NRES 325 final review

Municipal Planning and Zoning

  • The purpose of municipal comprehensive planning is to be aware of the community and to be sensitive to zoning. These plans set out visions on how the community should look in 10–20 years.

  • Important concerns: land, resources, people.

Zoning (Case associated with: Euclid vs. Ambler, 1926)

  • Constitutional under the 10th Amendment.

  • Used to divide land into districts (think of Arcane).

  • Zoning is a public approach to regulating private land in which the public designates how land may be used in specified areas.

People Involved with Zoning

  • Planning Commission

  • Planning Officer

  • Zoning Board of Appeals

  • The Courts (all community members)

3 Types of Zoning

  • Residential

  • Commercial

  • Industrial

3 Uses of Zoning

  • Permitted: List of uses allowed by right, though under specifications.

  • Conditional: Might be allowed case-by-case, looked at by Zoning Board.

  • Prohibited: Generally not allowed if not listed as permitted or conditional in the zoning ordinance.

Specific Zoning Tools

  • Tools for flooding and wildlife conservation.

  • Overlay Zones: More restrictions for conservation and flood protection (can be applied retroactively, include setback requirements).

  • Cluster Zoning: Allows small lots to have more natural areas.

Cons of Zoning

  • Can lead to or exacerbate segregation.

  • Needs enforcement.

  • Conservation efforts aren’t permanent and can be changed.

  • May restrict affordable housing (example: Houston has no zoning, more affordable).

Pros of Zoning

  • Helps with conservation/stewardship.

  • Can protect public health.

  • Fosters growth.

Public Land Conservation: Federal Lands

U.S. Forest Service (1905) and Bureau of Land Management

  • Both manage for multiple uses of land (e.g., logging, conservation, tourism, etc.).

National Park Service (1916)

  • Aim: Preserve natural and cultural resources.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (1940)

  • Aim: Manage for habitat preservation.

Preservation Mandate

  • Focuses on preservation—no multi-use, no changes for future generations.

  • National Parks: More strict mandate; need Congress and the President.

  • National Monuments: Declared by the President.

  • National Forests and Preserves: Designated by the President.

  • National Trails: Designated by Congress.

Multiple Use Mandate (USFS & BLM)

  • Renewable resources are/can be used by the people.

  • Uses include: recreation, mining, logging, livestock grazing, watershed management, and habitat conservation.

Shawnee National Forest → Park/Climate Preserve

  • Changing it to a preserve would end multiple uses (no timber harvest, mining, or recreation).

  • Just preserving as is.

  • Shawnee does need prescribed burns—this change could affect species preservation.

Private Land Conservation

Fee Simple vs. Conservation Easement

  • Fee Simple: Full acquisition of all property rights by a land trust or government.

    • Good for management control.

    • Expensive for the land trust/government.

  • Conservation Easement: Development rights are purchased, usually by a land trust or government.

    • Land remains in private ownership (natural or agricultural land).

    • Shared control between landowner and purchaser.

Pros:

  • Conservation values remain.

  • Landowners can still use land with some restrictions.

Cons:

  • Less expensive than fee simple, but more complex.

  • Requires more monitoring.

  • If landowner donates property to conservation easement, they may qualify for property tax deduction.

Important Criteria to Consider When Purchasing Property

For Landowners:

  • Do they want to give up all property rights?

  • Do they want their future generations to have this land?

  • Is the payment/tax deduction worth it?

  • Management for conservation easement is left to them.

For Organizations/Government:

  • Is the payment/loss worth it for the land?

  • Can they actively manage it (fee)?

  • Where does the funding come from?

Private Agricultural Lands Conservation

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

  • Provides technical assistance.

  • Administers EQIP and other conservation programs.

Farm Service Agency (FSA)

  • Keeps records, provides loans, and administers CRP.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

  • Addresses natural resource concerns on agricultural and forest lands.

  • Uses cost share and technical assistance.

  • Example: Concern on water quality due to runoff; promotes conservation practices like cover crops and grassed waterways.

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

  • Goal: Restore natural land cover, improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and provide wildlife habitat.

  • Pays rent to take environmentally sensitive lands out of production.

Farm Bill Agricultural Conservation Payments

  • Voluntary participation.

  • Usually, only 1/4 of applicants are funded, and they are large farms.

  • Short-term contracts; difficult to measure environmental outcomes.

Wildlife: State Management and Federal Endangered Species Act Regulation

Funding for State Wildlife Management

  • 80% comes from hunting and fishing licenses in the states.

  • Money must be spent on game species.

  • There are fewer hunters and fishers today.

Wildlife Action Plans: Purpose and Basic Function

  • For non-game species; aim to keep them off the Endangered Species List.

  • Typically involve habitat protection, restoration, and pollution reduction.

  • Little funding is available for non-game species.

The Illinois Endangered Species Act

  • Covers additional species of concern specific to Illinois.

  • Defines endangered and threatened species.

  • Defines essential habitat for these species.

  • Specifies requirements and penalties for taking or harming listed species.

Basic Functions of the Endangered Species Act

  • It's a regulation that identifies endangered or threatened plants and animals.

  • Ensures that private and governmental actions do not harm them.

Key Players

  • Implementers include:

    • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (terrestrial and freshwater species)

    • National Marine Fisheries Service (marine species)

    • States, municipalities, landowners, industry

Endangered, Threatened, and Listing

  • Endangered: Any species that is in danger of extinction.

  • Threatened: Any species that could become endangered in the foreseeable future.

The Process of Listing:

  1. Petition

  2. Initial review

  3. Substantive review — listing as:

    • Not warranted

    • Warranted but precluded

    • Warranted

  4. Candidate species

  5. Solicit expert and public opinion

  6. Publish final rule/list (or not)

  • The USFWS or NMFS (NOAA) lists critical habitats and must draft and implement recovery plans.

