July 28, 1964
Page 17082
FEDERAL URBAN LAND-USE ACT
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I introduce, for appropriate reference, a bill "to promote more harmonious intergovernmental relations" by prescribing a uniform policy and procedure whereby the General Services Administration shall acquire, use, and dispose of land in urban areas in a manner that shall be consistent with the highest and best use of such land and -- to the extent possible -- in accordance with the development objectives of affected local jurisdictions.
Within the next 40 years the number of people living in urban areas will double, as will the amount of land devoted to urban uses. Much of the land now being urbanized, as well as land which will unquestionably be subject to urbanization in the future, is owned by the Federal Government and under the control of a variety of Federal agencies.
While the Federal Government is a major urban landholder and developer, the General Services Administration has not developed a consistent comprehensive urban land policy which promotes the highest and best use of the land it holds. Nor has the Federal Government established and maintained a regular policy of working and cooperating with local governments in assuring that its use of the land is compatible with their planning and development objectives.
This lack of a Federal urban land-use policy contrasts with the objectives of many Federal agencies to positively encourage comprehensive planning at the local level.
As a condition to Federal aid, such planning must exist in the case of the urban renewal, Federal highway, open space, sewerage treatment construction, and the air pollution programs. All require good planning as a condition to assistance. And several provide an additional allotment as an incentive for project conformance with metropolitan or regional objectives.
The Federal agencies involved in these programs also put considerable stress on cooperation and coordination with local government and emphasize local controls and project initiation and direction by local governmental leadership.
The most recent case of a Federal-local urban land-use conflict was in San Diego, where the GSA planned the sale of public land without determining whether the disposition proposal was in accordance with the city's planning objectives for the area. As it turned out, a large portion of one section of the land offered for sale in the Camp Elliot area by GSA could not be served by the city of San Diego with the sewer and water facilities. Easements for access did not connect in any purposeful way with existing street patterns in the area. Under present circumstances no purchaser of the land could legally get a building permit now to undertake construction. The brochure distributed by GSA to promote the sale of the Camp Elliot parcels described the land as having a potential for housing and commercial use.
Specifically, it is the purpose and intent of the proposed legislation to provide a more uniform policy and procedure whereby the GSA, when entering into urban land transactions for or on behalf of Federal agencies, shall acquire, lease or dispose of Federal urban land in a manner that is consistent with the highest and best use of such land and in accordance with the planning and development objectives of the affected local governments.
To accomplish this, the proposed legislation would require GSA, as a condition to the sale or lease of Federal land, or the purchase or lease for Federal use, to carry out certain actions with the appropriate local governments.
One such requirement would be that GSA must notify the local governing body at least 90 days in advance of its intent to sell, lease, or purchase land in the local government's jurisdiction. Further, GSA would be prohibited from taking any action in regard to the land in question during that 90-day period or until it had received written comment on the proposed action by the local government involved.
GSA would not be bound to meet any or all objections raised by the local government when action is finally taken, but GSA would be bound to file its report with the local government and take the local government's reaction into account before finally acting. Further, GSA would be required to file with the Government operations and Public Works Committees of both the House of Representatives and the Senate a full explanation if it ignored any objections raised by local governments.
The bill specifies the type of information which GSA would be required to provide affected local governments when entering into urban land transactions or proposing a change in the use of urban land. It further specifies the information to be announced to prospective purchasers of federal urban land.
I believe this kind of legislation can have far-reaching significance in improving Federal-local relationships. It is the kind of bill which all Members can conscientiously support, since its basic objective is to provide a uniform policy which would strengthen congressional oversight and promote more orderly urban development.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be received and appropriately referred.
The bill (S. 3037) to amend the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to provide for the acquisition, use, and disposition of land within urban areas by Federal agencies to the greatest practicable extent in conformity with land utilization programs of affected local government and planning agencies, and for other purposes, introduced by Mr. MUSKIE, was received, read twice by title, and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.