State of the Art for Designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern

This report examines various programs which states have used in identifying areas of critical environmental concern. The report was prepared from material available in March 1974. The conclusions of this report were presented to the Task Force on Natural Resources and Land Use Information and Technology. The Task Force is sponsored by the Council of State Governments under a grant from the Resource and Land Information (RALI) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey and in cooperation with the Office of Land Use and Water Planning, U.S. Department of the Interior. Areas of critical environmental concern are one of six major problem areas which the Task Force considered in its study of the institutional, technical, and financial problems which States encounter in their use of natural resources and land use information and in establishing related planning and regulatory programs. The text of this paper refers to the national land planning legislation that was considered by Congress during 1973-74. Although no land use legislation was enacted by the 93rd Session, the bills passed by the Senate and reported favorably by the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs represent more than three years of work by Congress and its staff in this field and the results of extensive hearings, testimony, and revisions.