Areas of Practice (12%) Flashcards
Is there consensus about what constitutes a comprehensive plan?
No.
What two acts is the comprehensive plan rooted in?
- SZEA (1926) - The Standard Zoning Enabling Act
- SCPEA (1928) - The Standard City Planning Enabling Act
What does the SZEA (1926) - The Standard Zoning Enabling Act state about comprehensive plans?
SZEA states that zoning regulations must be “in conformance with a comprehensive plan” but did not define the term.
What does the SCPEA (1928) - The Standard City Planning Enabling Act state about comprehensive plans?
SCPEA purposely avoided defining the comprehensive plan but gives examples of the subject matter. It’s vague and differs by state.
What is the bottom-line message of PAS QuickNotes 54 regarding The Value of Planning?
Comprehensive planning is important to do for economic, environmental and social reasons. If you don’t have a comprehensive plan, much of what you do is reactive.
This QuickNotes articulates what the benefit of comprehensive planning actually is. “Plans based on the best available information and the most inclusive processes…far outweigh the investment of resources in the planning process.”
Why did the two acts from the 1920’s cause confusion about comprehensive planning?
SZEA and SCPEA don’t provide a definition for what a “comprehensive plan” is.
What are the 5 basic steps of plan-making?
- Identify stakeholders
- Define goals
- Gather info & analysis
- Develop alternatives
- Select an alternative
What are the two main steps for implementing a comprehensive plan?
- Set a budget
- Lay out action steps for implementation
What are two comprehensive plan processes that should happen at regular intervals?
Evaluation and amendment
What are the 5 strategic points of intervention - the most important activities planners do for making a change in the world? (PAS QuickNotes 31).
- Long-range community visioning
- Plan making
- Standards, policies, and incentives (conceive and draft these things eg. zoning)
- Development work (influence outcomes of redevelopment plans)
- Public investments (planners can affect these decisions)
What are the 10 basic principles of Smart Growth?
- Mix land uses
- Compact building design
- Create range of housing opportunities
- Walkable neighborhoods
- Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place.
- Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas.
- Strengthen and direct development toward existing communities (as opposed to sprawl)
- Provide a variety of transport options
- Make development decisions fair, predictable, and cost effective.
- Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.
What is the APA’s definition of Smart Growth?
“using comprehensive planning to guide, design, develop, revitalize, and build communities for all, that:
- have a unique sense of place
- preserve and enhance natural and cultural resources
- equitably distribute costs and benefits of development
- expand transportation, housing, and employment options
- value long-range regional considerations of sustainability
- promote public health and healthy communities”
What type of community epitomizes the application of the principles of Smart Growth?
compact, transit-accessible, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development patterns, and land reuse
Infrastructure costs per unit ___________ as housing density increases.
Decrease
What is the urban growth boundary? (Smart Growth)
UGB separates urban areas from natural and agricultural lands, limiting how far cities can expand.
Oregon setting precedence for this. Purpose is to stop sprawl development/encourage sustainable growth.
What is a greenfield? (Smart Growth)
A previously undeveloped property on the urban fringe, often farmland.
What is a brownfield? (Smart Growth)
An abandoned industrial site with environmental contamination of some sort.
What is a grayfield? (Smart Growth)
An abandoned industrial or commercial site that is ready for redevelopment (eg. parking lot with no soil contamination)
What is infill? (Smart Growth)
Development in an established area of the city where development is already occurring.
What is Land Capability Analysis? (Smart Growth)
Analyzes the geologic, hydrologic, soil, and other physical data of land to estimate the cost that physical conditions will impose on the development.
What is Land Suitability Analysis? (Smart Growth)
Focuses more broadly on where we should we have development and where we should not develop.
comes from Ian McHarg - his work also formed the basis for GIS analysis
Who is Ian McHarg?
A landscape architect and writer on regional planning using natural systems.
This author’s work formed the basis for GIS analysis.
What does smart growth mean for the housing sector?
Smart growth principles promote compact, transit-served housing as well as providing a range of housing opportunities and choices.
What is the difference between land capability analysis and land suitability analysis?
Land capability analysis analyzes physical data to estimate the cost of land development, while Land suitability analysis is broader and focuses on where development SHOULD occur.
