources
to make this kind of guarantee, and there is no way of assuring that each of
the individual jurisdictions which make up the metropolitan area would vol-
untarily submit to the fulfillment of this metropolitan-wide objective.
If different environmental objectives are advanced, then the system
could respond by internalizing those objectives with little or no difficulty.
And, in fact, discussion need not be hypothetical, since environmental ob-
jectives are already incorporated into many of the techniques now in use,
including:
1) Performance standards have been designed to classify industries
by their environmental impact, i.e., to separate the heavy polluters from
cleaner industry and other residential and commercial activities.
2) In recent years, flood-plain zoning has been used both to protect
life and property from the ravages of floods and to maintain the carrying
capacity of streams in periods of high water flow to minimize downstream
damage. The Federal Flood Insurance Program has provided an incentive
for the use of this type of zoning.
3) Most subdivision regulations which permit septic tank sewage
disposal require percolation tests to determine the ability of the soil to
handle on-site disposal; in fact, many subdivision regulations prohibit on-
site disposal entirely.
4) Hillside development or grading regulations have been use,d to
preserve the integrity of slopes and reduce erosion and sedimentation.
5) The purchasing of easements or development rights has been
used to preserve open space and other scenic areas.
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6) Agricultural zoning and preferential assessment of farm land
have helped to preserve prime agricultural land; although these techniques
have not proven to be as effective in practice as might have been expected.
7) Special preservation districts in zoning ordinances have been
designated as conservation zones to protect historically or architecturally
significant areas.
Thus, while the existing system has some significant weaknesses,
there does exist a broad array of techniques and institutions with the experi-
ence and potential capacity to aid in dealing with environmental questions.
3.5 The Responsiveness of Planners and Planning Agencies to
Environmental Objectives
It is difficult to determine the response of planners to incorporating
environmental analysis into their programs. Planners' concern for environ-
mental issues may be illustrated by the control mechanisms mentioned
earlier. There is also a traditional concern by a core of professional plan-
ners that planning needs to be more ecologically/environmentally oriented.
Cursory investigations have suggested a general willingness by planners to
consider environmental issues--if sufficient data and analytical tools were
available. Generally, one could say that planners' concern for the environ-
ment has increased at least as rapidly as that of the general population,
especially among those who have realized that the lack of an environmental
perspective left a serious gap in the knowledge needed to make informed
decisions. However, pressure to solve socioeconomic problems other than
environmental problems and their expanding, though limited, budgets sug-
gests that specific guidelines, technical assistance, sources of funds, and
possibly legal requirements may be helpful in assuring adequate considera-
tion of environmental quality in planning decisions.
Given some basic capacity and likely receptivity by planners to en-
vironmental concerns, there are a variety of formal and informal, long-
range and short-range ways to ge't planning agencies to use environmental
information and techniques in their programs, and to include environmental
quality as a key objective; such as:
1. Increase public concern and hence put direct pressure on plan-
ning agencies.
2. Increase public pressure for environmental planning in such a
way that policy making bodies, state and local governments, require that a
more intensive environmental planning effort be made by planning agencies.
3. Have the professional planning societies such as ASPO and AIP
encourage their members to broaden their environmental perspective and
offer them advice and information.
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4. Expand the curricula of planning schools and offer a continuing
education program in environmental planning.
5. Amend state planning enabling legislation to require that en-
vironmental studies be undertaken by all planning agencies, and to assure
that environmental quality becomes a key objective of planning.
6. Make environmental considerations a requirement of grants-
in-aid, especially by the federal government upon whom so many planning
agencies depend. For example, requiring them to review environmental
impact statements has forced this concern upon metropolitan and regional
clearinghouses.
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4. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL PROGRAMS
The preceding chapter presented a brief historical perspective of
urban and regional planning in terms of the feasibility of integrating envi-
ronmental protection considerations into the present land use planning
process. This chapter is concerned with the other side of the question, in
that it provides a historical perspective of environmental control programs,
and addresses the question of whether land use guidance and control can be
integrated into the traditional environmental protection process.
The evolution of the present environmental control program can be
described by the history of enabling legislation which authorized these pro-
grams, the creation of institutions to execute the provisions of this legisla-
tion and the process by which these institutions created environmental
control procedures. Since the problems encountered in establishing air
quality, water quality and solid waste disposal programs differ significantly,
the legislative history, institutional response and planning procedures have
also varied. The nature of'these legislative, institutional and planning pro-
grams will, to a large degree, determine the ease with which environmental
protection agencies can incorporate land use planning and control objectives
into their present programs.
4.1 Environmental Protection Legislation
The development of environmental protection and enhancement
measures in the United States has been determined to a considerable ex-
tent by federal legislation. This has encompassed the whole range of en-
vironmental insults from air pollutants to solid waste, but has, for the most
part been formulated as an array of single-purpose legislative instruments,
each directed toward some specific pollution problem.
Water Quality Legislation
1
The modern legislative approach to the problems of environment
begin with the Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. With the amendment
of this Act in 1956, an enforcement procedure, consisting of a conference
hearing/court action process, was provided for water pollution abatement.
Financial aid in the form of grants and loans were also provided under the
Act. The federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1961 strengthened federal
enforcement procedures.
The Water Quality Act of 1965 required the states to establish and
submit water quality standards for all interstate waters and a plan for the
rapid achievement of the standards. These standards became the basis for
most actions under the federal Water Pollution Control Act, including plan-
ning activities, the awarding of construction grants and enforcement
practices.
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The 1966 Clean Water Restoration Act provided for expanded re-
search in advanced waste treatment and provided a grant system to support
the establishment and maintenance of river basin planning based on water
quality standards. The Act also vastly increased authorized expenditures
for municipal waste treatment works construction.
In late 1970, the President announced a new program to control
water pollution through the permit authority of the Refuse Act of 1899- The
Refuse Act outlaws discharges and deposits into navigable waters without a
permit from the Secretary of the Army. The program makes a permit man-
datory for all industrial discharges into navigable waters of the United States.
Violators of standards--including standards imposed by the EPA when
federal-state or state standards do not apply or are clearly deficient--are
ineligible for permits and liable to enforcement proceedings. The Water
Quality Improvement Act of 1970 further provides that any federally regu-
lated activity must have state certification that it will not violate water
quality standards.
Air Quality Legislation
Federal legislation related to air pollution began in July 1955 when
Congress authorized a federal program of research on air pollution and
technical assistance to state and local governments. The Clean Air Act of
1963 and the Motor Vehicle Act of 1965, augmented by the Air Quality Act
of 1967 and culminating in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970, repre-
sents the most significant federal legislation regarding air quality. The
1970 Amendments, as the strongest air pollution control legislation,
authorize the regulation of both mobile and stationary sources of pollution.
The most important sections of these programs deal with establishing
national air quality standards, describing a framework for the states to
meet these standards, and improving procedures for federal enforcement.
The EPA has thus far set national air quality standards for particulate
matter, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, photochemical oxidants, hydro-
carbons, and nitrogen dioxide. Federal Guidelines have been published by
the EPA requiring that states submit implementation plans for the attain-
ment and maintenance of these standards.
The 1970 Amendments also provide for more effective federal en-
forcement by providing the EPA authority to issue compliance orders to,
any person violating applicable implementation plans or to bring civil suit
against any person in violation of implementation plans, and authorize citi-
zen suits to enforce the provisions of the Clean Air Amendments.
