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e-NEWS and NOTES: A Biweekly Bulletin
of FAPA |
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February 28, 2003
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STATE AND FEDERAL HIGHLIGHTS
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GRANTS, FUNDING, & RFPS
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REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS
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OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
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FAPA/AICP NEWS, INFORMATION &
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FAPA MEETINGS AND OTHER EVENTS
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On February 11, 2003, a
unanimous vote by Governor Bush and the Florida
Cabinet approved the acquisition of
environmentally significant land that created a
16,000-acre conservation corridor in St. Johns
County. DEP joined with the St. Johns River WMD to
purchase 8,465 acres of the Northeast Florida
Blueway, a chain of marshes and tidal lands.
Encompassing uplands and wetlands, the property
contains 17 types of natural communities and more
than 70 species listed by the Florida Natural
Areas Inventory. DEP’s Division of Recreation and
Parks and the Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services’ Division of Forestry will
manage the property. To read more, go to
www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/comm/2003/february/0211.htm.
On
Thursday, February 13, 2003, U.S. Transportation
Secretary Norman Y. Mineta announced completion of
a test for a federally sponsored intermodal
freight operation project that could mean cost
savings and security benefits for future freight
movements. The announcement affirms the
Administration’s commitment to ensuring
first-class security and efficient movement of
freight into and within America. In addition,
state-of-the-art ITS technologies employed in the
operational test will play an important role in
securing freight as it moves throughout the
country. The test was for a project formally known
as the Electronic Supply Chain Manifest system
(ESCM), jointly funded by the Department of
Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation
Systems (ITS) program, the Federal Aviation
Administration, and the state of Illinois, with
technical assistance from DOT’s Office of
Intermodalism. The test incorporated technologies
that allow positive identification of the person
responsible for the cargo and tracking
capabilities for cargo movement within
transportation modes as well as from one mode to
another. The two modes involved in this test were
primarily trucking and aviation, but the
technologies have potential for rail and marine
applications as well. More than 200 persons were
enrolled in the system, representing almost 40
companies. The operational test final report is
available on the DOT’s ITS website at
www.its.dot.gov/. Source: National Association of
Regional Councils.
The U.S. Department of
the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management will
shortly begin the process of drastically
overhauling many of its policies and regulations
governing grazing on public lands in an effort to
speed permit approvals for the ranching industry.
The regulatory changes would include streamlining
the appeals process relating to grazing decisions,
eliminating a requirement that the Bureau consult
with the “interested public” while considering
management actions and re-emphasizing that
environmental reviews consider the economic,
social and cultural impacts of the Bureau’s
actions. Further information may be found by going
to
www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2003/pr030130_grazing.htm.
Source: National Association of Regional
Councils
President Bush’s plan to spend
more than $1 billion to boost the production of
hydrogen fuel cells would have the net effect of
restructuring the Department of Energy’s renewable
energy program. Under the plan, some research
funds from wind and solar development would shift
to traditional energy sources such as nuclear and
coal-fired generators for use in hydrogen
production. The Administration proposes to spend
$1.2 billion — $720 million in new funding — over
the next five years to, among other things,
develop an infrastructure to produce, store and
distribute hydrogen for use in fuel cells, while
advancing technologies for hydrogen-powered
automobiles. The Administration is touting the
plan as a major environmental initiative that
boosts overall energy security by reducing the
Nation’s dependence on foreign oil. According to
senior representatives from the Administration,
hydrogen can offer an abundant source of clean
energy, noting that vehicles powered by hydrogen
fuel cells produce only water vapor as exhaust.
Source: National Association of Regional
Councils
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney
(R) announced a set of priorities and initiatives
designed to reign in excessive new transportation
projects, prioritize fixing existing
infrastructure, and give communities more say in
determining the shape and scope of transportation
projects in the state. According to Governor
Romney, the new 'fix it first approach' will allow
the state to repair and improve state roads and
bridges while working to prevent suburban sprawl
by focusing available state money on these
projects. The Governor's new Communities First
initiative is designed to give local communities
more control and input in designing road and
bridge projects. Key to this effort is a plan to
retool the state Highway Department's design
manual to incorporate greater local involvement
and to simplify the decision-making process.