What are the three neighborhood sizes?
- Face Block (small)
- Residential neighborhood (cluster of face blocks)
- Institutional neighborhood
What is the “face block” neighborhood size?
(neighborhood size = small)
all lots on a block fronting on a public or private street - both sides of a street and the houses facing it.
Traffic impacts the level of connection on a street. - Donald Appleyard
________ impacts the level of connection on a street. - Donald Appleyard
Traffic
Who is Donald Appleyard?
he wrote several books including:
- The View from the Road (1963),
- Planning a Pluralistic City (1967),
- The Conservation of European Cities (1979),
- Improving the Residential Street Environment (1981),
- and Livable Streets (1981).
What is the “residential neighborhood” size?
a cluster of face blocks and they’re all connected to each other
What is the “institutional neighborhood” size?
Several residential neighborhoods that encompass a larger catchment area of an institution like a school system or hospital.
How is face-block neighborhood different from a residential neighborhood?
The face-block neighborhood refers to two sides of a street on one or two blocks while a residential neighborhood is larger and consists of a cluster of face-block neighborhoods.
What are the different types of plans and drawings?
- Elevation
- Plan
- Section
- Isometric Drawing (good for 3D review)
What is a Soil Survey Map?
maps out all soil types in your state or county
developed by the National Resources Conservation Service
distributed by the USDA
What does an Elevation Map look like?
What is a FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)?
Identifies land that has at least a 1% chance of flooding in any given year. The 1-percent annual chance flood is also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood.
Can be used as a base map.
Special Flood Hazard Area delineated on this map = high-risk zone
What is a topo map?
USGS Topographic Map has contour lines.
Boundaries are indicated with different dashed lines. Roads and highways also indicated.
Not really used for site planning because the scale is too large to show enough detail on a particular site.
What is a USGS quad map?
A topo map with a scale of 1:24,000
What is an orthophoto map?
eg. Google Earth and google maps uses orthoimagery data
combines visual attributes of an aerial photograph with spatial accuracy and reliability of a planimetric map.
USGS maintains these maps; high-resolution data.
The USGS National Map is available online.
What is a planimetric map?
involves the creation of maps that show only the horizontal position of features on the Earth’s surface.
high-resolution satellite imagery or aerial photographs; this map depicts features horizontally and vertically and the accurate distances between them
3D planimetric data is useful in many ways for spatial analysis.
What is the Public Land Survey?
The majority of the land in the US was laid out and partitioned under the US Public Land Survey after the US reached independence in the late 1700s. The idea was to dispose of the land quickly in the West.
Logical, orderly system to parceling out land in the US.
What are the 5 things that Site Plan Review usually includes?
Every jurisdiction is different but they usually include:
- Location map
- Site plan
- Grading plan
- Zoning, setbacks, parking
- Drainage system
(no financial information or demographics)
APA Color Schemes
APA did a color study in 1994 and came up with land-based classification standards/a land-use color coding standard. There’s a different color for each land use.
Who provides soil survey maps?
The USDA
What is the scale of a topo map and is it useful for site planning?
Scale: 1:24,000
Not useful for site planning because the scale is too large to be detailed enough for site planning.
What is the difference between sustainability and resiliency?
Sustainability is about not compromising resources needed in the future. Resiliency goes beyond sustainability to address systems that have already been compromised.
There is overlap in indicators in sustainable and resilient cities though.
Resiliency is a key principle in defending the need for urban sustainability.
What is the definition of sustainability?
Providing for the needs of the present without compromising resources needed to meet future needs.
What is the difference between mitigation and adaptation?
Mitigation is the reduction of greenhouse gases, for example.
Adaptation is about confronting the impacts of climate change rather than actually reducing greenhouse gases.
From a planning perspective, we should be doing both.
What is Net Zero?
Carbon neutrality. focused on ENERGY USE, not on building design.
a greenhouse gas strategy where you want to have a net zero carbon footprint - balancing carbon released with an equivalent amount that is offset.
A Net Zero building produces as much energy (or more) than it uses.
a concept that comes up in sustainability
What is the R rating of insulation?
Recommendation is an R rating of 49 in Northern climates.
The R rating is even better than increasing the energy efficiency of appliances.
What is a green building?