The Clean Air Amendments are an example of a recent shift in the
burden of proof in pollution control. When the EPA now specifies that an
air pollutant is a health hazard, industry must either comply with the emis-
sion standard, or prove that the health hazard does not exist.
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Solid Waste Disposal Legislation
The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, the first legislation aimed at
solid waste management, is directed primarily at the loss of natural re-
sources which solid waste represents. This Act authorized a research and
development program with respect to solid waste to promote the demonstra-
tion, construction, and application of solid waste management and resource
recovery systems. In addition, the Act provides financial and technical
assistance to states and local governments and interstate agencies in the
planning and development of resource recovery and solid waste disposal
programs, and promotes a national research and development program
for improved solid waste management programs.
The Resource Recovery Act of 1970 put a new emphasis on recycling
and reusing waste materials by authorizing funds for demonstration grants
for recycling systems and for studies of methods to encourage resource
recovery. This Act also requires the EPA to publish guidelines for con-
struction and operation of solid waste disposal systems.
In a further move to institutionalize the concern for the protection
of the environment, the Congress passed the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (NEPA) establishing a national policy for the environment and
providing for the Council on Environmental Quality. In recognizing the
effect of man's activities on the environment, NEPA laid down the environ-
mental impact statement requirements for federal agencies which propose
to undertake activities that are likely to affect environmental quality.
4.2 Environmental Protection Institutions*
The recent environmental protection legislation has required the
organization or reorganization of environmental programs at the federal,
state and local levels in order to cope with the increased regulatory re-
quirements of these legislative programs. An interacting set of federal,
state and local environmental institutions has been established as a con-
sequence of the reorganizations.
Federal Activities
Pursuant to Reorganization Plan 3 of 1970, the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency (EPA) was established on December 2, 1970. The EPA was
created to permit coordinated and effective government action to insure the
protection of the environment. EPA's mission is to define, achieve, and
maintain environmental quality by abating and controlling pollution from
point sources by utilizing a wide range of intervention strategies. These
strategies include standard-setting for media programs, enforcement,
monitoring, financial assistance, technical aid, planning, research, method
"This section summarizes discussions contained in the CEQ 2nd Annual Report, Chapters 2 and 3.
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development, and review. The reorganization consolidated into one agency
the federal programs dealing with air pollution, water pollution, solid waste
disposal, pesticide regulation and environmental radiation.
The EPA has organized to cope functionally with related environ-
mental programs. The media and categorical programs are supervised by
two administrators: one assistant administrator supervises the air and
water programs, a second administrator supervises the pesticide, radia-
tion and solid waste programs. Three of the five assistant administrators
have line responsibilities for the major functional areas--planning and
management, enforcement, and research and monitoring.
Although the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the EPA
work closely, their responsibilities differ significantly. The CEQ, as a
staff agency in the Executive Office of the President, provides policy ad-
vice, and reviews and comments on the environmental impact control
activities of federal agencies. The concern of CEQ is with the broad
spectrum of environmental matters, while the EPA is a line agency with
responsibility to administer and conduct federal pollution control programs.
Local and State Environmental Protection Agencies
This discussion focuses on state rather than local activities because
federal legislation has put more and more responsibility at the state level.
In the past, environmental programs in most states were fragmented or
scattered throughout many state agencies, boards and commissions. In
many cases, air and water pollution control programs were lodged in a
state health department. Water pollution control programs were often
incorporated into water resource management or public water supply pro-
grams. Pesticide regulation was frequently under the health department
or the agriculture department; solid waste management was frequently a
responsibility of the health department.
Some states have reorganized to cope with the broad scope of en-
vironmental issues. New York, Washington, and Illinois enacted legisla-
tion which consolidates pollution control programs and streamlines pollution
control authority. Illinois, for example, adopted a total reorganization of its
environmental programs. Three functional entities were created by the state
Environmental Protection Act of 1970. The Pollution Control Board sets
standards and adjudicates enforcement proceedings. The Institute for En-
vironmental Quality conducts long range policy planning and applied re-
search. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency prosecutes alleged
violators before the Board, issues permits and provides technical assistance.
The performance of various states in regard to elements of air qual^
ity programs are shown in the following table. The elements listed refer to
requirements of state implementation plans as specified in the Clean Air
Amendments.
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State Air Quality Program Elements*
States with States without
Legislative Authority Authority Authority
1. Adopt emission standards and promul-
gate other regulations 54 0
2. Require information on processes and
potential emissions from sources of
air pollution 39 15
3. Issue permits for construction of new
sources of air pollution 38 16
4. Inspect facilities causing pollution 52 2
5. Require emission information from
polluters and make it available to
public 20 34
6. Require monitoring of emissions by
polluters 13 41
7. Issue and enforce compliance orders 51 3
8. Enjoin standards violators 52 2
9. Take special, prompt action in case of
air pollution emergencies 44 10
10. Regulate land use and transportation to
meet air quality standards 5 49
11. Inspect automotive pollution control
devices 16 38
Source: EPA, Office of Air Programs.
The status of development of state water quality programs is sum-
marized in the following table:
State Water Quality Program Elements*
Program Element No. of States
1. Water Quality Standards
Interstate (full federal approval with antidegradation) 46
Interstate (full federal approval without antidegradation) 1
Interstate (federal approval with exceptions with antidegradation) 4
Interstate (federal approval with exceptions without antidegradation) 3
2. Planning (based on water quality standards) 23
3. Permit System
Municipal 46
Industrial 47
4. State Matching Grants 34
5. Routine Treatment Plant Inspection 46
6. State Monitoring System 49
Source: EPA, Office of Water Programs.
The "permit system" in the preceding table refers to the existence of en-
abling legislation to grant permits for discharges. "State Matching" refers
to the availability of state funds to assist municipalities in building sewage
treatment facilities. "Treatment Plant Inspection." refers to surveillance
of the operation and maintenance of facilities at least once a year.
"•Includes District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. In some cases, figures are
approximations based on best available data.
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Solid waste management practices are also becoming increasingly
regulated and less fragmented. As a result of the Solid Waste Disposal
Act, as amended, statewide and regionwide solid waste management plans
are being formulated. The progress of the state solid waste management
plans funded under the provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act can be
summarized as follows: 52 states are preparing a solid waste emission
inventory, 42 states have prepared or are preparing a control plan and
17 states have submitted completed plans.*
Aside from these reorganizations and activities, many states have
introduced innovation by providing new approaches to citizen involvement,
waste management and its financing, pollution charges, and applications of
new technologies. In addition, some states have increased control over
types of land use in order to protect important geographic areas, such as
wetlands, from environmental degradation; to restrict potentially harmful
development and facilitate desired developments. It may be noted that only
five states have authority to regulate land use to meet air quality standards
and only twenty-three states have initiated comprehensive planning pro-
grams based on water quality standards.
4.3 Environmental Protection Planning Procedures
The process by which environmental control programs are being
established by environmental protection agencies is becoming more and
more associated with the creation of comprehensive "implementation
plans" usually developed by state and local governments and reviewed by
federal agencies. This trend reflects the growing recognition that envi-
ronmental control programs must have clearly defined objectives and ex-
plicitly designate the legislation, administration, and resources required
to carry out these programs.