Additionally, Governor Romney plans to appoint an
ombudsman to advocate for local concerns, and to
place a 'heightened emphasis' on plans that
feature bicycle and pedestrian projects. The full
press release may be found at
mass.gov/portal/govPR.jsp?gov_pr=gov_pr_030127_communitiesfirst.xml.
Source: Surface Transportation Policy
Project
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SMART GROWTH READER is a
member’s only service from APA. The term “smart
growth” is everywhere, front and center, in
conferences, newspaper columns, books, state
legislation, local plans, and zoning ordinances.
It stirs up strong emotions, pro and con, and
everyone seems to have a unique take on what it
means, where it came from, whether we need it, and
how it is carried out. Yet there is no doubt that,
however defined, it is signifying a sea change in
how we plan America's communities. As an aid to
taking in this vast topic, APA has prepared Smart
Growth Reader, drawing on articles that have
appeared in APA own publications over the past two
years: Planning, the PAS Memo, Zoning News, and
Land Use Law & Zoning Digest. Intended as a
rich compendium of perspectives on the smart
growth, the reader is grouped into seven sections:
Definitions and Critiques; Tools; Environment and
Open Space; Legal Issues; Center Cities; Suburban
and Regional Issues; and Small Towns and Rural
Areas. To access the site, go to
www.planning.org/SGReader/index.htm. Don’t
forget—you will need your APA member number to
access the information.
On February 18,
2003, the Florida Department of Transportation
transmitted to Governor Jeb Bush, Senate President
Jim King, and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd the
following report: “Macroeconomic Impacts of the
Florida Department of Transportation Work
Program.” This study was prepared pursuant to a
Florida legislative requirement, passed in 2000,
to analyze the macroeconomic implications of
transportation investments and to provide an
understanding about how transportation impacts the
state’s competitive position. A more thorough
listing of the relevant legislative mandate(s) may
be found in Sections 334.046(4)(b) and
339.137(2)(b), F.S. The objective of the study was
to estimate the macroeconomic impacts of the
Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT)
five-year Work Program (2002/2003 through
2006/2007). This macroeconomic analysis
establishes the link between Work Program
investment in highways, transit, and rail over the
next five years, and economic growth in Florida
over the next 25 years. To download a copy of the
report, go to
www11.myflorida.com/Planning/policy/pdfs/macroimpacts.pdf
The
Governor’s Office of Program Policy and Government
Accountability (OPPAGA) recently completed a
justification review of DEP’s Water Resource
management Program. They found that while the
Water Resource Management Program met legislative
performance standards, various pollutants still
threatened surface and ground water. To increase
effectiveness, OPPAGA recommended that DEP should
improve its processes for identifying impaired
water bodies and for evaluating the effectiveness
of various practices in reducing Total Maximum
Daily Loads; strengthen financial responsibility
requirements for phosphate mining companies; and
continue to evaluate wetland mitigation on clay
settling areas and ensure that prototype
mitigation sites are successful before giving
widespread approval to the practice. The full
report may be found at
www.oppaga.state.fl.us/reports/environ/r03-12s.html.
OPPAGA also reviewed DEP’s progress in
implementing the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
Program. As background, in 1999 the Florida
Legislature enacted the Watershed Protection Act
in response to a federal lawsuit that was filed
against the Environmental Protection Agency for
its failure to enforce the TMDL provisions in the
federal Clean Water Act. The review defines a TMDL
as the amount of each pollutant a water body can
receive without violating water quality standards.
