I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1739

To require the Council on Environmental Quality to conduct a study on

urban sprawl and smart growth, and to ensure the consideration by

Federal agencies of urban sprawl in the preparation of their environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 3, 2001

Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To require the Council on Environmental Quality to conduct

a study on urban sprawl and smart growth, and to

ensure the consideration by Federal agencies of urban

sprawl in the preparation of their environmental reviews

under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Urban Sprawl and

5 Smart Growth Study Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds as follows:

3 (1) Urban sprawl destroys valuable open space,

4 farmland, wildlife, and natural, cultural, scenic, and

5 recreational resources.

6 (2) Urban sprawl also leads to costly public ex7 penditures for infrastructure, public schools, and

8 transportation for newly developed areas while caus9 ing disinvestment in the urban cores of cities and

10 towns.

11 (3) Smart growth can prevent these problems

12 and help enhance the quality of life for everyone.

13 (4) Although growth management is primarily a

14 State, tribal, and local responsibility, the effects of

15 Federal actions contributing to or avoiding urban

16 sprawl can be considerable.

17 (5) Federal agencies can benefit from additional

18 guidance to improve the use of environmental impact

19 statements and environmental assessments in con20 sidering the potential effects of their proposed ac21 tions on urban sprawl and smart growth.

22 SEC. 3. SMART GROWTH STUDY.

23 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Council on Environ24 mental Quality shall conduct a study of urban sprawl and

25 smart growth that updates and builds on the Council’s

26 1974 study entitled ‘‘The Costs of Sprawl’’ and the Coun-
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1 cil’s 1981 study entitled ‘‘National Agricultural Lands

2 Study’’.

3 (b) EXAMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

4 STATEMENTS.—In conducting the study, the Council shall

5 select and examine a variety of environmental impact

6 statements and environmental assessments by a minimum

7 of 15 Federal agencies, that were completed after 1995

8 for land and facility management, transportation and in9 frastructure, and regulatory and development assistance

10 programs, including rural, urban, and tribal assistance.

11 (c) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Council shall pro12 vide opportunities for public participation in the study, in13 cluding by—

14 (1) conducting public meetings in at least 5 cit15 ies that, as determined by the Council, are each

16 located—

17 (A) in a different region of the United

18 States; and

19 (B) in an area that is experiencing an in20 crease in urban sprawl;

21 (2) making electronically accessible to the pub22 lic information on the study and related documents;

23 and

24 (3) holding discussions with Federal, State, and

25 local government personnel and representatives of
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1 Indian tribes involved in the process of formulating

2 environmental impact statements and environmental

3 assessments.

4 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Council shall submit

6 a report to the Committee on Resources of the House of

7 Representatives and the Committee on Environment and

8 Public Works of the Senate describing the results of the

9 study, including the following:

10 (1) Findings of the Council concerning the eco11 nomic, environmental, and land use effects of urban

12 sprawl, such as those relating to energy, transpor13 tation, housing, schools, small business, Government

14 facilities and military installations, public lands and

15 forests, parks and recreation, agriculture and rural

16 landscapes, air and water, and natural, scenic, and

17 cultural resources.

18 (2) Recommendations for improving environ19 mental reviews by Federal agencies to more ade20 quately address urban sprawl.

21 (3) Recommendations for nonregulatory actions

22 that may be taken by Federal agencies to—

23 (A) assist States and local communities in

24 efforts to promote the beneficial effects of

25 smart growth; and
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1 (B) minimize actions by the agencies that

2 result in adverse effects of urban sprawl.

3 (e) PARTICIPATION OF OTHER AGENCIES.—In car4 rying out this section, the Council should seek the partici5 pation of other Federal agencies.

6 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

7 are authorized to be appropriated to the Council $300,000

8 for the purpose of carrying out this section, in addition

9 to any other amounts that are available for such purpose.

10 SEC. 4. COMMENTS ON URBAN SPRAWL.

11 In any written comment prepared under section 309

12 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7609) for any matter con13 tained in any proposed legislation, Federal project, Fed14 eral agency action, or proposed regulation described in

15 clause (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a) of that section,

16 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen17 cy shall address the impact of the matter on urban sprawl.

