| 1785 |
|
Ordinance of 1785.
Provided for the rectangular land survey of the Old Northwest. The rectangular
survey has been called "the largest single act of national planning
in our history and ... the most significant in terms of continuing impact
on the body politic" (Daniel Elazar). |
| 1790 |
|
The first U.S. Census is initiated by
Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and finished two years later. |
| 1803 |
|
The Louisiana Territory, comprising about 800,000
square miles between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, is
purchased from France. The vast acquisition doubles the nation's size and
opens it to westward settlement. |
| 1862 |
|
Homestead Act opened the lands of
the Public Domain to settlers for a nominal fee and five years residence. |
| 1862 |
|
Morrill Act. Congress authorizes
land grants from the Public Domain to the states. Proceeds from the sale
were to be used to found colleges offering instruction in agriculture, engineering,
and other practical arts. |
| 1867 |
|
The U.S. purchases Alaska from Russia,
adding to the national estate a territory about the size of Texas, Montana,
and California combined. |
| 1878 |
|
John
Wesley Powell's Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United
States is published. Includes a proposed regional plan that would both
foster settlement of the arid west and conserve scarce water resources. |
| 1891 |
|
General Land Law Revision Act — gave
President power to create forest preserves by proclamation. |
| 1897 |
|
Forest Management Act. Authorized
some control by the Secretary of the Interior over the use and occupancy
of the Forest Preserves. |
| 1901 |
|
New York State Tenement House Law.
The legislative basis for the revision of city codes that outlawed tenements
such as the "Dumbbell Tenement." Lawrence Veiller was the leading
reformer. |
| 1902 |
|
U. S. Reclamation Act. Created fund
from sale of public land in the arid states to supply water there through
the construction of water storage and irrigation works. |
| 1903 |
|
President
Theodore Roosevelt appoints a Public Lands Commission to propose rules
for orderly land development and management. |
| 1906 |
|
Antiquities Act of 1906: First law
to institute federal protection for preserving archaeological sites. Provided
for designation as National Monuments areas already in the public domain
that contained "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures,
and objects of historic or scientific interest." |
| 1907 |
|
President
Roosevelt establishes an Inland Waterway Commission to encourage multipurpose
planning in waterway development: navigation, power, irrigation, flood control,
water supply. |
| 1913 |
|
The Federal Reserve Act creates the Federal
Reserve Commission as the nation's decentralized central bank to regulate
the national money supply in order to provide for economic stability and
growth. |
| 1916 |
|
Nation's first comprehensive zoning
resolution adopted by New York City Board of Estimates under the leadership
of George McAneny and Edward Bassett, known as the "Father of Zoning." |
| 1918 |
|
U.S. Housing Corporation and Emergency
Fleet Corporation influenced later endeavors in public housing. Operated
at major shipping centers to provide housing for World War I workers. |
| 1921 |
|
Congress passes the Budget and Accounting Act
establishing a Bureau of the Budget (forerunner of the Office of Management
and Budget) for the purpose of centralizing and enhancing the efficiency
of its financial processes. The same act sets up the General Accounting
Office (GAO) to serve as the government's auditor of executive accounts. |
| 1922 |
|
Pennsylvania
Coal Co. v. Mahon. The first decision to hold that a land use restriction constituted a taking.
The U.S. Supreme Court (Justice Brandeis dissenting) noted "property
may be regulated to a certain extent, [but] if regulation goes too far it
will be recognized as a taking," thus acknowledging the principle of
a "regulatory taking." |
| 1924 |
|
U.S. Department of Commerce under
Secretary Herbert Hoover issues a Standard State Zoning Enabling Act. |
| 1926 |
|
Village
of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. Constitutionality of zoning upheld by
the U.S. Supreme Court. (Case argued by Alfred Bettman.) |
| 1928 |
|
U.S. Department of Commerce under
Secretary Herbert Hoover issues a Standard City Planning Enabling Act. |
| 1929 |
|
A Wisconsin law, possibly the
first instance of rural zoning, authorizes county boards "to regulate,
restrict and determine the areas within which agriculture, forestry and
recreation may be conducted." |
| 1933 |
|
The
Tennessee Valley Authority, a public corporation with some of the
freedom of a private corporation, is created to provide for the unified
and multipurpose rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Tennessee Valley.
