comprehensive planning

comprehensive planning Sec. 401. (a) Section 701(a) of the Housing Act of 1954 is amended— (1) by striking out “State planning agencies” in paragraph (1) and inserting in lieu thereof “States”; (2) by striking out the numbered paragraphs following paragraph (1) and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “(2) States for State, interstate, metropolitan, district, or regional activities which may be assisted under this section; “(3) cities (including the District of Columbia) having populations of at least 50,000 according to the latest decennial census for local activities which may be assisted under this section; “(4) urban counties as defined under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974; “(5) the areawide organization in any metropolitan area which is formally charged with carrying out the provisions of section 204 of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 and section 401 of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968: Provided, That any such areawide organization, to the extent practicable, shall be composed of or responsible to the elected officials of the unit or units of general local government for the jurisdictions of which they are empowered to carry out the provisions of such Acts; and “(6) Indian tribal groups or bodies; and “(7) other governmental units or agencies having special planning needs related to the purposes of this section, including but not limited to interstate regional planning commissions, and units or agencies for disaster areas, federally impacted areas, and local development districts, to the extent these needs cannot otherwise be adequately met.”; and (3) by striking out the part which follows the numbered paragraphs and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “Activities assisted under this section shall, to the maximum extent feasible, cover entire areas having common or related development problems. The Secretary shall encourage cooperation in preparing and carrying out plans among all interested municipalities, political subdivisions, public agencies, and other parties in order to achieve coordinated development of entire areas. To the maximum extent feasible, 88 Stat. 687 pertinent plans and studies already made for areas shall be utilized so as to avoid unnecessary repetition of effort and expense.” (b) Section 701 of such Act is further amended by striking out all that follows subsection (a) and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “(b) Activities which may be assisted under this section include those necessary (1) to develop and carry out a comprehensive plan as part of an ongoing planning process, (2) to develop and improve the management capability to implement such plan or part thereof or related plans or planning, and (3) to develop a policy-planning-evaluation capacity so that the recipient may more rationally (A) determine its needs, (B) set long-term goals and short-term objectives, (C) devise programs and activities to meet these goals and objectives, and (D) evaluate the progress of such programs in accomplishing those goals and objectives. Activities assisted under this section shall be carried out by professionally competent persons. “(c) Each recipient of assistance under this section shall carry out an ongoing comprehensive planning process which shall make provision for citizen participation pursuant to regulations of the Secretary where major plans, policies, priorities, or objectives are being determined. The process shall involve development and subsequent modifications of a comprehensive plan which shall be reviewed at least biennially for necessary or desirable amendments. Any such plan shall include, as a minimum, each of the following elements: “(1) A housing element which shall take into account all available evidence of the assumptions and statistical bases upon which the projection of zoning, community facilities, and population growth is based, so that the housing needs of both the region and the local communities studied in the planning will be adequately covered in terms of existing and prospective population growth. The development and formulation of State and local goals pursuant to title XVI of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 shall be a part of such a housing element. “(2) A land-use element which shall include (A) studies, criteria, standards, and implementing procedures necessary for effectively guiding and controlling major decisions as to where growth shall take place within the recipient’s boundaries, and (B) as a guide for governmental policies and activities, general plans with respect to the pattern and intensity of land use for residential, commercial, industrial, and other activities. Each of the elements set forth above shall specify (i) broad goals and annual objectives (in measurable terms wherever possible), (ii) programs designed to accomplish these objectives, and (iii) procedures, including criteria set forth in advance, for evaluating programs and activities to determine whether they are meeting objectives. Such elements shall be consistent with each other and consistent with stated national growth policy. “(d) After an initial application for assistance under this section has been approved, the Secretary may make grants on an annual basis, if— “(1) the applicant submits to the Secretary annually a description of its work program designed to meet objectives for the next succeeding one-year period and setting forth any changes the applicant intends to undertake to achieve better progress; and “(2) the applicant submits to the Secretary biennially (A) an evaluation of the progress made by it during the previous two years in meeting objectives set forth in its plan, and (B) a description of any changes in the plan’s goals or objectives. 