LEED building ratings of various kinds about building design.
What is the difference between a green building and net zero/carbon neutral?
Carbon neutral/net zero focus on energy use of the building while a green building is more concerned about building design.
What are State Climate Action Plans?
involves greenhouse gas emissions, understanding what the inventory is, what the targets are for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Typically about:
-promoting land use patterns that might reduce VMT
-promoting multimodal transportation systems
-regulation of utilities to require efficiency
-newer plans cover hazards management issues like permafrost thawing in Alaska or saltwater intrusion in Florida
What is a “net zero” building?
A building that produces as much energy as it uses in a given time period.
What 4 things does planning for sustainable material and waste management involve?
- Disposal
- Recycling
- Recovery
- Diversion
What is meant by “recovery” in material and waste management?
Recovery is about energy recovery from incineration or landfill gas or extraction from advanced processing.
What is meant by “diversion” in material and waste management?
Diversion is about diverting waste from disposal, landfill, and incineration.
Disposal prevention by reuse or recycling or composting.
What are 5 short-term considerations when it comes to thinking about material and waste management?
-public safety & health
-waste prevention/reduction
-clean air, water, and land
-polluter pays
-cost minimization
What are 6 long-term considerations when it comes to thinking about material and waste management?
-post-care of closed facilities
-long-term monitoring of facilities
-material mgmt and resource planning
-generational equity
-job creation
-self-reliance
What are the 3 main goals/themes of sustainable material and waste management?
- Environmentally Responsible
- Socially Accountable
- Economically Efficient
_______________ play a significant role when it comes to reducing VMT. (climate change)
Land use patterns
__________________ should be employed to discourage private auto use. (climate change)
Transportation and parking policies
From a climate change perspective, why should we be providing a range of housing opportunities?
Because it decreases commuting.
What are __ examples of findings in APA’s Climate Change Policy Guide?
-Preservation of historic buildings
-Green building standards
-Range of housing opportunities
-Renewables
-Encourage development where there are not hazards
-Water conservation
-Growing food for local consumption
-Centralized facilities equipped with communications
-Sea level is rising
-Cap and trade system for carbon emissions
Why are green spaces a good thing when it comes to climate change?
Green spaces are natural carbon sinks.
What are climate models?
important tools that help communities anticipate and respond to a wide range of possibilities resulting from climate change - very proactive.
What three things should climate change policies vary based on?
- Size
- Economy
- Ecosystem
What is the cap and trade system for carbon emissions?
A system that limits total emissions from a group of emitters by setting a “cap” on maximum emissions.
A market-based policy to reduce overall emissions of pollutants and encourage business investment in fossil fuel alternatives and energy efficiency.
What are ecosystem services?
Mostly provided on land that is privately owned. 56% of US forest land is privately owned.
What are the 4 types of ecosystem services?
- Supporting
- Provisioning
- Regulating
- Cultural
What are “Supporting” ecosystem services?
ecosystem services not used directly by people, but which are necessary for all
other ecosystem services
Eg. soil formation, photosynthesis, and nutrient and water cycling
What are “Provisioning” ecosystem services?
products produced by ecosystems that are used by or directly impact human populations
Eg. food, fuel, and fresh water
What are “Regulating” ecosystem services?
relate to ecosystem process regulation: pollination, air quality, climate, and water
What are “Cultural” ecosystem services?
human benefits obtained through ecosystem services like cultural diversity, recreational opportunities, or aesthetic amenities
What are the 4 tools that planners can use to protect ecosystem services? (Ecosystem Services PAS QuickNotes)
- Land acquisition (the purchase of land for conservation or management by local gov’t, land trust, or conservancy)
- Conservations easements (where the owner keeps the property in private ownership but development is prohibited or certain uses
are restricted) - Tax incentives (tax abatements and tax credits that landowners can take - eg. a deduction of 50 percent of their income for donating a conservation easement for 15 years OR qualifying farmers
and ranchers can deduct up to 100 percent of their income) - Sustainable land management programs (promote ongoing mgmt of resources for productive use. Eg. the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Stewardship Program provides assistance to landowners through the state and private forestry program to promote land stewardship and agroforestry practices for long-term sustainability)
According to APA, what does housing have to do with climate change?