Air Quality Implementation Planning
The air quality implementation planning process typically involves
a systems analysis approach to air resource management. The nature of
the air pollution problem is first determined by extensive monitoring and
sampling of air quality. The comparison of observed air quality levels
with National Ambient Air Quality Standards defines the magnitude of the
problem. These observed air quality levels are the result of the stationary
and mobile source emissions of the region under various local meteoro-
logical and topographic conditions.
Mathematical models, such as atmospheric dispersion models, are
then employed to evaluate alternative emission controls and to select a set
of control regulations which both achieve and maintain the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards. These emission control regulations define the emis-
sions of a given pollutant permitted from a particular source type; for in-
stance, different particulate emission control regulations may be designed
*Source: EPA, Office of Solid Waste Management Programs.
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for fuel combustion sources, process sources and solid waste incineration
systems. In developing control regulations, consideration must be given to
pollution control technology, fuel resources, and the economics of pollution
control. Additional consideration must be given to the impact of growth on
achieving and maintaining National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Besides
emission controls, land use and transportation controls may also be insti-
tuted as part of the array of control regulations.
In addition to an evaluation of control regulations, the plan typically
contains the following elements: air quality and emission data, legal en-
abling authority, compliance schedules for emission sources, emergency
episode plans, air quality surveillance network description, permit system
description, intergovernmental cooperation between adjoining states and
the state and local agencies, and, lastly, the fiscal and manpower resources
required to implement the program.
To assist in implementation planning, a comprehensive set of ana-
lytic tools has been developed. These tools include Rapid Survey Emission
Inventory techniques for obtaining regionwide emission inventories; atmos-
pheric dispersion models for estimating long-term and short-term air
quality levels; growth trend projection models for determining the impact
of economic development on emissions and air quality; transportation
models from which mobile emission inventories can be generated; and,
finally, system management techniques for determining the manpower and
fiscal resources required to implement the plan.
Water Quality Planning Procedures
A similar unified planning requirements approach is developing in
regard to water pollution programs through the EPA Waste Water Treat-
ment Works Construction Grant Program and the HUD Water and Sewer
Facilities Grant Program, The primary emphasis of these programs and
the basis and rationale for all of the water pollution control activities which
take place under their auspices is the attainment of established water qual-
ity standards. To promote the achievement of this key objective, planning
guidelines have been published which describe the basic considerations to
be addressed in meeting the EPA and HUD requirements. Grants for a
water pollution control project shall .not be made unless the project is an
integral part of an effective basin and metropolitan or regional water pollu-
tion control plan. The pollution abatement plan must take into account an-
ticipated growth of population and economic activity; present and future use
and value of the waters within the planning area for water supplies, propa-
gation of fish and wildlife, recreation, agriculture, industrial and other
uses; adequacy of the waste collection system in the planning area, etc.
The major objective is to establish a systematic water quality management
planning procedure which includes land and water planning as well as the
organizational and financial arrangements for executing the plan.
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An array of analytic techniques and data is necessary in developing
these implementation plans. Central to water quality management is data
on water flows, pollutant discharges, and data required for forecasting
future conditions and in-stream water quality. Water quality and treatment
cost modeling is also required. In addition, demographic and economic de-
velopment projections are required in order to determine the need for and
scale of new waste water treatment facilities.
Solid Waste Disposal Planning
As a result of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 and the Resource
Recovery Act of 1970, a comprehensive solid waste management planning
process is developing. State solid waste management plans, funded under
the Solid Waste Disposal Act, must include an inventory of waste disposal
systems and a survey of problems and practices which can be used as a
data base for planning. Under the provisions of the Resource Recovery
Act, state solid waste management plans must include, wherever possible,
provisions for recovery and recycling of solid wastes.
4.4 The Responsiveness of Environmental Protection Planners to
Urban and Regional Planning Issues
In a preceding section of this document, the sensitivity and respon-
siveness of urban and regional planners to environmental protection issues
was discussed. The feasibility of integrating land use and environmental
protection is, to an equal extent, dependent on the receptivity of professional
environmental protection program administrators, planners and engineers to
the utilization of land use guidance and regulation as a means of pollution
control.
Environmental protection personnel are likely to be as receptive,
in principle, to the concept of environmentally-oriented land use control as
are their counterparts in the planning agencies. It is nevertheless neces-
sary to recognize that, with few exceptions, environmental protection per-
sonnel are professionally oriented toward the surveillance and inspection
of individual sources of pollution, and enforcement of regulations which are
generally based on the application of some form of discharge control tech-
nology. Recent federal inducements to introduce systems analysis techniques
into the planning of air and water pollution control programs have had the
effect of sensitizing many state and local control agency personnel to the
need for and value of broadly based strategies for regionwide control activ-
ities. The addition of land use considerations to this process represents a
new dimension of the planning problem. Many environmental planners are
not as accustomed to developing and adhering to grand regional strategies
as are their colleagues in the socioeconomic planning agencies and may find
it difficult to adapt to this mode of activity.
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5. ALTERNATIVE INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS TO COMBINE
LAND-USE PLANNING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
The previous chapters have outlined the history and procedures of
Land-use planning and environmental control programs. To a considerable
extent, the development of these programs at all levels of government has
been distinct and separate. Recently, however, two types of institutional
arrangements have been employed which seek, in the first case, to integrate
land-use planning and environmental control into one agency and, in the
second case, to bring together opposing environmental and developmental
viewpoints into an adversary-type confrontation to resolve environmental-
land use issues. Since both methods of resolving such issues are still
somewhat rare in practice, the evaluation of the effectiveness of these
alternative arrangements is still difficult.
5.1 New Institutions Which Combine Environmental Protection and
Land-Use Management
In recent years, some states have given themselves new powers and
have created new regional bodies which combine the interests and techniques
of land-use planning and environmental concerns. Some of these were sig-
nificant modifications of existing powers and institutions, while others have
been entirely new creations designed to respond directly and uniquely to the
issues surrounding the relationships between environmental quality and land
use. In general, these new institutions have different structures and func-
tions; they respond to different and occasionally unique issues, and, in some
cases, they have had little opportunity to prove their success or failure. On
the basis of this limited experience, it is not possible to say that combining
developmental and environmental management techniques in a single agency
is a success or failure, but the existence of such institutions indicates that
a joint response has already occurred in response to the need to integrate
these activities.
These institutions are not yet numerous, but they exemplify the po-
tential effectiveness of this approach when used in conjunction with more
traditional technological pollution controls.
Hawaii--Statewide Zoning to Balance Conservation and Development
Objectives
Hawaii's 1961 Land Use Law was a bold attempt at accommodating
a rapid rate of development while maintaining the unique natural beauty of
the islands. The law created the Land Use Commission and charged it with
dividing the entire state into four districts: conservation, agricultural,
rural and urban. Lands in each district were to comply with the regulations
of different agencies, including conservation districts--the State Department
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of Land and Natural Resources; agricultural and rural districts--the Land
Use Commission; urban districts--regulations of local government. The
Land Use Commission's responsibility has been, in the main, to rule on
requests for changes in district boundaries.
Maine--A State's Response to Critical Environmental and Land Use
Issues
Following the Alaska oil strike and the voyage of the Manhattan
through the Northwest Passage, several major oil firms proposed using one
of Maine's deepwater harbors as a site for a big oil refinery and storage
facility. Recognizing both the inadequacy of local land use regulations to
guide such development and the state's interest in certain critical areas,
the state responded with several measures, including the Site Location Law
and Coastal Conveyance of Petroleum Law. Under such Acts, the
Environmental Improvement Commission may exercise the police power of
the state to control the location of those developments substantially affecting
local environment in order to ensure that such developments will be located
in a manner which will have the minimal adverse effect impact on the
natural environment of their surroundings. A development must meet four
loosely-defined criteria related to pollutant control standards, traffic
facilities, compatibility with natural environment and soil suitability.