The TMDLs are intended to be a quantitative
analysis of water bodies where one or more water
quality standards are not being met, and to
identify management strategies necessary to attain
those water quality standards. As part of the
Watershed Protection Act, DEP was required to
establish a priority ranking and a schedule for
analyzing impaired waters. To date, according to
the OPPAGA report, very few TMDLs have been
established for Florida waters. Of particular
concern to Florida and the DEP appears to be the
costs associated with the development of TMDLs and
the basin management plans. To read more, go to
www.flsenate.gov/cgi-bin/View_Page.pl?File=index.html&Directory=Publications/2003/Senate/reports/interim_reports/&Tab=committees.
The
Institute of Transport Studies at the University
of California, Berkeley, has issued a citizen's
handbook, Environmental Justice and Transportation
Handbook, designed to help those who are new to
transportation decision processes influence how
environmental justice is incorporated into
decisions about transportation policy and
projects. For more information, visit
www.its.berkeley.edu/publications/ejhandbook/ejhandbook.html.
The Department of Transportation’s Bureau
of Transportation Statistics has issued a Pocket
Guide to Transportation 2003 that includes
extensive statistical information on America’s
transportation systems. A copy of the document may
be downloaded from the Department’s website at:
www.bts.gov/publications/pocketguide/.
FROM USA TODAY (www.usatoday.com)
Preoccupied with state deficits that may reach a
total of $26 billion by June 30, ''governors are
talking more about promoting economic growth than
controlling development,'' reports USA Today
writer Haya El Nasser, quoting National Governors
Association's (NGA) natural resource policy
studies director Joel Hirschhorn, who says,
''There are other issues crowding out 'smart
growth','' but who also stresses that ''growth
management issues are stronger than ever.''
Although only ''a handful of the 42 governors who
have delivered state of the state speeches this
year mentioned sprawl,'' the writer notes, several
did support ''growth limits'' as priorities for
2003. She mentions New Jersey Governor James
McGreevey, who ''proposed the toughest land-use
laws in the state's history,'' along with
construction moratoria for willing towns; Delaware
Governor Ruth Ann Minner, who asked for
legislation to require ''cities and counties to
adopt a growth-management plan;'' Michigan
Governor Jennifer Granholm, who formed a
bipartisan Land Use Leadership Council, saying
''agriculture, forestry, mining and tourism are
all threatened by urban sprawl'' -- all three
Democrats -- and Massachusetts Republican Governor
Mitt Romney, who did not invoke sprawl in his
speech, but ''appointed an environmentalist
(Douglas Foy) to head the state office that
oversees housing, transportation and the
environment.'' Smart growth advocates are
confident governors ''have not abandoned'' the
movement, the writer point out, noting that voters
''are keeping up the pressure,'' approving 141 of
last year's 189 state and local conservation
ballot measures, which raised $10 billion,
including $5.5 billion for land protection. -- USA
Today 2/11/2003
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST
WRITERS GROUP: Can Suburbia Develop Real Urban
Centers by Neal Peirce. Read the commentary at
www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/peir0210.htm.
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ATTENTION FAPA LEGISLATIVE
WORKSHOP ATTENDEES: Please provide us with your
feedback regarding FAPA’s 2003 Legislative
Workshop, held February 19-20, 2003 in
Tallahassee. This brief survey will assist us in
making next year’s workshop even better. To
complete the survey, click on the link at the
bottom of this section, or go to
temp.visplan.com/events/survey_legis_2003.asp.
CALL
FOR PRESENTATIONS for the September 3-6, 2003 FAPA
Conference at the Breakers is now posted on the
FAPA website at www.floridaplanning.org.
Presentation topics include: water/environment;
new towns/redevelopment; practical and
professional skill development; and hot issues,
such as addressing the true cost of development,
disaster and security planning, growth management,
and schools. All proposals and questions should be
directed to Garrison@palmbeach.k12.fl.us.
DEADLINE: March 15, 2003.