Climate change can be addressed through compact housing design, preservation of existing housing stock, and a provision of a range of housing opportunities.
The transportation sector is responsible for _______ of overall greenhouse gas emissions.
1/3
What are modal stovepipes in transportation?
What are MPOs?
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are regional planning agencies that are almost exclusively planning and programming entities.
It is up to cities, counties, transit agencies, and state DOTs to implement the plans of the MPOs.
What is VMT?
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) per capita.
VMT is calculated as the total annual miles of vehicle travel divided by the total population in a state.
What is better choice for surface transportation when comparing motorcoach/bus and Amtrak?
Bus transportation is better because:
-it requires less government subsidy (it is profitable)
-it has MUCH less VOC emissions
-it has MUCH less carbon dioxide emissions.
-fare is cheaper and more scheduling options anyway
I’d be interested to know what is better in comparing Amtrak to surface travel by car.
Is Amtrak more environmentally efficient than traveling by car or plane?
According to the 2021 U.S. Department of Energy Data Book, Amtrak is 46% more energy efficient than traveling by car and 34% more energy efficient than domestic air travel.
What does LOS stand for?
Level of Service - relevant most often as it relates to transportation/traffic service
What is Level of Service (LOS) A?
Free flow of traffic with low traffic volume and high speeds.
Best LOS!
What is Level of Service (LOS) B?
Reasonably free stable flow of traffic, with a high degree of freedom to select speed
What is Level of Service (LOS) C?
Restricted stable flow of traffic, with significant interactions with others in the traffic stream; declining general level of comfort and convenience.
Mostly stable but speed and maneuverability are somewhat constricted by volume of cars on the road.
What is Level of Service (LOS) D?
Approaching unstable flow. High density traffic flow where speed and freedom to maneuver are severely restricted.
Flow is stable but comfort and convenience have declined.
What is Level of Service (LOS) E?
Unstable flow of traffic at or near capacity with poor levels of comfort and convenience.
2nd to worst LOS.
What is Level of Service (LOS) F?
The Worst LOS. Forced or breakdown flow of traffic. Constant traffic jam stop-and-go.
Poor travel times. Low comfort and convenience. Increased accident exposure.
What is Volume to Capacity Ratio?
the number of vehicles passing through an intersection divided by the number of vehicles it’s designed to handle
What is a Traffic Analysis Zone (TAZ)?
Used in mathematical traffic/transportation planning model.
TAZ is the area to be studied, divided into zones. Each zone is identified as producing or attracting trips. Defined by Census Bureau/data.
Very similar to Census tracts. Might be used in employment projections - tabulating traffic-related data–especially journey-to-work and place-of-work statistics
What is Trip Distribution?
Trip distribution refers to the number of trips originating and ending at place to place.
the estimation of the # of vehicles that travel from one location to another.
Eg. you are considering how to create an appropriate mix of land uses that would result in appropriate movement across the subarea. As part of this study, you need to understand how many vehicles will travel from one particular place to another place.
What is a Travel Demand Model?
Travel demand models use current travel behavior to predict future travel patterns from a sample of travel behavior data. These are a critical tool for planners who use them to forecast the transportation needs of the communities they serve (predicts travel demand).
Includes 4 steps.
What are the 4 steps of the Travel Demand Model?
- Trip generation (volume of trip origins and destinations)
- Trip distribution (across TAZs)
- Modal split
- Trip assignment - pathways used by each trip
What is an Origin-Destination Survey?
Conducted to understand the pattern and distribution of daily vehicular trips.
There are different spikes in vehicular use at different times of the day based on the type of trip (eg. commute, personal/family/shop, school/church, social/recreational)
Non-work trips add to congestion.
What is a Traffic Calming and Traffic Safety Investigation?
An evaluation conducted by the DOT that responds to citizen concerns like traffic speed, volume, and type, and aggressive driving behaviors.
Assessments are performed within defined geographic areas like blocks. Outcomes of this investigation may include a reduction in traffic speed or improved general safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.
What is a bulb-out/”neck-down”?
(traffic calming tool)
A curb extension! Usually at an intersection, that narrows the vehicular pathway to inhibit fast turns and shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians.
Like the annoying ones they have in Allegheny Commons
What is a chicane?