Although large commercial and industrial developments are required to
obtain permits from the Commission, subdivisions inexcess of twenty acres
and residential developments requiring effluent discharge permits have
made up over 80% of the Commission's workload.
Vermont Environmental Control Law
The Vermont Legislature saw that the combination of two interstate
highways and a sharp increase in the number of second homes and ski
resorts were certain to undo the state's rural character and its environ-
mental heritage. To meet that threat, state officials in 1970 adopted the
Environmental Control Law, which created an Environmental Board and
seven Regional Commissions to see to it that most developments meet ten
general environmental standards.
Under the environmental standards of the legislation, a development
must not cause undue air or •water pollution, unreasonable soil erosion,
undue adverse effects in the scenic and natural beauty of the area, aesthetic
or historical sites, or rare and irreplaceable natural areas, and must be in
conformance with local, regional and state land use plans.
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
Created in 1969 under a joint compact between California and Nevada
and ratified by Congress, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is required
not only to provide for orderly development in the Lake Tahoe Basin, but
also to preserve the Basin's environment.
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The compact calls for a. plan to be enforced by minimum standards
incorporated into 19 ordinances, including land use, subdivisions, grading,
shoreline and tree cutting. The standards derived from traditional land use
maps plus a computer derived land capabilities map that took into account
and analyzed some 54 environmental variables. The standards are binding
on the five counties and one city in the Basin.
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
In 1965, the California Legislature recognized that if the many local
governments surrounding San Francisco Bay continued to permit shoreline
developments without regard for the Bay as a whole, the Bay would be
ruined. As a result, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission
was formed and was given authority to grant or withhold approval of shore-
line development proposals on the basis of health, safety and welfare of the
public in the region and of a plan which it was instructed to complete by
1969.
Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission
The State of New Jersey in 1969 established the Hackensack
Meadowlands Development Commission with jurisdiction over the
21,000 acres of largely undeveloped wetlands across the Hudson River from
Manhattan. Although local governments can review the work and decisions
of the Commission, it has final authority over planning and land use control
over the region. In addition, the Commission can issue bonds, levy assess-
ments, collect fees, buy land, and exercise Eminent Domain. It is author-
ized to use these instruments in furthering sound development and protecting
the region from air and water pollution.
Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities
Recycled sewage in a substantial portion of the wells, with other
deficiencies, compelled the Minnesota Legislature in 1967 to transform a
routine regional planning commission into the Metropolitan Council of the
Twin Cities area, for its time the boldest experiment in metropolitan
planning and development in the nation. The council's metropolitan per-
spective is made specific in its plan, the Development Guide, which is bind-
ing upon various agencies required to submit their plans to the Council and
is advisory to local governments.
The council has appointed a Sewer Board which is responsible for
developing the metropolitan sewer system in compliance with the Council's
Development Guide and a Park Board responsible for fostering a metro-
politan park system in close cooperation with the Council. Although several
public work systems--highways, airports, transit, and housing--remained
outside of the Council's direct authority, its responsibility for planning and
development of the metropolitan sewer and park systems does give it an
important influence over regional land-use issues.
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The Council's independence is bolstered by several revenue meas-
ures. Funds for the Council and for the Park and Sewer Boards are raised
from property taxes throughout the region. In 1971, the legislature passed
a law intended to relieve fiscal disparities in the region by requiring that
each local government therein must contribute 40% of the net growth of
commercial and industrial property tax valuations to the Council for redis-
tribution to various local governmental units according to population and
need. Fiscal measures such as this, .similar in intent to the one in the
Hackensack Meadowlands, are essential if regional resources are to be
used effectively to resolve regional problems.
5.2 Separate Environmental and Development Agencies- -an Alternative to
Functional Integration
In theory and practice, there is an alternative organizational
approach to addressing the relationship between planning effectively for
land-use development and for environmental quality, which avoids the inte-
gration of these historically distinct activities. The governing body at the
local, regional, state and federal levels could create two governmental
units--one to represent orderly and efficient development, and another im-
provement in the quality of the environment. In practice, a department like
Planning, or Planning and Economic Development, or Economic Development,
would espouse the goals, principles, standards, and procedures for the best
kind of land-use and economic development. And a governmental unit such
as an Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources, or Conservation Commission; would be an advocate for
protecting the ecological/environmental system.
The premise behind this organizational form is that the relationship
between orderly development and environment quality can best be understood
and dealt with by building into the government system a strong proponent for
conservation and another for development. Then the elected public officials
can take from both of their strategies to mold the best public policy bearing
on that relationship. This adversary technique, of course, has been the
central rationale and means for obtaining justice in our court system. At
the federal level, institutions such as the Department of Commerce and the
Department of the Interior often function as adversaries. In state govern-
ment, a governor can draw on the counsel of a Department of Economic
Development and a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Mayors and city councils have both their Departments of Real Estate and of
Parks.
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6. THE NEED FOR ANALYTICAL TOOLS TO EVALUATE
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND-USE
AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
The need for a better under standing of the relationship between
land-use and environmental quality is reflected in the legislative and ad-
ministrative program of land use guidance and environmental protection
described in the preceding chapter. The basic premise which underlies
such programs is that an institutional framework is necessary to allocate
or regulate the use of land, beyond the present land market mechanisms,
in order to avoid undesirable environmental impacts.
Ideally, the policies adopted by such institutions would be based on
extensive body of knowledge regarding the nature of these impacts and the
alternative methods of controlling environmental damage due to present
land use practices. In point of fact, this relationship is not, at present,
well understood. Analytical and planning tools have, however, been devel-
oped which can be used to assess certain land use policy options and eval-
uate some of the aspects of the land use-environmental quality relationship.
The description of these tools in the following pages is intended only to il-
lustrate a few of the analytical and planning techniques that are presently
available. It is not meant to characterize the vast amount of research in
the fields of land use economics, urban geography, the geophysical sciences,
environmental systems planning, etc. that has generated the body of knowl-
edge on which an environmentally oriented land use policy must ultimately
be based.
6.1 Present Analytical Tools for Evaluating the Relationship between Land-
Use and Environmental Quality
A fairly substantial array of planning techniques are available and
have been used to design and evaluate air and water pollution control im-
plementation plans. These include computerized information management
systems such as the STORET system for water data and SAROAD and
APICS systems for air data, and multiple source computerized air pollution
dispersion models such as AQDM/IPP- The latter have been used to simu-
late the relationship between point and areawide emissions, meteorological
phenomena and ambient air quality in urbanized regions. Control regulations
have been and are being based on analyses performed with these models.
Analogous water quality models have been applied in many river basins, in-
cluding the Delaware, Susquehanna, Colorado, and Columbia. Current EPA
air and water pollution control planning guidelines emphasize the operational
use of such models to design and test environmental control strategies and
regulations.