AICP
Candidates—don’t forget to register for the Sun
Coast Section’s AICP Exam Prep Seminar, April
11-12, 2003 in historic Ybor City. For more
information, go to
www.floridaplanning.org/whats_new.htm or contact
Wiatt Bowers at (813) 282-7275, ext.
380.
The AICP Study Group information on
FAPA’s website is once again updated. The Treasure
Coast Section and Gold Coast Section are now
conducting study groups. For more information, go
to:
www.floridaplanning.org/events/aicp/aicp_2003.htm
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The Florida Communities
Trust announces the opening of the third Florida
Forever application cycle on March 27, 2003.
Approximately $66,000,000 (unless otherwise
allocated by the Legislature) will be available
this funding cycle for grants to local governments
and nonprofit
environmental organizations to
acquire land for conservation, open space and
outdoor recreation purposes. The deadline for
submitting applications to FCT is 6:00 pm (EST),
June 10, 2003. For a copy of the grant application
form (FCT/FF-2) or more information about the
grant program, please visit the FCT website at
www.dca.state.fl.us/ffct.
The Emerald Coast
Bridge Authority, Fort Walton Beach, Florida is
seeking development of a final Traffic and Revenue
Report for the construction of a transportation
facility or facilities, connected Fort Walton
Beach with Okaloosa Island. The following services
are anticipated to develop the Report for the
project: (1) Develop the study design for origin
and destination surveys and traffic counts to be
accomplished through the West Florida Regional
Planning Council; (2) Develop a Traffic and
Revenue Report that will be acceptable to take to
the bond market. All proposals must be received on
or before 4:00 p.m. (CST) Thursday, March 6, 2003
at the following address: Emerald Coast Bridge
Authority, c/o Okaloosa County Board of
Commissioners; Attn: Ms. Sandi Mack; 1804 Lewis
Turner Blvd.; Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547. All
short listed firms will be required to provide a
15-minute presentation at the March 13, 2003,
meeting of the Emerald Coast Bridge Authority. For
details or additional information, contact Jay A.
Odom, Chairman, Emerald Coast Bridge Authority, at
(850) 654-4126.
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Effective November 1, 2003,
local mitigation plans will be required as a
condition of a project grant under the
Pre-disaster Mitigation Program. Effective
November 1, 2004, States will be required to have
an approved State Mitigation plan to receive
non-emergency disaster assistance and local
mitigation plans will be required as a condition
of a project grant under the Hazard Mitigation
Grant Program (HMGP). If States don't have a plan,
they won't be eligible to receive non-emergency,
disaster assistance.. On this date, localities
will also be required to have a mitigation plan in
place before they can receive HMGP funding as a
subgrantee. Up until that date, they can develop a
plan concurrently with the implementation of HMGP
funded projects. The new planning requirements may
be found in the following two links to rules in
the Federal Register:
www.fema.gov/txt/library/fr02_24998.txt
www.fema.gov/txt/library/fr02-4321.txt
Clackamas
County, Oregon was the first FEMA approved Hazard
Mitigation Plan to be accepted in the nation. It
took them over a year to complete it. They had one
staff person working on it full-time and about 20
other officials contributing. To link to the
county plan, follow the steps
below:
1. Go
to their homepage: www.co.clackamas.or.us
2.
Click on Homeland Security News in the top right
corner
3. Scroll down and on the bottom left
side is the Natural Hazards Mitigation, click on
that.
For further information contact Cindy
Kolomechuck at 503-723-4848 or
cindykol@co.clackamas.or.us. Source: National
Association of Development
Organizations
CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE: The
mission of the Center for Sustaining Agriculture
and
Natural Resources (CSANR) is to develop and
foster agriculture and natural resource management
approaches that are economically viable,
environmentally sound, and socially acceptable.
This site informs visitors about sustainable
agriculture and natural resources and provides
information on agriculture facilitation,
networking, funding, and education programs. The
site features also include
a calendar of
upcoming events and library of CSANR publications.
The URL is csanr.wsu.edu/.
