Environment

Regulations to keep communities safe from dangerous chemicals.

The drive for increased property tax revenue, and in some cases sales tax revenue, can lead local governments to make land use decisions that conflict with other planning and economic development goals. A community might reject much needed affordable housing in favor of expensive homes, for example, or forego office buildings with high-paying jobs in favor of big box retail stores with low-wage jobs, in anticipation of generating more tax revenue with a comparatively smaller burden on public services. More

The conversion of biomass into ethanol and biodiesel provides farmers an additional market for their crops. Over the years, many federal and state rules have been developed to promote biofuels production for use in industry and reformulated gasoline. While this page does not include an exhaustive list of ethanol incentives, the rules on this page are unique in that they encourage ethanol and biodiesel production on a small scale. A decentralized, rural biofuels industry tends to favor a greater number of farmers over a wider area. Production credits for smaller facilities also promotes the formation of farmer-owned cooperatives that further increase returns to farmers. More

New Jersey was first state in the country to ban large tractor-trailers from its state roads and highways. The restriction, went into effect in July 1999, confined large trucks (more than 102 inches wide) that were not doing business in the state to interstate highways and a system of major highways and connector roads. Other cities have begun charging increased fees for vehicles that have larger environmental impacts. More

Mercury is a neurotoxin that accumulates in the food chain and can damage the brain, spinal cord, kidneys and liver. It has been linked to attention deficit disorder in children, and is particularly hazardous to developing fetuses and young children. Poison control centers and emergency rooms took 18,000 calls in 1998 because of broken mercury fever thermometers. Coal plants are big contributors to mercury pollution and have been targeted for rules to reduce emissions from their operation. More

Emissions reduction efforts to address the issue of climate change focus on two primary greenhouse gases: CO2 and methane. CO2 is released when fossil fuels - oil, coal and natural gas - are burned to power our cars, produce electricity or heat our buildings. Methane is emitted in urban areas when garbage and waste products decompose, primarily in landfills. Local and state governments can play a key role because they directly influence and control many of the activities that produce these emissions. Decisions about land use and development, investments in public transit, energy-efficient building codes, waste reduction and recycling programs all affect local air quality and living standards as well as the global climate. More

Largely a post Word-War II phenomenon, the word sprawl describes what its name evokes: formless, spreading, inefficent consumption of land. A "sprawling" landscape generally has no center and few public spaces where people congregate.

Many Americans feel that sprawling development has accrued too many costs: The environment has suffered as Americans make more and more vehicle trips, new houses gobble up farmland and scenic countryside and new sewer lines and septic tanks damage the water supply in many areas. More

Each night almost of a third of the light used out-of-doors escapes into the night sky where, instead of providing useful illumination, it causes glare, sky glow and other types of light pollution. About 2.500 individual stars should be visible to the human eye in an unpolluted night sky; but in a typical suburb only 200 to 300 stars are visible, and in a city, fewer than a dozen stars may shine through the artifically lit sky. More

During the past decade, the national recycling rate (including composting) has climbed to 27%. Hundreds of communities have surpassed this level. Dozens report waste reduction levels above 50%. What features are common to these successful programs? It is usually a combination of good rules that together help to achieve a high rate of recycling. More

Noise pollution is an intrusion into the commons. When boom boxes, leaf blowers, and jet ski's emit their sounds, they degrade the quality of the environment for everyone else. Many communities are fighting back, asserting their right to responsibly control excessive noise in public spaces.

Noise ordinances come in many shapes. Some are source-specific, limiting or banning the use of certain devices. Others are general, covering all potential noise sources. In this section we include what we consider to be the best of these codes. More

Rules dealing with cleaning up water systems.

Toll roads are an example of road pricing.  Road usage is charged directly and may include congestion charges - where fees are higher during periods of high demand. More

Title 3 of 1986 Superfund Amendments Reauthorization Act (SARA) established the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). EPCRA contains three major provisions: planning for chemical emergencies, emergency notification of chemical accidents and releases, and reporting of hazardous chemical inventories and toxic chemical release reporting. Data on chemical inventories and releases is compiled into the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) that then becomes public information. More

A Corporate Good Character Law allows the state to take certain factors into account when deciding whether or not to allow a company a permit.  If the company has consistently violated environmental rules in the past, this law would allow the state to deny future permits. More

All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), commonly referred to as four-wheelers, and other Off Road Vehicles (ORVs or Off-Highway Vehicles - OHVs) are facing increasing regulatory pressures. The growing popularity of these recreational vehicles has resulted in grassroots movements to protect sensitive, natural areas from intrusion by ORVs. These vehicles can easily inflict damage to the landscape and there is also an emerging issue related to safety, children and ORVs. More

Some communities have banned the use of pesticides whereas others have used taxes to reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides.  While the level of taxation is in some cases not high enough to directly discourage pesticide and fertilizer use, indirect reductions occur as a result of channeling revenues towards sustainable farming practices which tend to use less pesticides and fertilizer inputs. More

The US government is the world's biggest consumer and together federal, state and local governments spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually on goods and services. This purchasing power can be used to promote environmentally friendly products and practices in the economy. Government purchasing can significantly enlarge the market for a producer's goods as well as set an example to the private sector and individuals to purchase them as well. More

According to the Center for Municipal Solutions, there have been more than 150,000 communication tower facilities erected in the last 5 years and industry estimates are that more than 1 million more will be needed in the next few years. CMS suggests that as many as 50% of the towers erected in the last 5 years don't need to exist, an even greater percentage don't need to be as tall as they are and many wireless facilities, including towers, don't need to be recognizable as such. More

After proven to be harmful to the ozone layer, some governments moved to ban chlorofluorocarbons.

Four states currently ban billboards: Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont. It is no accident that these four states are known for their scenic beauty. Businesspeople in these states recognize that an unmarred landscape promotes tourism and benefits them in the long run. Billboard bans also level the playing field between local businesses and national chains in at least one advertising medium. More