Serious attempts to develop land use models to support transportation
system and regional planning activities began over twenty years ago, and an
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array of land-use-oriented transportation demand models are now used
routinely by regional transportation planning agencies. However, techniques
which relate land use and environmental quality have not yet reached the state
of operational readiness that the more conventional air and water quality data
systems and models have attained. In part, this is due to the complexity of
the problem of reducing the milieu of economic, demographic and spatial in-
teractive forces influencing regional land use into a realistic model that can
be used to simulate the land development process. In part, this deficiency is
due to the fact that the need for such techniques in environmental planning
has only recently become evident.
Among the more recent attempts to bridge the gap between land use
planning and pollution control planning techniques are the EPA-sponsored
New Jersey Hackensack Meadowlands project, in which a conventional atmos-
pheric dispersion model is being used to evaluate the impact of alternative
land use plans on ambient air quality. At Argonne National Laboratory, the
EPA Office of Land Use Planning is developing an atmospheric dispersion
model that is specifically designed for the evaluation of land use plans and
the design of land-use-based emission controls. Both Stanford Research
Institute and Argonne have developed versions of a vehicle emission simula-
tion system which is interfaced with a standard, land-use-based transporta-
tion demand model. The Argonne system is currently being used to evaluate
alternative vehicular emission control strategies for the state of Illinois.
These efforts notwithstanding, a comprehensive land-use-oriented
environmental data system, combined with regional development and en-
vironmental quality planning models, is not yet available.
Although no comprehensive planning tool has yet been developed,
considerable work has been done on many of its major component parts.
Among the more critical subassemblies which would be integrated within
a comprehensive environmental planning model are:
1) An econometric model which includes such elements as export
and local demand for goods and services; demand for the factors of pro-
duction; investment in manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors; and
governmental fiscal activities. The Bell (1967) model of Massachusetts and
L'Esperance (1969) model of Ohio are typical. A dynamic input/output sub-
model would provide the required disaggregation by producing sectors, and
estimate transactions among sectors.
2) A multisectoral demographic model which describes births,
deaths, migration and total population in terms of the observed inter- and
intraregional behavior of these parameters. Models of this kind are de-
scribed by Keyfitz (1968) and Rogers (1968).
3) A labor force supply model which reflects the size and structure
of the regional labor force in terms of its origin, growth, and participation
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43
rates disaggregated by sector, occupation, skill, age and sex. Elements of
such a model have been discussed by Mincer (1966) and Bowen and
Finegan (1965).
4) A land use and spatial allocation model which describes or simu-
lates the distribution of industrial, commercial and residential activities.
Lowry(l964), Garin(l966), and Cripps andFoot (I969)have developed versions
of direct allocation models, while Alonso (i960), Muth (1969) and others have
proposed models which emphasize economic competition for land and markets.
Forrester's (1969) model is a notable example of a simulation designed to
reflect the dynamical aspects of the urban development process.
5) Resource distribution models, such as the water resource
management models described by the Harvard Water Resources Group
(1963), the HYDRO water resource management code (Bugliarello, 1962)
and Cohen's (1970) power demand allocation model.
6) Multimodal transportation demand models which simulate trip
generation and distribution, modal choice and traffic assignment processes.
The Baumol-Quant "abstract mode" model (1962) is an example of a statis-
tical, multimodal origin-destination, trip generation model which reflects
short-run economic influences.
7) Waste product generation and distribution models such as the
multisectoral, PLANTSIM model and the "integrated puff" atmospheric dis-
persion model (Roberts, Croke, et al., 1970). Pyatt's (1970) Water Quality
Model is typical of equivalent computational tools for water resource
management planning.
In a few cases, some of the more critical components of the compre-
hensive regional model have been integrated to create major "subassemblies."
A prime example of the latter is Czamanski's (1968) econometric-
demographic model of Nova Scotia, which combines a recursive, multi-
sectoral econometric model with an age and sex specific cohort survival
model. Another example is the Susquehanna river basin regional model
(Hamilton et al., 1969), which combines a crude but comprehensive planning
and forecasting tool.
Choy (1969) has suggested a general structure for a model which in-
cludes most of the components described above. An augmented version of
this conceptual model is shown in Fig. 1. Not all of the possible interrela-
tionships, such as between transportation and pollution or between environ-
mental quality and land values, are shown in order to avoid excessive
complication of the figure.
6.2 Future Trends in Environmental Land-Use Research
Because of the complexity of a comprehensive regional environmental
planning model and the extensive data base that is required to support it, it
is unlikely that such a tool will become a reality in the foreseeable future.
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•_ MIGRANTS ASSOCIATED WITH LABOR FORCE MIGRANTS
Fig. 1. A Regional Activity Model
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It is not now a part of EPA research policy to undertake long-range pro-
grams directed toward the development of such comprehensive planning
tools. The immediate need to supply environmental and regional planners
with a practical array of analytical techniques precludes such a commitment
at present.
On the other hand, research sponsored by the EPA and other agencies
concerned with land use will result in the continuous development and up-
grading of most of the key components of the comprehensive system. Thus,
with the passage of time, regional development planners and local and state
environmental protection planners will find that an increasingly effective
array of land-use-oriented planning techniques are at their disposal.
Much of the technique development work that will be accomplished
in the immediate future involves adapting data systems and analytical
methods that are already in routine use by transportation and regional
planners to meet the needs of environmental planners. A parallel line
of development requires integration of the array of models and methods
currently used by environmentalists into the urban and regional land-use
planning process.
Very substantial improvements in the array of techniques available
for integrating land use and environmental protection planning can there-
fore be expected in the comparatively near future, without substantial
innovation or technological breakthroughs in either professional field.
Moreover, it is safe to assert that the design of rational land-use-based
environmental protection policies and programs could begin now, on the
basis of currently available data systems and analytical techniques. In
this regard, the most immediate need is for the development of planning
guidelines for the states and regions and the proliferation of information
concerning available techniques.
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7. LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY--
THE FEDERAL ROLE
In addition to its traditional role in the management of public lands,
the federal government currently engages in a broad range of land use-
oriented activities conducted by a diversity of federal agencies. With the
passage of the National Environmental Policy Act and the creation of the
Environmental Protection Agency, the stage has been set for the integra-
tion of land use regulation and environmental protection. Current trends
in national policy with regard to growth, land use and the environment en-
hance the likelihood that such a program will develop.
This chapter describes the federal agencies involved in some form
of land use regulation, the framework for evaluating the environmental im-
pact of federal programs and the legislative and programmatic activity of
the federal government in establishing environmental land-use control
programs.
7.1 The Role of the Federal Government in Land Development,
Regulation and Utilization
A number of federal agencies are currently engaged in activities
which, in one way or another, impact on land development and utilization,
though not necessarily in the context of environmental protection or natural
resource conservation. It is convenient to categorize these agencies in
terms of whether their activities involve dealing with land as a natural re-
source, a location of functional activities, or a medium for the disposal of
waste.
Agencies which have the responsibility of monitoring the use of land
as a resource are primarily concerned with its capacity to supply various
natural resources or to support different forms of economic activity. These
agencies view land in terms of such characteristics as its mineral re-
sources, soil structure, agricultural potential, forestation, natural scenic
value, historical significance and open space capacity.
On the other hand, those agencies which consider land as a site of
some functional activity are more concerned with the actual or potential
activities which may take place on the land. This perspective is reflected
in any federal regulation or agency which is concerned with recreational,
residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, transportation, utility or
public service activities. (Note that these activity classifications are based
on demographic-economic characteristics. No environmentally-oriented
land use taxonomic system yet exists.)
