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TRANSPORTATION BILL BOOSTS FUNDS
FOR WYDEN “SMART GROWTH” MEASURE
Senator authored vital land use provision in
1998 TEA-21 law
May 16, 2005
Washington, DC – U.S.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) announced today that the Federal highway
bill expected to pass in the Senate tomorrow contains a major
funding boost for the “smart growth” provision he
authored in the 1998 TEA-21 transportation law. In that original
legislation, Wyden’s Transportation and Community and System
Preservation (TCSP) Program initiative provided $25 million per
year to promote innovative transportation planning and to fund
projects that keep communities’ healthy growth from becoming
destructive urban sprawl. The Senate’s 2005 legislation
nearly doubles that funding, to $47 million per year.
Oregon has long been a national
leader in “smart” land use planning, and has received
more than $3 million from the Wyden program since its inception.
In remarks today, Wyden called for more initiatives to promote
smart growth of communities. The text of his statement for the
Congressional Record follows here:
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“I am very pleased to
report that the Senate transportation bill not only continues
but also greatly expands a program I authored in the TEA-21 law
to promote smart growth initiatives. When TEA-21 became law in
1998, this pilot program was the first Federal program ever created
to provide incentives to help states and local governments pursue
smart growth policies.
“The good news is that
the Senate transportation bill recognizes the value of this groundbreaking
program by providing a substantial funding increase.
“The original smart growth
pilot program I authored – the Transportation and Community
and System Preservation Program (TCSP) -- provided $25 million
per year to investigate and address the relationships between
transportation projects, communities and the environment. Under
the SAFETEA bill now before the Senate, funding for this program
would nearly double to about $47 million per year.
“The not-so-good news
is that seven years after Congress enacted the TCSP program it
remains the only Federal program to provide incentives for smart
growth. In the last seven years, the problems of urban sprawl
have only gotten worse. Clearly more needs to be done.
“Sprawl development not
only hurts our citizens where they live and breathe, it also hits
them in their wallets. A number of studies have come out that
show the costs of sprawling growth are significantly higher than
more compact, managed growth patterns. These studies show that
taxpayers can save billions of dollars in public facility construction
and operation and maintenance costs by opting for growth management.
“Because of the major
impacts Federally-funded transportation projects can have, there
is an appropriate role for the Federal government in ensuring
these projects and the development they spawn are both economically
and environmentally sound.
“That role should not
be to embroil the Federal government in land use decisions that
have historically been State and local issues. We don’t
want Federal zoning.
“Instead, the proper role
for the Federal government is to create incentives to encourage
and build on the State and local efforts to address transportation
and growth that are already underway. I am very pleased that the
Senate SAFETEA bill extends and expands the TCSP program to help
local communities grow in environmentally sustainable ways by
creating incentives for smart growth management.
“The additional funding
for TCSP in the Senate transportation bill is a good start. But
if we’re going to improve both our nation’s infrastructure
and our quality of life, we need to do more at the Federal level
to provide incentives to support smart growth policies.
“My home State of Oregon
leads the nation in developing innovative approaches to manage
our growth and to tie transportation policies in to growth management.
Our statewide land conservation and development program requires
each municipality to establish an urban growth boundary to define
both the areas where growth and development should occur and those
areas that should be protected from development. This system keeps
agricultural and forest lands in productive use and preserves
‘green corridors’ for hiking, biking and other recreational
uses that are located in or close to urban areas. Our transportation
planning and construction efforts reinforce these policies by
not only avoiding developing in environmentally sensitive areas
but also by helping make the areas where we want development to
occur more accessible.
“Oregon recognizes that
it’s not enough to tell people where they can’t build.
For our system to work, we have to make it easier to develop the
areas where we want growth to occur. And we don’t just give
lip service to this principle. We actually put our money where
our mouth is to make sure the development we want occurs.
“These policies make the
State of Oregon, METRO, the City of Portland, and other localities
in our State ideal candidates to apply for funding under the Transportation
and Community and System Preservation Program.
“I greatly appreciate
the support of Chairman Inhofe, Chairman Bond and Senators Jeffords
and Baucus in working with me to increase funding substantially
for this important program in the bill. Thanks to their efforts
the bill now before the Senate will enable state and local smart
growth policies to merge more smoothly with our transportation
policies.
“As Congress considers
other Federal infrastructure programs, I will be looking for ways
to build on the success of TCSP. The TCSP model can also be adapted
for water, sewer and other Federally-funded infrastructure to
help save taxpayers money and support state and local governments’
smart growth efforts. By following that approach, Congress can
provide our citizens with both better infrastructure and better
quality of life.”
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