88 Stat. 688 The Secretary shall make no grant after three years from the date of enactment of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, to any applicant (other than an applicant described in paragraph (6) or (7) of subsection (a)), unless the Secretary is satisfied that the comprehensive planning being carried out by the applicant includes the elements specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c). “(e) A grant made under this section shall not exceed two-thirds of the estimated cost of the work for which the grant is made. There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this section not to exceed $130,000,000 for the fiscal year 1975, and not to exceed $150,000,000 for the fiscal year 1976. Of the funds appropriated under this section, not to exceed an aggregate of $10,000,000 plus 5 per centum of the funds so appropriated may be used by the Secretary for studies, research, and demonstration projects, undertaken independently or by contract, for the development and improvement of techniques and methods for comprehensive planning and for the advancement of the purposes of this section, and for grants to assist in the conduct of studies and research relating to needed revisions in State statutes which create, govern, or control local governments and local governmental operations. “(f) It is the further intent of this section to encourage comprehensive planning on a unified basis for States, cities, counties, metropolitan areas, districts, regions, and Indian reservations and the establishment and development of the organizational units needed therefor. In extending financial assistance under this section, the Secretary may require such assurances as he deems adequate that the appropriate State and local agencies are making reasonable progress in the development of the elements of comprehensive planning. The Secretary is authorized by contract, grant, or otherwise to provide technical assistance to State and local governments, and interstate and regional combinations thereof, to Indian tribal bodies, and to governmental units or agencies described in subsection (a)(7), undertaking such planning and, by contract or otherwise, to make studies and publish information on comprehensive planning and related management problems. “(g) The consent of the Congress is hereby given to any two or more States to enter into agreements or compacts, not in conflict with any law of the United States, cooperative effort and mutual assistance in the comprehensive planning for the growth and development of interstate, metropolitan, or other urban areas, and to establish such agencies, joint or otherwise, as they may deem desirable for making effective such agreements and compacts. “(h) In addition to the planning grants authorized by subsection (a), the Secretary is further authorized to make grants to organizations composed of public officials representative of the political jurisdictions within the metropolitan area, region, or district involved for the purpose of assisting such organizations to undertake studies, collect data, develop metropolitan, regional, and district plans and programs, and engage in such other activities, including implementation of such plans, as the Secretary finds necessary or desirable for the solution of the metropolitan, regional, or district problems in such areas, regions, or districts. To the maximum extent feasible, all grants under this subsection shall be for activities relating to all the developmental aspects of the total metropolitan area, region, or district including, but not limited to, land use, transportation, housing, economic development, natural resources development, community facilities, and the general improvement of living environments. 88 Stat. 689 “(i) In addition to the other grants authorized by this section, the Secretary is authorized to make grants to assist any city, other municipality, or county in making a survey of the structures and sites in the locality which are determined by its appropriate authorities to be of historic or architectural value. Any such survey shall be designed to identify the historic structures and sites in the locality, determine the cost of their rehabilitation or restoration, and provide such other information as may be necessary or appropriate to serve as a foundation for a balanced and effective program of historic preservation in such locality. The aspects of any such survey which relate to the identification of historic and architectural values shall be conducted in accordance with criteria found by the Secretary to be comparable to those used in establishing the national register maintained by the Secretary of the Interior under other provisions of law; and the results of each such survey shall be made available to the Secretary of the Interior. A grant under this subsection shall be made to the appropriate agency or entity specified in paragraphs (1) through (6) of subsection (a) or, if there is no such agency or entity which is qualified and willing to receive the grant and provide for its utilization in accordance with this subsection, directly to the city, other municipality, or county involved. “(j) Grants made under this section may be used, subject to regulations and conditions prescribed by the Secretary, for any activities made eligible by the provisions of this section; but such regulations shall provide that grant assistance shall not be used to defray the cost of the acquisition, construction, repair, or rehabilitation of, or the preparation of engineering drawings or similar detailed specifications for, specific housing, capital facilities, or public works projects. “(k) The Secretary shall consult with the heads of other Federal departments and agencies having responsibilities related to the purposes of this section, including responsibilities connected with the economic development of rural and depressed areas and the protection and enhancement of the Nation’s natural environment, with respect to (1) general standards, policies, and procedures to be followed in the administration of this section, and (2) particular grant actions or approvals which the Secretary believes to be of special interest or concern to one or more of such departments and agencies. “(l) Funds made available under any Federal assistance program for projects or activities, approved as part of or in