Agencies which view land as a medium for the disposal of waste
focus on its natural capacity to assimilate the various forms of waste which
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are generated as a byproduct of the economic activities which take place
on the land. These include such considerations as air pollution fallout,
contamination of natural receiving waters due to surface runoff, pollution
of ground water resources as a result of land disposal practices, acid mine
drainage, etc.
Other than the EPA, the key federal agencies which currently have
responsibilities in one or more of these areas include the departments of
Commerce, Defense (DOD), Interior, Agriculture, HEW, HUD and Trans-
portation (DOT), as well as the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the
Federal Power Commission (FPC), and the Office of Economic Opportunity
(OEO).
Since the alternative ways of considering land are closely related,
it is natural that in many cases, the same agencies play a significant role
in all three of the categories suggested above.
As a result of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), all
of these agencies are now required to assess the environmental impact of
their activities. To this extent, land use management and environmental
protection have been legally, if not organizationally, integrated at the
federal level. The following section describes this framework for includ-
ing environmental considerations in the activities of federal agencies.
7.2 The Framework for Assessing Environmental Impacts of
Federal Programs
As a result of recent federal legislation, in particular, the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), environmental considerations are in-
corporated into the federal decision-making process and programs. NEPA
provides the broadest mandate for environmental protection in Federal
Government actions and follows chronologically other environmental pro-
tection laws aimed at specific federal programs. Some of the latter are
listed in Table I.
With this package of environmental protection legislation as a
background, NEPA provides a framework for environmental decision-
making at the federal level. NEPA established environmental impact
statement requirements in Section 102(2)(c). These have now been sup-
plemented by guidelines from the Council on Environmental Quality. A
federal agency proposing a major action with significant environmental
impact must: describe the impact; study and describe alternatives to its
proposal; obtain comments from environmentally expert federal, state
and local agencies; and make public, in advance, its environmental analy-
ses and the comments of other agencies.
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TABLE I. Some Specific Federal Laws
Relating to Environmental Protection
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954
The Department of Transportation Act of 1966
The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, as amended in 1958
The Wilderness Act
The Federal Power Act
The National Park Service Act
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1970
The Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended
The Airport and Airway Development Act
The Multiple-Use Sustained Yield Act of I960
The Clean Air Act of 1970
The Water Quality Control Act
The Refuse Act of 1899
The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965
The Resource Recovery Act of 1970
The Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1947
The Environmental Pesticide Control Act of 1971
The federal agencies with jurisdiction by law or special expertise to
comment on environmental impacts of federal programs are summarized
in Table II. Particular components (Administration, Office, Bureau) of the
federal departments are involved, depending on the aspects of the environ-
ment affected. For actions affecting specific geographic jurisdictions, some
TABLE II. COMMENT MATRIX--Federal Agencies with Jurisdiction by Law or
Special Expertise to Comment on Various Types of Environmental Impactsa
Department or Agency
Category
Air
Energy
Hazardous
Substances
Land Use and
Management
Noise
Physiological
Health and Human
Well Being
Transportation
Urban
Water
Wildlife
Agric.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Com.
X
X
X
X
X.
X
X
X
DOD HEW
X X
1
X
X X
X
X
X X
X
X
X X
HUD Int.
X
X X
X
X X
X
X
X
X X
X
X
DOT AEC
X
X
X X
X
X
X X
X
X
X
EPA FPC OEO ACHP
X
X X
X
X X
X
X
X
X X
X
X
aEnviTonmental Quality, The Second Annual Report of the Council.
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federal-state agencies are listed from which comment must be obtained.
General categories in which these agencies have jurisdiction or special ex-
pertise to comment are delineated in the table. This "comment matrix"
shows both the extent of the comment procedure and the depth in environ-
mental issues of various federal agencies.
7.3. Federal Authority to Establish Environmental Land-Use Controls
Although EPA now has the legal authority to establish land use con-
trols, this authority is at present limited, indirect, and in some areas, im-
plicit rather than explicitly defined. This is attributable, in part, to the
fact that land use has traditionally been viewed in the context of natural
resource management, regional economic development or social welfare
planning. Thus EPA currently shares the responsibility for land use plan-
ning and management with a number of other federal agencies having widely
divergent missions. Foremost among these are the departments of Interior,
Agriculture, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
The statutory authority for EPA to utilize land use as a pollution
control mode is, at present, defined in terms of a number of enabling in-
struments which focus on specific elements of the National environmental
protection program: These are summarized below:
Water Pollution Control
Section 18 CFR 601, 32-33, which derive their authority from Sec-
tions 8 and 22 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended,
prohibit EPA from making a construction grant unless a project is included
in an effective current basin-wide plan for pollution abatement consistent
with applicable water quality standards. The Office of Water Programs has
promulgated Guidelines for Water Quality Management Planning, which de-
fine an acceptable plan. The Guidelines specifically require, in several
sections, the employment of land use analysis as a tool of management
planning and encourage the utilization of land use control devices as one
of several methods of water quality management.
The Refuse Act permit program also has potential for the control
of land use. Where a permit application is for an existing discharge, the
impact of the action may affect only water quality. However, where the
application is for a new discharge, action on the permit has a definite im-
pact on land use because it approves, alters or disapproves location of an
industrial discharge. Disapproval may often discourage industry (unless
100% treatment is envisioned) from locating in a particular area.
A number of bills that are intended to provide additional statutory
authority for the control of water pollution are now before the Congress.
For example, Senate bill 2770 requires that states have authority to prevent
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construction of any new source which will prevent the attainment or main-
tenance of water quality objectives (Section 106), that states regulate the
location, modification and construction of any facilities which result in any
discharge or runoff of pollutants (Section 209) and that states and the federal
government shall certify discharges (Section 401).
Air Pollution Control
Section 110 of the Clean Air Act specifies a number of factors the
Administrator of the EPA must consider before approving an implementa-
tion plan. Two of these are:
1) Whether the plan includes land-use and transportation controls
as may be necessary, and
2) Whether it includes a procedure for the review of the location
of certain types of stationary sources of pollution.
Solid Waste Management
The EPA authority to regulate or promote land use planning as a
solid waste management strategy is limited to federal facilities and to
contingency agreements exacted through federal grant programs. Executive
Order 11514 requires environmental impact statements on proposed federal
activities accompanied by provision for public information, hearings, etc.
This order allows EPA to control waste management activities and systems,
prior to their establishment, at federal installations. Waste management
requirements at federal facilities are also governed by Executive Or-
der 11507; however EPA's extramural responsibility in this regard con-
sists mainly of providing technical assistance where requested.
Other EPA solid waste management programs related to land use
controls are authorized under the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 and the
Resource Recovery Act of 1970. Planning and demonstration grants are
provided only if recipients agree to carry out certain commitments such
as abandoning open burning and dumping, having an existing comprehensive
solid waste plan (demonstration criteria), or accept a commitment to im-
plement a solid waste planning program (planning grant criteria). EPA
has no power to close open dumps, override local zoning, or establish
solid waste facilities where local communities fail to do so.
Pesticide Control
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1947, as
amended, conveys no indirect statutory jurisdiction for environmental land
use regulation. It focuses on testing and labeling of pesticides. The Federal
Environmental Pesticide Control Act of 1971 makes the label directions
binding and enforceable.