(traffic calming tool)
A series of fixed objects, usually extensions of the curb, which alter a straight roadway into a zigzag or serpentine path to slow vehicles.
What is a choker/”mid-block crossing”?
(traffic calming tool)
A narrowing of a fixed street, often in the middle of a block or near an intersection. A choker can be done with curb extensions, landscaping, or islands in the street.
Chokers are curb extensions that narrow a street by widening the sidewalks or planting strips, effectively creating a pinch point along the street.
Narrowing of the main road section is referred to as a “choke” or “mid-block crossing.”
What are three ways of adding a choker/”mid-block crossing” to the street?
- Curb extensions
- Landscaping
- Islands in the street
What are “vertical deflections” in traffic calming?
Eg. raised intersections, speed bumps
What are “horizontal shifts” in traffic calming?
Eg. Chicanes, traffic circles
What are examples of road narrowing/”horizontal deflections” in traffic calming?
Eg. Bulb-outs/neck-downs, and chokers/mid-block crossings
Techniques that narrow points along the roadway so that drivers are forced to slow to negotiate the narrowed points.
What is the difference between a choker/mid-block crossing and a neck-down/bulb-out?
a “choke” or “mid-block crossing” narrowing of the MAIN ROAD SECTION while a “neck-down” or “bulb-out” narrows at an intersection.
The purpose fo both is to shorten pedestrian crossing distances and slow car traffic turning at intersections.
Traffic calming methods that improve pedestrian safety.
Does traffic calming involve getting rid of on-street parking?
No, on-street parking contributes to traffic calming.
What is the difference between horizontal and vertical traffic calming?
Vertical traffic calming refers to things like raised intersections and speed bumps.
Horizontal traffic calming refers to horizontal shifts like traffic circles. A horizontal deflection hinders the ability of a motorist to drive in a straight line by creating a horizontal shift in the roadway.
What 5 themes does Complete Streets intersect with?
-Multi-modal/multi-user
-Bike and pedestrian compatibility
-Economic activity
-Green infrastructure
-Street furniture/pedestrian amenities (eg. trash receptacles)
What is the goal of Complete Streets?
Provide for streets to accommodate multiple users and goals. You want to be very integrative: thinking about goals of economic development and green ,
What is the message of Donald Shoup’s book The Cost of Free Parking?
There is an oversupply of free parking (99% of parking is free in the US), which is making driving less expensive when we should not be subsidizing it.
What are 8 things that planners should do to increase shared mobility?
- understand sociodemographic trends
- maximize infrastructure capacity
- encourage multimodality
- support econ dev goals
- reduce fuel consumption/support climate action
- raise environmental awareness
- mitigate effects on low-income and minority populations
- ensure affordable transportation access
What are the two shared mobility service models?
- Core and Incumbent Services model
- Innovative Services model
What is the Core and Incumbent Services shared mobility service model?
public transit, car rental, taxis, shuttles, pedicabs, paratransit, limos
What is the Innovative Services shared mobility service model?
bikesharing, carsharing (eg. Zipcar), microtransit, P2P bikesharing, P2P vehicle sharing, ridesourcing, scooter sharing
What is microtransit?
microtransit is a flexible and dynamic demand-response mode of passenger transportation
a form of bus demand responsive transport vehicle for hire with highly flexible routing using small-scale vehicles like shuttles, cars, minibuses
Eg. UberPOOL
What range of years are the Federal-Aid Highway Acts?
1916-1987
What is the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956?
An act that was advancing the highway system through the US, motivated by Eisenhower and having it be the basis of national defense.
What is the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982?
What is the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987?
What is the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991? aka “Ice-tea”
Presented as an intermodal approach to highway and transit funding
about collaboration amongst planning agencies giving significant power to metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs).
George Bush signed it into law, but it expired in 1997.
It was followed by the Transportation Equity Act
What is the Transportation Equity Act of 1998 (TEA-21)?
This act followed Ice-Tea and is now expired.
What is the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005?
What is the Moving Ahead for Progress Act of 2012 (MAP-21)?
What is the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015?
APA refers to this as the first long-term transportation funding bill passed since 2005.
APA labeled this act a “mixed bag.”