18 SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION, CONSULTATION, AND CONSIDER19 ATION OF EFFECTS BEFORE DETERMINING

20 WHETHER TO PREPARE AN ENVIRONMENTAL

21 IMPACT STATEMENT.

22 (a) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—In preparing an envi23 ronmental assessment for a proposed Federal action and

24 before determining whether to prepare an environmental
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1 impact statement for the action, the head of a Federal

2 agency shall—

3 (1) publish notice of the action in the Federal

4 Register and local newspapers of general circulation;

5 (2) directly notify persons that may be affected

6 by the proposed Federal action, including each State

7 government, local government, Indian tribe, and pri8 vate property owner that may be so affected;

9 (3) conduct discussions with such persons on

10 the proposed action and its alternatives; and

11 (4) seek to address such persons’ concerns, if

12 any.

13 (b) CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR ENVIRON14 MENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—If the Governor of a State

15 or the head of a local government or Indian tribe referred

16 to in subsection (a)(1) submits in writing to the head of

17 the Federal agency a statement that the proposed Federal

18 action will result in urban sprawl significantly affecting

19 the quality of the human environment and a request for

20 preparation of an environmental impact statement for the

21 proposed Federal action, the head of the Federal agency

22 shall give great weight to the request in determining

23 whether to prepare an environmental impact statement for

24 the proposed Federal action.
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1 (c) PUBLICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESS2 MENT.—If, after receiving a written statement and re3 quest for an environmental impact statement under sub4 section (b) for a proposed Federal action, the head of a

5 Federal agency determines that the environmental impact

6 statement is not required by section 102(2)(C) of the Na7 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

8 4332(2)(C)), the agency head shall—

9 (1) include in an environmental assessment for

10 the action an explanation of why the proposed action

11 will not result in urban sprawl significantly affecting

12 the quality of the human environment;

13 (2) provide public notice of the availability of

14 the assessment in the Federal Register and local

15 newspapers of general circulation; and

16 (3) transmit a copy of the assessment to the

17 Council on Environmental Quality.

18 (d) URBAN SPRAWL.—The head of a Federal agency

19 shall include in an environmental impact statement re20 quested pursuant to subsection (b), for each alternative

21 included in the statement under section 102(2)(C)(iii) of

22 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

23 4332(2)(C)(iii)), an analysis of the environmental effects

24 of the action on urban sprawl.
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1 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act:

3 (1) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the

4 Council on Environmental Quality.

5 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—The term

6 ‘‘environmental assessment’’ has the meaning given

7 to that term in section 1508.9 of title 40, Code of

8 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of the

9 enactment of this Act.

10 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—

11 The term ‘‘environmental impact statement’’ means

12 a detailed written statement under section 102(2)(C)

13 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

14 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).

15 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

16 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or

17 other organized group or community, including any

18 Alaska Native village or regional corporation as de19 fined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Na20 tive Claims Settlement Act, that is recognized as eli21 gible for the special programs and services provided

22 by the United States to members of the Indian tribe

23 because of their status as members.

24 (5) URBAN SPRAWL.—The term ‘‘urban

25 sprawl’’—
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1 (A) means any change in the pattern of

2 the use of land outside of an urban center that

3 results in a relatively dispersed form of residen4 tial or commercial development; and

5 (B) includes any such change that—

6 (i) may result in loss of open space,

7 farmland, rural landscapes, wildlife, or nat8 ural, cultural, scenic, or recreational re9 sources; or

10 (ii) may result in high public costs for

11 infrastructure, public facilities, or trans12 portation and lead to disinvestment in

13 older urban or suburban areas.

14 (6) SMART GROWTH.—The term ‘‘smart

15 growth’’ means policies regarding growth and devel16 opment that—

17 (A) recognize the effects of new growth

18 and development, including the environmental,

19 economic, and social costs described in para20 graph (5)(B); and

21 (B) attempt to mitigate those effects in ad22 vance so as to avoid or reduce them.

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