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Radiation Program
The current EPA legal mandate for utilization of land use controls
is very indirect. The Office of Radiation has authority {Section 274h of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954) to determine standards for atmospheric radia-
tion concentrations beyond the boundaries of AEC licensed nuclear facilities.
On that basis, AEC defines facility characteristics and specifications to
achieve the results desired by EPA, as well as to substantially preclude
nuclear accidents. Under this arrangement, EPA could specify proper
zoning of the area around a facility as one of the design conditions for a
nuclear power plant, nuclear fuel fabrication plants, nuclear fuel repro-
cessing plants and radioactive waste disposal site. However, direct au-
thority (10 CFR 100) for establishing site criteria remains a function of
the AEC.
Noise Program
The general provisions of the NEPA, Section 402C of the Clean Air
Act, as amended, requires all federal agencies to consult with EPA regard-
ing any proposed programs or activities which may create an environmental
problem. This provision can be interpreted to include noise nuisances.
Since the activities of other agencies, particularly the DOT, DHUD, and
Department of the Interior, frequently involve land-use-oriented programs,
EPA therefore now has, at least in principle, indirect responsibilities with
regard to the control of noise sources through land guidance programs.
Legislation which is currently before the Congress, in particular,house
bill HR 11021 and Senate bill S1016, has been designed to provide EPA with
specific authority to promote and establish noise abatement programs.
The Organization of Present EPA Land Use Programs
The EPA thus has a limited mandate to incorporate land use man-
agement into its environmental protection activities. Responsibility for
this mode of pollution control has thus far been dispersed throughout its
various media and categorical programs or treated within the context of
EPA relationships with other federal agencies. The dispersed, and as yet,
limited use made by EPA of land management as a pollution control mode
reflects the somewhat disaggregated character of its statutory authority.
The Office of Water Programs sponsors research relating land use
and water quality. Since it evaluates basin and regional water quality man-
agement plans, the Office of Water Programs maintains a direct relation-
ship with the Department of HUD with which it shares responsibility for the
disbursement of federal waste water facility construction grant funds. This
relationship represents the first, and as yet the only, formal channel of
communication, other than the A-95 review process, between the agency
responsible for the national environmental protection program and local
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and regional planning agencies. This joint EPA-HUD activity represents
the nearest approach to date to the realization of a land use oriented inter-
agency environmental protection program.
The EPA Office of Air Programs currently conducts and sponsors a
number of research and planning projects which are directly or indirectly
oriented toward land use planning and control. These include the develop-
ment of traffic control strategies for six major cities which will be unable
to meet carbon monoxide standards, the New Jersey Hackensack Meadow-
lands land use planning project and the Argonne National Laboratory air
pollution land use planning technique development program. The Office of
Air Programs also provides technical assistance and advice relating to such
land use oriented activities as the impact of chemical spraying on agricul-
tural land management and the feasibility of open burning as a tool for forest
management.
The Office of Solid Waste Management Programs administers demon-
stration grant programs which are concerned with the use of land fill for
halting erosion, reclaiming strip mines and wetlands. This office provides
regional and interstate solid waste planning grants and promotes programs
such as Mission 5000, which aims to eliminate and/or convert to sanitary
landfills a total of 5000 of the more than 15,000 open dumps in the U.S.
during the period FY 1971 to FY 1972.
The Office of Pesticide Programs has no activity studying or in-
volving land use controls.
The Office of Radiation Programs reviews applications to the AEC
for the construction of nuclear facilities to insure that these facilities will
not violate atmospheric radiation standards. Although in the past, the EPA
reviewers have generally recommended design modification rather than
expansion of the land buffer, the latter approach is a potential option.
The EPA Office of Federal Activities is currently investigating a
wide variety of land management practices at federal installations and on
public lands. It has reviewed environmental impact statements for Depart-
ment of Transportation highway projects, nuclear power plant sites, Corps
of Engineers dredging and fill permits and HUD new community proposals.
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8. TRENDS IN NATIONAL POLICY WITH REGARD TO GROWTH,
LAND USE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
The preceding discussion has summarized the existing framework
for the integration of environmental protection and land management at the
Federal level and has described the nature of the available legal authority
for the Federal EPA to promote and employ land use regulations. It is
important to recognize that current trends in the development of national
policy with regard to growth, land use and the environment are likely to
exert a profound influence on the future of these programs. Some of these
national policy trends are described in the following pages.
In his State of the Union message of January 1970, the President
called for a national policy of balanced growth. A number of issues emerged
in high level public discussion in response to this call: population size and
distribution, the environment, education and consumerism, and the effects of
basic scientific and technological development. These issues relate strongly
to economic growth and the way national resources, both human and physical,
are allocated.
8.1 Toward an Urban Growth Policy
A series of bills amending various programmatic legislation has
been introduced that reflects the broad concern with balanced growth policy.
Among some of the more significant measures which may affect the use of
land and its relationship to the environment are included:
- Manpower Training and Mobility Assistance Act of 1970, which
provides incentives for poor people to move to rural growth
centers, or medium size cities and suburbs with labor shortages;
Business and Industrial Location Incentives Act of 1970, that pro-
vides incentives for the location of new or expanded economic
activity in labor surplus areas; and
- New Community Development Act of 1970, which provides for
formulation of a national urban growth policy, the development of
new communities, the establishment of rational urban growth pat-
terns and the development of obsolescent or decaying inner city
areas.
The Urban Growth and New Community Act directs the Domestic
Council to prepare an urban gfowth report every two years beginning with
February 1972. The report is to contain, for national urban growth;
1) information on trends,
2) summary of problems,
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3) evaluation of Federal efforts,
4) assessment of interstate planning,
5) review of State, local and private plans,
6) needs and actions to implement plans, programs and
policies, and
7) further recommendations.
The report is the response to legislative findings that
a. growth and population redistribution has produced an imbalance
that threatens resources and the environment,
b. Federal programs frequently produce these problems and need
coordination, and
c. the Federal Government should assume responsibility for
national urban growth policy, whose general goals are specified.
This act further provides for expanded varieties of public assistance
to ''new town'1 developments including interest guarantees for public agencies
undertaking such development, planning grants, public facilities grants, etc.
These provisions reinforce those of the Housing Act of 1968 for assistance
to new towns "in-towns," ones located at a small community nucleus, new
town metropolitan satellites and free-standing communities. There is con-
siderable activity in this area with HUD guaranteeing almost $125 million
in loans for six recently launched new towns.
8.2 Land-Use Policy
One of the inputs to Federal level discussion of land use policy is
the Public Land Law Review Commission that was instituted by law in 1964.
A series of legislative proposals for national land use policy have resulted.
Major emphasis is on land that is in Federal ownership but privately owned
land is also addressed. The bills include:
- Public Land Policy Act of 1971 (HR 7211) that undertakes to pro-
vide central guidelines for the use of Federally administered lands
and to provide grants for State and local coordination of plans for
such lands.
- National Land Use Policy Act of 1971 (S992/HR 4332) which con-
centrates on institutional reform of locally planned and regulated
land. It requires the States to regulate and manage land use in
areas of critical environmental concern: coasts and shorelines,
historic and scenic areas, and places impacted by key facilities
such as airports and highway interchanges. (This is the Adminis-
tration's bill.)
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- Land and Water Resources Act of 1971 (S632). This bill deals
with the same issues as the Administration's bill but envisions
a Federal level Land and Water Resources Council, and a series
of River Basin Commissions, declared by the President, to co-
ordinate plans. It specifies the content of Statewide plans.