Senator George Norris of Nebraska fathered the idea and David Lilienthal, "Father
of Public Power," serves as its long-term director. |
| 1933 |
|
The Agricultural Adjustment Act
is passed for regulating agricultural trade practices, production, prices,
supply areas (and therefore land use) as a recovery measure. |
| 1934 |
|
National Housing Act. Established
FSLIC for insuring savings deposits and the FHA for insuring individual
home mortgages. |
| 1934 |
|
Taylor Grazing Act is passed, its
purpose to regulate the use of the range in the West for conservation purposes. |
| 1934 |
|
The Securities and Exchange Act establishes
the Securities and Exchange Commission and inaugurates some regulatory
control over the stock and bond markets to prevent another crash like that
of 1929. |
| 1935 |
|
Resettlement Administration established
under Rexford Tugwell, Roosevelt "braintruster," to carry out
experiments in land reform and population resettlement. This agency built
the three Greenbelt towns (Greenbelt, Maryland; Greendale,
Wisconsin; Greenhills, Ohio) forerunners of present day New Towns: Columbia,
Maryland, Reston, Virginia, etc.). |
| 1935 |
|
Soil
Conservation Act. Congress moves to make prevention of soil erosion
a national responsibility. |
| 1935 |
|
Congress authorizes construction of the Grande
Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Central Washington State. Finished
in 1941, it is the largest concrete structure in the U.S. and the heart
of the Columbia Basin Project, a regional plan comparable in its scope
to TVA. The project's purposes are irrigation, electric power generation,
and flood control in the Pacific Northwest. |
| 1935 |
|
Social Security Act passed to create
a safety net for elderly. Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor and first
woman cabinet member, was a principal promoter. |
| 1937 |
|
U.S. Housing Act (Wagner-Steagall).
Set the stage for future government aid by appropriating $500 million in
loans for low-cost housing. Tied slum clearance to public housing. |
| 1937 |
|
Farm Security Administration established,
successor to the Resettlement Administration and administrator of many programs
to aid the rural poor. |
| 1944 |
|
Serviceman's Readjustment Act ("G.I.
Bill"). Guaranteed loans for homes to veterans under favorable terms
thereby accelerating the growth of suburbs. |
| 1947 |
|
Housing and Home Financing Agency
(predecessor of HUD) created to coordinate federal government's various
housing programs. |
| 1949 |
|
Housing Act (Wagner-Ellender-Taft
Bill). First U.S. comprehensive housing legislation. Aimed to construct
about 800,000 units. Inaugurated urban redevelopment program. |
| 1954 |
|
In Berman v. Parker, U.S.
Supreme Court upholds right of Washington, D.C. Redevelopment Land Agency
to condemn properties that are unsightly, though non-deteriorated, if required
to achieve objectives of duly established area redevelopment plan. |
| 1954 |
|
In Brown v. Board of Education
(Topeka, Kansas), Supreme Court upholds school integration. |
| 1954 |
|
Housing
Act of 1954. Stressed slum prevention and urban renewal rather than
slum clearance and urban redevelopment as in the 1949 act. Also stimulated
general planning for cities under 25,000 population by providing funds under
Section 701 of the act. "701 funding" later extended by legislative
amendments to foster statewide, interstate, and substate regional planning. |
| 1955 |
|
The Air Pollution Control Act issues a national
wakeup call on the dangers of air pollution and grants $5 million annually
for five years of research on the problem. Later congressional acts (1963,
1970, and 1990) will be concerned with types of pollution source, standards,
and deadlines. |
| 1956 |
|
Congress passes multibillion dollar
Federal Aid Highway Act to create interstate highway system linking all
State Capitals and most cities of 50,000 population or more. |
| 1959 |
|
Congress establishes the Advisory
Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) with members from various
branches of government. Serves primarily as a research agency and think
tank in area of intergovernmental relations. |
| 1961 |
|
Hawaii
becomes first state to institute statewide zoning. |
| 1964 |
|
Civil Rights Act outlaws discrimination
based on race, creed, and national origin in places of public accommodation. |
| 1964 |
|
President Lyndon Johnson signs into law a Wilderness
Act establishing a National Wilderness Preservation System "to be
composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as 'wilderness
areas.'" Their pristine character is to be maintained by prohibiting
development, settlement, road-building and all forms of mechanized transport
within the boundaries of such areas. |
| 1965 |
|
Housing and urban policy achieve