It allows cities and metropolitan areas to set their own street design standards for projects that are federally funded, but the APA was unhappy that it didn’t raise the gas tax in order to fund transportation improvements.
When was the gas tax last raised?
1993
APA is in favor of __________. People who use the highways should fund the improvements rather than generalizing it to the whole population.
user funding
What Transportation Act was first to present a multi-modal approach to transportation?
The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (“Ice-Tea”)
Why did APA label the FAST Act a “mixed bag”?
While it allowed local planners to determine the street design standards for federally funded projects, it did not raise the gas tax in order to fund transportation improvements.
What are 4 examples of different types of infrastructure?
- Utilities
- Streets and roads
- Communications
- Public facilities
What does the utilities infrastructure type include?
water, sewer, electric (power plants & transmission lines)
What are the 5 main types of infrastructure that the APA likes to focus on?
-Transportation Infrastructure
-Broadband Infrastructure
-Green Infrastructure
-Funding Infrastructure (how it’s funded)
-Resilient Infrastructure
What are the APA’s 9 Main Infrastructure Principles?
- Serve multiple modes and types of infrastructure
- There should be local visions and strong regional planning about how infrastructure should be developed.
- Long-term funding sustainability of infrastructure should be addressed
- Private sector investment and creativity should be harnessed to protect public interest.
- Consider key factors of location
- Promote access
- Advance opportunity for all
- Embrace and support innovation
- Make communities safer and more resilient
What are 4 things that planners need to consider when thinking about demands for infrastructure development?
- Typical demand
- Demand under worst case scenario (eg. fire or drought)
- How will roadways be used in worst case scenario?
- Sewer facilities and capacity - what is the depth and velocity of flow
How do planners determine whether or not a proposed development is adequately served by fire responders?
Planners would consider:
-Fire insurance ratings
-Distance between the fire station and the development
-Water pressure/availability
What 4 things should green infrastructure be?
- Cost effective
- Integrated with gray infrastructure
- Multifunctional (benefit flood control, reduce dependence on oil, and improve public health outcomes)
- Lessen heat island effects
What is gray infrastructure?
Gray infrastructure refers to structures such as dams, seawalls, roads, pipes, gutters, drains, dykes, levees, or water treatment plants.
Historically, we use this gray human-engineered infrastructure for water resources such as water and wastewater treatment plants, pipelines, and reservoirs.
Through massive feats of engineering, stormwater is directed away from certain locations and toward others. These change nature’s natural processes.
Grey infrastructure typically refers to components of a centralized approach to water management.
What is green infrastructure and examples of it?
Green infrastructure mimics nature and captures rainwater where it falls.
Can include permeable pavement, rain gardens, bioretention cells (or bioswales), vegetative swales, infiltration trenches, green roofs, planter boxes, rainwater harvesting (rain barrels or cisterns), rooftop (downspout) disconnection, urban tree canopies/a row of trees along a major city street, greening an alleyway, acres of open park space outside a city center, or constructing a wetland near a residential housing complex.
What is the difference between gray and green infrastructure?
Both are related to water management. Gray infrastructure is what we historically use for stormwater management to move it from one place to another. Green infrastructure mimics nature and more cost effectively manages stormwater.
A Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies report on the Philippines concluded that in almost all scenarios, green infrastructure is more cost-effective than gray.
Why is green infrastructure important?
Stormwater runoff is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. It carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants through storm sewers into local waterways.
Heavy rainstorms can also cause flooding that damages property and infrastructure.
What is the Telecommunications Act of 1996?
A historic change in the US law governing communications that was enacted to ensure that advanced telecommunications are available to everybody - a policy of universal service.
The FCC and the states are the regulatory bodies and implement this law.
This act preempts local regulation of cell tower radio frequency emission effects, but requires zoning decisions be in writing and supported by substantial evidence.
What are the 3 take aways from the Planning and Broadband PAS report?
Planners should be considerate of:
1. Production - efficiencies can reduce use of raw materials and energy
2. Consumption - consume less by replacing products with virtual goods
3. By-Products - monitor and manage the waste stream to reduce pollutants and reuse by-products of broadband communications
How do planners determine sewer capacity?
- Depth of flow
- Velocity of flow
What is the Disaster Mitigation Act from 2000?