furtherance of a planning program or related management activities assisted under this section, may be used jointly with funds made available for such projects or activities under any other Federal assistance program, subject to regulations prescribed by the President. Such regulations may include provisions for common technical or administrative requirements where varying or conflicting provisions of law or regulations would otherwise apply, for establishing joint management funds and common non-Federal shares, and for special agreements or delegations of authority, among different Federal agencies in connection with the supervision or administration of assistance. Such regulations shall in any case include appropriate criteria and procedures to assure that any special authorities conferred, which are not otherwise provided for by law, shall be employed only as necessary to promote effective and efficient administration and in a manner consistent with the protection of the Federal interest and program purposes or statutory requirements of a substantive nature. For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘Federal assistance program’ has the same meaning as in the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968. 88 Stat. 690 “(m) As used in this section— “(1) The term ‘metropolitan area’ means a standard metropolitan statistical area, as established by the Office of Management and Budget, subject, however, to such modifications or extensions as the Secretary deems to be appropriate for the purposes of this section. “(2) The term ‘region’ includes (A) all or part of the area of jurisdiction of one or more units of general local government, and (B) one or more metropolitan areas. “(3) The term ‘district’ includes all or part of the area of jurisdiction of (A) one or more counties, and (B) one or more other units of general local government, but does not include any portion of a metropolitan area. “(4) The term ‘comprehensive planning’ includes the following: “(A) preparation, as a guide for governmental policies and action, of general plans with respect to (i) the pattern and intensity of land use, (ii) the provision of public facilities (including transportation facilities) and other government services, and (iii) the effective development and utilization of human and natural resources; “(B) identification and evaluation of area needs (including housing, employment, education, and health) and formulation of specific programs for meeting the needs so identified; “(C) surveys of structures and sites which are determined by the appropriate authorities to be of historic or architectural value; “(D) long-range physical and fiscal plans for such action; “(E) programming of capital improvements and other major expenditures, based on a determination of relative urgency, together with definite financing plans for such expenditures in the earlier years of the program; “(F) coordination of all related plans and activities of the State and local governments and agencies concerned; and “(G) preparation of regulatory and administrative measures in support of the foregoing. Comprehensive planning for the purpose of districts shall not include planning for or assistance to establishments in relocating from one area to another or assist contractors or subcontractors whose purpose is to divest, or whose economic success is dependent upon divesting, other contractors or subcontractors of contracts theretofore customarily performed by them. The limitation set forth in the preceding sentence shall not be construed to prohibit assistance for the expansion of an existing business entity through the establishment of a new branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of such entity, if the Secretary finds that the establishment of such branch, affiliate, or subsidiary will not result in an increase in unemployment in the area of original location or in any other area where such entity conducts business operations, unless the Secretary has reason to believe that such branch, affiliate, or subsidiary is being established with the intention of closing down the operations of the existing business entity in the area of its original location or in any other area where it conducts such operations. “(n) In carrying out the provisions of this section relating to planning for States, regions, or other multijurisdictional areas whose development has significance for purposes of national growth and urban development objectives, the Secretary shall encourage the formulation of plans and programs which will include the studies, criteria, standards, and implementing procedures necessary for effectively guiding and controlling major decisions as to where growth should 88 Stat. 691 take place within such States, regions, or areas. Such plans and programs shall take account of the availability of and need for conserving land and other irreplaceable natural resources; of projected changes in size, movement, and composition of population; of the necessity for expanding housing and employment opportunities; of the opportunities, requirements, and possible locations for new communities and large-scale projects for expanding or revitalizing existing communities; and of the need for methods of achieving modernization, simplification, and improvements in governmental structures, systems, and procedures related to growth objectives. If the Secretary determines that activities otherwise eligible for assistance under this section are necessary to the development or implementation of such plans and programs, he may make grants in support of such activities to any governmental agency or organization of public officials which he determines is capable of carrying out the planning work involved in an effective and efficient manner and may make such grants in an amount equal to not more than 80 per centum of the cost of such activities.” (c) Section 703 of such Act is amended by striking out “and” in clause (1), and by inserting “, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands” immediately before the semicolon at the end of such clause.