JOBMARTS Posted
since February 14, 2003:
Senior Planner (City
of Titusville)
Development Supervisor (City of
Titusville)
Director of Planning, Zoning, &
Building (Putnam County)
Planning & Zoning
Manager (Bay County)
Senior Planner/Principal
Planner (Orange County)
Urban Design Planner
(Orange County)
Economic Development
Coordinator (City of Plantation)
Urban Designer
(Martin County)
Planner (City of Temple
Terrace)
Grants Coordinator (Nassau
County)
Senior Planner/CDBG (City of
Deltona)
Senior Planner/Urban Design (City of
Deltona)
VISIT
www.floridaplanning.org/jobs2.asp for salaries,
descriptions, minimum requirements, and
application deadlines.
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FAPA CHAPTER AND SECTION
AFFAIRS:
March 14, 2003: FAPA Committee
Meetings and Executive Committee Meetings in
Orlando.
March 29-April 2, 2003: APA
National Conference in Denver, Colorado. Go to
www.planning.org/2003conference/ for registration
and program information. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY FOR
ON-LINE REGISTRATION.
April 11-12, 2003:
Sun Coast Section’s annual AICP Exam Prep Seminar,
Hilton Garden Inn, Ybor City; $150 registration;
sponsored by Mark Bentley, Esq., AICP of Gray,
Harris & Robinson, P.A. and PBS&J. For
registration information, contact Wiatt Bowers at
(813) 282-7275, ext. 380, or go to
www.floridaplanning.org/whats_new.htm#prep
May 8-10, 2003: FAPA Committee Meetings
(first day, if needed) and FAPA Executive
Committee Retreat in St. Petersburg. Details to
follow.
June 20, 2003: FAPA Executive
Committee meeting to adopt budget, strategic plan,
and legislative platform. Details to
follow.
September 3, 2003: Executive
Committee Meeting (Palm Beach) in conjunction with
the FAPA Annual Conference. Details to
follow.
September 3-6, 2003: FAPA Annual
Conference at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach.
Information coming soon!
OTHER SCHEDULED
EVENTS:
March 4, 2003: The Federal
Brownfields Partnership Workshop—New Opportunities
to Work with Federal and State Agencies;
Harborview Center, 300 Cleveland Street,
Clearwater, Florida; $25 registration fee;
register at www.nalgep.org; direct questions to
(202) 638-6254.
March 4, 2003: Building
Partnerships and Resource Networks Workshop; Hal
P. Marston Community Center, 3933 Country Club
Drive, Orlando; sponsored by DCA to facilitate
program coordination and utilization among many
service providers with an emphasis on services to
low-income households; to obtain a registration
form or for further information, contact Hilda
Frazier or Robert Hunter at (850)
488-7541.
April 21-22, 2003: Artful
Business—A Forum on Arts-Based Development
Strategies; Sponsored by the University of
Florida’s College of Design, Construction, an
Planning; Doubletree Hotel & Conference
Center, Gainesville; to register or for more
information, go to
www.doce-conferences.ufl.edu/urban/
May
6-7, 2003 and June 3-4, 2003: Building Consensus
Solutions to Florida’s Public Problems; sponsored
by the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium and
cosponsored by FAPA. Details to follow.
May 18-21, 2003: Transportation Research
Board Statewide Transportation Planning Conference
in the Florida Keys. Contact: Kimberly Fisher at
kfisher@nas.edu or go to
www4.nationalacademies.org/trb/calendar.nsf for
further information.
May 29-30, 2003: DCA’s
2003 Growth Management Workshop; FSU Center for
Professional Development, Tallahassee; cosponsored
by the Florida Regional Councils Association and
FAPA. Continuing Professional Development Credits
will be available. More details TBA.
June
9-13, 2003: Governor’s Hurricane Conference, Tampa
Convention Center. For Conference Information
please call: (727) 944-2724, (800) 544-5678 or
visit the conference website at: www.flghc.org.
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