October 7, 2011
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Senate, House Committees Differ on Transportation, Housing, Urban Development Bill
FISCAL YEAR 2012 BEGINS WITH BUDGET UNCERTAINTY
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2012 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) spending bill in late September, after the House THUD Subcommittee had approved its version. For many key planning programs, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, the two measures stand in stark contrast.
As work continued on the individual appropriations bills, Congress gave final approval to a continuing resolution that keeps the government operational through November 18. Lawmakers continue to negotiate a longer-term spending deal for the remainder of the fiscal year. Appropriators are hoping to pass spending bills prior to the November deadline. Options under consideration include a single, all-inclusive omnibus or several smaller "minibuses" that fund selected agencies. Clouding all these prospects is the uncertainty regarding final recommendations — or the lack thereof — on a larger deficit-reduction package. If lawmakers cannot agree on spending levels before mid–November, another short-term continuing resolution will need to be passed to keep the government operational beyond November 18.
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In this issue:
F E D E R A L
Senate, House Committees Differ on Transportation, Housing, Urban Development Bill
F E D E R A L
Sen. Menendez Introduces Livable Communities Act of 2011
F E D E R A L
House Committee Attacks Planning, National Ocean Policy in Hearing
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–Nev.) has indicated that the full Senate may consider THUD appropriations before the end of October. Leaders in both chambers have suggested that THUD could be included in any spending package voted on prior to November 18. Both the House and Senate are expected to meet soon to begin trying to reach a compromise between the competing THUD spending bills.
Housing
The Senate THUD bill would fund the Community Development Block Grant program at $2.85 billion. In an unexpected move, the House's proposal would fund CDBG at $3.5 billion. However, the House proposed slashing in half the amount of CDBG funds available to local governments for planning and administration of the program — from 20 percent to 10 percent — which could have a huge impact on planners if it is included in a final spending bill. The Senate's version of the bill does not lower the cap on administrative expenses. The Senate proposal also funds the Sustainable Communities Initiative within CDBG at $90 million; the House proposal not only eliminates funding for the program but also contains language that would essentially dismantle the entire Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
The HOME program was also hit hard in the Senate bill, largely because of media reports of fraud and abuse within the program. The Senate proposal funds HOME at $1 billion, a $600 million decrease from FY 2011 and a $200 million decrease from the House bill.
HOPE VI/Choice Neighborhoods fared well in the Senate; the bill contains $120 million in funding for the transitioning program. The House bill eliminated funding for it entirely.
Transportation
House and Senate approaches also differ on transportation. The Senate bill contains funding for several programs that were either cut or eliminated in the House. The Senate version increases the funding for the TIGER grant program from $526 million in FY11 to $550 million for FY12. TIGER, which provides multimodal discretionary funding for significant projects, is the Department of Transportation's main program in the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
The Senate bill gives a slight boost to transit with $10.6 billion in FY12, compared with $10.1 billion in FY11. The House proposed cutting transit by $3 billion and eliminated new grants in the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts program. The Senate bill increases New Starts funding by $358 million. Funding for high-speed rail was not included in the initial draft of the bill, but $100 million was added by an amendment during the full Senate committee mark up.
The Senate also eliminated a provision in the House bill that would have hobbled Amtrak routes receiving state support. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) indicates that her subcommittee sought a "balanced" approach given a tough overall funding allocation. Unfortunately, CDBG funding may have been cut in the bill due to the need to restore House cuts to programs like TIGER and transit.
A detailed budget chart is available on APA's Policy News for Planners blog.
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F E D E R A L |
Sen. Menendez Introduces Livable Communities Act of 2011
BILL CONTAINS AUTHORIZATION FOR THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) has introduced the Livable Communities Act of 2011 (S. 1621). The bill would authorize the Office of Sustainable Communities at HUD and its Regional Planning and Community Challenge grants.
"What we build has real impact on how much time we spend in traffic, whether we can afford to live close to where we work, and whether businesses can attract and retain workers," Menendez said. This bill is about making better coordinated investments so that we use our resources wisely and can enjoy attractive, economically viable, healthy communities that are resilient over the long term."
Also included in the bill is a loan program for infrastructure improvements, intended to help communities create more transit-oriented development.
Authorization for the Office of Sustainable Communities is vital to the program's long-term survival, particularly in a hostile budget environment that looks to unauthorized programs for funding cuts. HUD has already received funding for two rounds of regional planning grants and seeks support for a third round in FY12. An earlier version of the legislation was introduced in the last Congress by former Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). The Dodd legislation was approved by the Senate Banking Committee but was never taken up by the House.
APA has endorsed the Livable Communities Act.
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F E D E R A L |
House Committee Attacks Planning, National Ocean Policy in Hearing
NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN SEEKS CHANGES TO EXECUTIVE ORDER
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) indicated in a hearing this week that he will seek changes to President Obama's Executive Order implementing a National Ocean Policy, and attacked efforts to create regional planning bodies to improve coastlines.
Executive Order 13547, signed by the President last summer, adopts the recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. The order establishes a National Ocean Council under the Council on Environmental Quality and creates nine regional planning bodies to cover different areas on the nation's coastlines. Committee Republicans have charged that the executive order was too broad in scope, and allowed regional planning bodies to have authority over any potential threats to ocean waters, extending inland to rivers, tributaries, and the Great Lakes. Committee Republicans also claimed that it used a "precautionary approach" to human activity, meaning any activity could be banned under the presumption that future research might show a negative ecological impact.
In the hearing, Rep. Hastings stated that the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force did not do enough to collaborate with stakeholders when drafting the recommendations but implemented rules creating bureaucracy and new spending. He also cited "mandatory coastal zoning" as placing sections of ocean off limits to certain activities, thereby stunting economic growth and crippling industry. The executive order includes support for the creation of Coastal and Marine Spatial (CMS) plans in each of the nine geographic regions, which would promote sustainable, long-term use.
Rep. Sam Farr (D-Cal.), a longtime champion of reforming ocean policy, spoke as a witness at the hearing and defended the policy. He noted that in 2000, the same committee passed the Oceans Act of 2000, creating the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy appointed by President George W. Bush. The committee sought to address a conflict between federal agencies' interests and regulations regarding ocean policy, but the commission's final report was never allowed review under former Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Cal.). Farr said that the regional planning bodies were created because states asked the commission to coordinate federal agencies, and that President Obama's executive order aligned with the Republican-led commission's previous recommendations. He also maintained that there is no mandated coastal zoning in this policy, but that each state has the right to request coastal marine management planning. Farr said states have reported a need for this kind of planning to the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force.
Hastings said that planning was worthwhile, but that the proposal to create regional planning bodies for ocean policy should be evaluated by Congress.
Ranking Member Ed Markey (D-Mass.) defended the work of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. He said implementing the recommendations is an important step in harmonizing existing agency policy while allowing growth for new and existing users and protecting the long-term health of ocean resources.
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