National Coastal and Estuarine Zone Management Act of 1971
(S582). This bill states a policy of conserving such zones. It
provides for grants for the development by the States of man-
agement programs and their administration for coasts and
estuaries.
8.3 Alternative Institutional and Organizational Systems for
Environmental Land-Use Planning and Management
The national policy legislation described in the preceding section
could result in the creation of new governmental institutions, but it is
equally possible that the integration of land-use planning and environmental
protection might be realized through alterations in present jurisdictional
responsibilities among existing Federal, State, regional, and local agencies.
The following discussion suggests some of the possibilities.
Centralized Federal Response
The relationships between equivalent agencies in Federal, State, and
local systems of government have generally been fostered through a combi-
nation of:
1) Enabling legislation which defines the jurisdictional authority
of related agencies at different levels of government, and
2) Federal and State grants-in-aid programs designed to subsidize
socially desirable courses of action.
Such systems of complementary agencies, which discharge similar respon-
sibilities at different levels of government, have proliferated in recent
years. It is characteristic of these systems that a single Federal agency
at the top of the hierarchy will promote research, formulate Federal regu-
lations and disburse Federal grant funds to agencies at a lower level of
government, for example, State or regional regulatory or planning agencies.
Corresponding State agencies implement programs, develop State regula-
tions and disburse State funds to regional and municipal agencies, etc. Such
a relationship of Federal, State, and local interactions has developed in the
National environmental protection program, where Federal EPA grants for
implementation planning, State and local control agency development and
waste treatment facility construction have provided an incentive for the
development of desirable pollution control programs.
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This general pattern of a hierarchy of mission-oriented comple-
mentary agencies is repeated in many other departments of government,
and it suggests one possible approach to the problem of integrating land-
use planning with environmental protection. That is, a single Federal agency
could be assigned the responsibility and jurisdictional authority to develop
and promote environmental land-use regulatory activities at the State, re-
gional and local levels. The states would be required to develop appropriate
environmentally-oriented land-use implementation plans, supported by ade-
quate legal authority and administered by suitably equipped State and local
agencies. A Federal grant program to induce appropriate planning activities
and partially subsidize control programs could be established and admin-
istered by the designated Federal agency.
Decentralized Federal Response
It does not follow that the approach described above is the only, or
even the most desirable, means of achieving environmentally-oriented land-
use regulation at the State and local levels. The joint EPA-HUD wastewater
facility construction grant program, suggests a somewhat less centralized
alternative. Through the medium of the jointly administered grant program,
a formal linkage between the EPA and its complementary agencies at lower
levels of government and the HUD has been established. Wastewater facility
grant applications from municipalities must be integrated within the context
of basin and regional water quality management plans certified by both the
State environmental protection agencies, which are complementary to the
EPA, and by HUD--designated Area Planning Offices--the latter are the re-
gional planning agencies which are complementary to HUD. Detailed plan-
ning guidelines were jointly prepared by EPA and HUD, and some of the
analytical techniques required are supplied by EPA.
This approach could serve as a model for a more broadly based
land-use-oriented environmental protection program in which similar liai-
sons are established between the EPA and its complementary Federal
agencies. For example, an analogous arrangement between EPA and the
Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) might be established for the
disbursement of Federal transportation system construction funds. Not
only would Federal construction grants be contingent on the preparation of
environmental impact statements as is now the case, but it would also be
necessary to demonstrate that proposed construction projects were inte-
grated within environmentally-oriented regional land-use plans jointly pre-
pared by State environmental protection agencies, regional planning agencies
and the transportation planning agencies.
A less structured organizational response would involve the estab-
lishment of a series of joint interagency programs as described above, but
within the context of the present disaggregated organizational structure that
now exists in the Federal agencies. For example, instead of establishing a
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single EPA environmental land-use planning office which would have re-
sponsibility for all waste management activities insofar as they are suscep-
tible to abatement and control through land-use regulation, the responsibility
for the establishment of interagency programs could be dispersed among the
EPA Office of Air Programs, Office of Water Programs, Office of Solid
Waste Management Programs, etc. In effect, the precedent established by
the EPA-HUD wastewater facility construction program would be repeated
for each of the media and categorical programs individually, and similar
liaisons would be established between EPA offices and other Federal land-
use-oriented agencies. Sets of guidelines, a planning grant mechanism and
programs to develop and disseminate information concerning techniques
and procedures for environmental land-use planning and regulation would
be required.
Local and State Response
The alternatives described above are all characterized by what has
become a classical pattern of Federal intervention in, or promotion of,
State, regional and local activities in order to induce a socially beneficial
result. Land-use regulation presents special problems in this regard, since,
with the exception of Federal control of the use of public lands, it has tra-
ditionally been implemented at the local levels of government by municipal
zoning boards and building departments, or as a result of the construction
of highways, airports, wastewater collection systems, etc. The localized
character of land-use regulation might be preserved but augmented to in-
clude environmental protection features if, instead of reproducing the clas-
sical Federal-State-regional-local hierarchy outlined above, the Federal
posture were more analogous to that of the Atomic Energy Commission or
the Federal Power Commission, which function in a regulatory capacity.
In order to insure that the local and regional institutions which directly or
indirectly regulate land-use employ appropriate environmental impact
assessment techniques and conduct effective regulatory activities, the
Federal Government could develop and disseminate guidelines, techniques
and environmental reporting procedures. Once these were implemented at
the local level, the Federal role would involve comparatively passive reg-
ulatory activities rather than active land management program administration.
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9. IN SUMMARY
This document has outlined the case for integrating land-use plan-
ning and regulation with environmental protection and has indicated some
of the legal, institutional, organizational, and technical aspects of this ap-
proach to the preservation of environmental quality. The conclusions which
can be drawn from it and from the present state of environmental land-use
planning can only be of the most general nature, but from the examination
of this issue it is clear that:
1. There is a growing recognition of the need to subject public and
private decisions regarding land use to a much closer scrutiny with regard
to their environmental implications.
2. A great deal of legislative and organizational activity has taken
place in the past few years regarding this issue.
3. An array of evaluative techniques now used either for land-use
planning or for environmental planning may be of potential use in formulating
environmental land use policies.
4. If land use guidance and environmental protection objectives
are to be integrated, programs for merging the procedures and practices
of groups involved in these functions must be developed.
5. The feasibility of employing land use as a means of environ-
mental protection,as well as its eventual effectiveness, will depend very
heavily on how effectively appropriate liaisons can be established between
responsible agencies at the Federal, State and Local levels.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This document was prepared by members of the staffs of the Center
for Environmental Studies and Applied Mathematics Division of Argonne
National Laboratory. The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of
the following individuals who have contributed their time and benefit of
their experience to this study.
Jack Oppenheimer Executive Secretary, President's Air Quality
Advisory Board
Alan Levin
Joseph Krivak
Bernard Hyde
Ronald Venezia
John Robson
Ralph Luken
Frank Covington
David Calkins
Executive Secretary, President's Water Pollution
Control Advisory Board
Office of Water Programs, EPA
Office of Water Programs, EPA
Chief, Office of Land Use Planning, Office of Air
Programs, EPA
Office of Land Use Planning, Office of Air
Programs, EPA
Office of Program Development, EPA
Region IX Office, EPA
Region IX Office, EPA
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