  • ESA protections have critiques (e.g., negative local economic impact, species-focused rather than ecosystem-focused).

  • Critical habitats are only designated when a species is officially listed.

Habitat Conservation Plans

  • A type of planning regulation.

  • Allows limited taking of listed or candidate species in exchange for protective and restorative measures.

  • Typical players: USFWS and landowners.

Municipal Tool Options

  • Regulations

  • Acquisition

Water Quality: Clean Water Act Regulation and Other Tools

Clean Water Act

  • A type of regulation; establishes standards and enforces designated uses of water bodies.

  • Provides funding for treatment upgrades or landscape actions.

  • Involves:

    • State EPA/DNRs

    • U.S. Army Corps

    • U.S. EPA

    • Regulated pollution sources

The Federal EPA

  • Approves/oversees state WOTUS (Waters of the U.S.).

  • They write national rules.

Concerning WOTUS

  • There must be continuous surface connection with navigable waters.

Pollution Sources

  • Point Sources: Direct sources of pollution; require permits.

  • Non-point Sources: Don’t typically need permits; pollution indirectly discharges into waterways.

Implementation Tools under the Clean Water Act (CWA)

  • Financial assistance

  • Standards and assessments — TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Load)
    (A pollution budget for an impaired watershed)

  • Point source permitting (NPDES): Makes discharge legal if they meet tech and water quality limits.

Municipal Tools to Improve Quality

  • Regulations, market-based

  • Ordinances and land-use controls

Air Quality: Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act

  • A regulation with tech-based standards for mobile and stationary sources of pollution.

  • Targets criteria air and hazardous pollutants.

  • The USEPA and state EPA play roles, especially with regulated point sources.

  • Established in 1970.

  • Introduced:

    • NAAQS: National Ambient Air Quality Standards

    • HAPs: Hazardous Air Pollutants

    • CAPs: Criteria Air Pollutants

  • Requires permits.

Stationary Sources

  • Examples: Factories, wildfires, cattle farms, gas.

Area Sources

  • Stationary sources on a smaller scale: farms (cattle), gas stations.

Mobile Sources

  • Trucks, cars, automobiles, boats, airplanes, trains.

Coal-Fired Power Plants Regulation (CAA)

  • Regulated through:

    • New Source Performance Standards

    • Operating Permits

    • National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)

Politics and the EPA

  • West Virginia vs. EPA: EPA developed regulations to regulate power plant emissions. However, it needs clear congressional authorization to implement them (e.g., Clean Power Plan).

  • Massachusetts v. EPA: EPA is implied to be required to regulate carbon emissions.

Hazards: Flooding and Wildfire

Disaster

  • A natural or human-caused event (e.g., tech accident) that results in property damage, deaths, and/or multiple injuries.

Major Disaster

  • Any catastrophe that, in the President’s determination, causes damage of sufficient severity.

Hazard Mitigation

  • Any action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to human life and property.

FEMA’s role in hazard response

  • they run grants, they have the national flood insurance program for before the event

  • during response, they have the national response framework, manage the disaster relief fund.

flooding

  • FEMA has the national flood insurance program, having a map of showing the likely extent of flooding, showing 100 yr flood zones. Buildings in those zones must have insurance. To be eligible for NFIP, communities have to agree to adopt and enforce floodplain management to reduce damage.

Critics: the flood maps are not updated frequently, grant funding unequally allocated.

Local tools for flooding:

regulation, incentives such as storm water fee, market based like impervious-area storm water utility fees.

Wildfires

History of suppression: focused on protecting timber and keeping fires out of forests

4 keys insights

  • more coordination needed through “all hands, all lands”

  • beneficial fire is an underrated and underresourced tool'

  • communities need dedicated support and resources to increase resilience of built environment

  • predictable funding is necessary to rising costs

Fires are becoming more frequent, and bigger

Federal to local: Healthy Forest Restoration Act

  • response to western fires

  • federal fuel reduction on thinning, prescribed fires, mowing

  • community wildfires protection plans (CWPP)

Cross boundary governance: fires continue to cross federal, tribal, state, and private lands.

Fix our Forest Act was proposed: would raise thinning project

U.S. role in international climate

Treaties v Executive Agreements

Treaties: the president signs and 2/3 of senate must consent. becomes both international law and federal law. Major binding obligations that require new legislation

Executive Agreement: sole-executive signature or congressional-executive authority. Valid as long as it fits with existing U.S. statues.

Paris Agreement (2015)

parties are trying to keep global warming from increasing, trying to reduce the global temp increase below 2.0 C

they meet with each other every 5 years to see progress.

There is a discussion on whether wealthier countries that produce more pollution should help smaller countries with reducing their emissions.

Each country must establish a national determined contribution (NDC)

  • sets goals and targets

Challenges though are market failure, the emission gap which is reported an estimate of 2.8 C temp rise at the end of the century.

Tools used to cut down GHG (greenhouse gases)

  • federally, CAA (Clean air act), sets standards for cars.

  • Locally; CAP (Climate action plan), setting emission targets, green0building codes.

  • Other tools could be global carbon tax, proposal to put a price on carbon.

Convention on Biological Diversity

  • international

  • signed by 196 countries excluding the U.S>

  • the first science-based comprehensive agreement to conserve the planet’s biological richness.

Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity

  • to conserve at least 30% of the world’s land and inland waters along withh 30% of coastal and marine areas by 2030.

Policy tools:

Service provision: public management of resources

Market based: payments for ecosystem services

Acquisition: fee simple or conservation easements, easements

Incentive: monetary resources

Education and/or planning:

Symbolic: the implementation/communcation from government with images, language, honors

regulation: mandatory actions