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Show Land use planning program could be "great achievement" of 92nd Congress Representative Lloyd says Congressman Sherman P. Lloyd, It-Utah, said last week the House Interior Committee is moving rapidly ahead on comprehensive land use planning plan-ning legislation, which h- said has the potential of becoming "one of the greatest achievements achieve-ments of the 92nd Congress." The Utahn, second-ranking minority member of Interior's subcommittee on the environment, environ-ment, said the subcommittee has scheduled mark-up sessions ses-sions for this week. He said he is hopeful that a 'bill can be approved and submitted to the House for action- before summer. "The subcommittee Is now "This bill has special sig- ( nificance for Utah which is nearly 70 percent federally owned and which is ibeing threatened with unwise and unplanned development in areas which have critical environmental en-vironmental significance," he said. "One of the ibest examples is Bear Lake in 'Rich County where recreational housing developments along its shores present the threat of severe pollution and despoliation of scenic values," he said. The Congressman said under the proposed bill Utah could receive federal funds to cover 90 percent of the cost of preparing pre-paring a state land use plan to protect such areas from uncontrolled un-controlled development. "The subcommittee will also be considering an amendment proposed by t'he President to penalize states which do not prepare land use plans by reducing re-ducing their federal funds for highways, airports and parks. Federal, state and regional iand use plans would be co-ordinated co-ordinated by a new federal Office of Land Use Policy Administration Ad-ministration within the Interior Inter-ior Department. Advisory councils made up of land users us-ers would be set up at all levels to assist In policy-making. Other provisions- of the. bill with special significance to Utah include policy declaration declara-tion calling for a new system sys-tem of payments to states in lieu of taxes on federal lands, and requiring Congressional approval of nearly all withdraw with-draw of federal land for specific uses. The latter provision would prevent the executive branch from withdrawing large blocks of land to toe added to national na-tional monuments such as President Johnson did in 1969 when he increased the Arches and Capitol Reef National Monuments in Utah. working with a single draft bill which combines the ibest ideas of miany land use proposals pro-posals introduced in this Congress," Con-gress," he said. "The effect will be to establish estab-lish the the mast comprehensive comprehen-sive land use planning program pro-gram ever enacted, involving lands in federal, state, local and private ownership," Rep Lloyd said. "I don't consider it a function func-tion of the federal government to draw up land use plans except ex-cept for land under its control. con-trol. Rather, the federal responsibility re-sponsibility is to move the states into action and accountability. ac-countability. This can ibe done by providing funds for the states to do this job, and ultimately, ul-timately, penalties against those states which don't do the job," he said. The ibill combines a public lands policy bill for land in federal ownership, and a na-j na-j tional land use policy proposal pro-posal for non-federal lands, both of which Lloyd has co- sponsored. It would direct federal agencies agen-cies such as the Bureau of Land Management and the U. S. Forest Service in preparing prepar-ing master plans to inventory federal land resources and classify them for single-use, multiple-use, protection or development de-velopment "for maximum pub-lie pub-lie benefit," Lloyd said. "This would Implement many of the recommendations of the Public Pub-lic 'Land Law Heview Commission." Com-mission." A second part of the bill would set up federal grants to states for development of state land use plans for all lands in non-federal ownership, owner-ship, with special attention to areas of critical environmental environmen-tal concern and areas of more than local interest. It would authorize $100 million annually annual-ly for grants to states ' for setting up land use plans and later operation of land use planning agencies. |