cabinet status when the Housing and Home Finance Agency is succeeded by
the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Robert
Weaver becomes HUD's first Secretary and nation's first African-American
cabinet member. |
| 1965 |
|
Congress passes the Water Resources
Management Act authorizing Federal-Multistate river basin commissions. |
| 1965 |
|
The Public Work and Economic Development
Act passes Congress. This act establishes the Economic Development Administration
to extend coordinated, multifaceted aid to lagging regions and foster their
redevelopment. |
| 1965 |
|
The Appalachian Regional Planning
Act establishes a region comprising all of West Virginia and parts of 12
other states, plus a planning commission with the power to frame plans and
allocate resources. |
| 1966 |
|
The Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan
Development Act launched the "model cities" program, an interdisciplinary
attack on urban blight and poverty. A centerpiece of President Lyndon Johnson's
"Great Society" program. |
| 1968 |
|
To implement Intergovernmental Relations
Act of 1968 the Office of Management and Budget issues Circular A-95 requiring
state and substate regional clearinghouses to review and comment on federally
assisted projects in order to foster and facilitate planning coordination
among the three levels of government. |
| 1969 |
|
National Environmental Policy Act
requires an "environmental impact statement" for every federal
or federally aided state or local major action that might significantly
harm the environment. |
| 1970 |
|
National Environment Protection
Agency established to administer main provisions of the Clean Air Act (1970). |
| 1972 |
|
The
Coastal Zone Management Act creates a voluntary National Coastal
Management Program in which participating states undertake to develop
coastal management programs meeting minimal federal standards. |
| 1972 |
|
The Clean Water Act is passed to keep pollutants
from point sources out of navigable waters. |
| 1972 |
|
General revenue sharing inaugurated
under the U.S. State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act. |
| 1972 |
|
In Golden v. Planning Board of
Ramapo, New York high court allows the use of performance criteria as
a means of slowing community growth. |
| 1973 |
|
Endangered Species Act. Authorized
Federal assistance to state and local jurisdictions to establish conservation
programs for endangers plant and animal species. |
| 1974 |
|
The Housing and Community Development
Act reshapes housing policy by replacing the customary categorical grant
with the block grant as the principal form of federal aid for local community
development, and by creating a rental assistance program for low- and middle-income
families. |
| 1978 |
|
The Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act
is passed by Congress, authorizing $725 million for matching grants to
rehabilitate parks and other recreational facilities in impoverished local
communities. |
| 1980 |
|
Superfund Bill passed by Congress
(Comprehensive Response, Compensation and Liability Act). Creates liability
for persons discharging hazardous waste into the environment. Taxes polluting
industries to establish a trust fund for the cleanup of polluted sites in
cases where individual responsibility is not ascertainable. |
| 1983 |
|
In a case focusing on Mt. Laurel,
New Jersey, the New Jersey Supreme Court rules that all 567 municipalities
in the state must build their "fair share" of affordable housing.
A precedent-setting blow against racial segregation. |
| 1987 |
|
In First English Evangelical
Lutheran Church v. County of Los Angeles, U.S. Supreme Court finds that
even a temporary taking requires compensation. In Nollan v. California
Coastal Commission, it finds that land-use restrictions, to be valid,
must be tied directly to a specific public purpose. |
| 1991 |
|
Passage of Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act (ISTEA) includes provisions for a National Scenic Byways
Program and for transportation enhancements, each of which includes a historic
preservation component. |
| 1992 |
|
In Lucas
v. South Carolina Coastal Council, the U.S. Supreme Court limits
local and state governments' ability to restrict private property without
compensation. |
| 1994 |
|
In Dolan
v. City of Tigard, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that a jurisdiction
must show that there is a "rough proportionality " between the
adverse impacts of a proposed development and the exactions it wishes to
impose on the developer. |
| 1994 |
|
North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) among U.S., Canada and Mexico begins on January 1, its purpose to
foster trade and investment among the three nations by removing or lowering
non-tariff as well as tariff barriers. |
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