Requires state and local government to plan for natural and human-induced disasters.
State governments and cities are supposed to identify possible natural risks, assess impact, and prepare strategies.
What are FEMA’s Local Mitigation Plans?
These are plans that have been required since 2000 that plan is supposed to address issues of disaster mitigation.
Supposed to be updated every 5 years.
Includes a list of natural hazard mitigation actions that the community is intending to take (eg. how they will change building codes, restore natural function of a floodplain, etc..)
What are the two requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program of 1968?
- Required local governments to identify flood-prone areas.
- Required a link between identifying these flood-prone areas and the ability to buy flood insurance. Some people are required to buy flood insurance if they live in certain areas designated on a FEMA flood map.
How often are Local Mitigation Plans supposed to be updated?
Every 5 years.
What does the National Flood Insurance Program require local governments to do?
- Identify flood-prone areas
- Identify the link between living in a flood prone area and the ability to buy flood insurance.
What is non-point source pollution?
Results from land runoff, precipitation, drainage, seepage - may be associated with a particular land use.
Comes from many diffuse sources and covers a wide area. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters.
defined to mean any source of water pollution that does not meet the legal definition of “point source”
What is point source pollution?
any single identifiable source of pollution from which pollutants are discharged.
discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged
Commonly from factories/industrial and sewage treatment plants.
EPA defines point source pollution as any contaminant that enters the environment from an easily identified and confined place. Eg. smokestacks, discharge pipes, and drainage ditches.
What are examples of non-point source pollution?
-Fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides contain nitrates and phosphates (turns water green with algae)
-Oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production
-Bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes and faulty septic systems
-Salt from irrigation practices and acid drainage from abandoned mines
What are examples of point source pollution?
Smokestacks, discharge/sewer pipes, chemical factory, and drainage ditches. They come from a specific site.
What is the noise level of a quiet residence?
40 decibels
Decibel levels above __ is annoying/a disturbance.
70 db
Decibel levels above ___ are painful?
120 db
A really loud rock concert is about 130 db.
What is CERCLA (aka Superfund)?
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980
Created a process and funding pool to deal with the superfund sites (eg. Love Canal in New York)
This Superfund used to be funded by a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided federal authority to respond to releases of these hazardous substances.
The program has been underfunded. Cleanups have decreased to 8/1200 in 2014.
What is another name for CERCLA?
The Superfund bill, which identified Superfund sites.
Who is Rachel Carson?
She wrote Silent Spring in 1962 which was catalytic in generating public awareness about environmental issues in the 1960s.
created the EPA after her book, that’s how transformational it was.
What is NEPA?
NEPA is the National Policy Act of 1969. It requires federal agencies to prepare and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for all major federal actions that may significantly affect quality of the human environment.
President Nixon
Not all federal actions require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Which federal actions require when you need to have an EIS?
Under NEPA, a federal agency must prepare an EIS when it determines that a proposed action may significantly affect the quality of the human environment. For example:
-building an airport
-the expansion of a mining operation
-drilling for natural gas or clearing a forest to make room for a hydropower plant
If the action may or may not cause a significant environmental impact (requiring an EIS), the agent may first prepare a smaller, shorter document known as the ___________.
Environmental Assessment (EA), which determines whether or not you have to do the EIS.
If the EA determines that no significant impact is likely, the agency can release a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).
What is an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)?
It is a tool for decision-making. A detailed analysis of potential environmental impacts. There are four steps:
- Notice of Intent (NOI)
- Draft EIS
- Final EIS
- Record of Decision (ROD)
What are the four steps of the EIS?
- Notice of Intent (NOI)
- Draft EIS
- Final EIS
- Record of Decision (ROD) filed
Who manages the four steps of the EIS?
the EPA
What are vegetated swales?
aka “bioswales” are broad, shallow, open channels topped with vegetation that collect stormwater and allows it to infiltrate into the ground.
contoured land areas or ditches covered in plants or grass. They are designed to collect stormwater runoff.
What are vegetated filter strips?
land areas of either planted or indigenous vegetation, situated between a potential pollutant-source area and a surface-water body that receives runoff.
so basically a bioswale intentionally placed near a pollutant source area to mitigate pollution effects.
What are riparian buffers?
Riparian buffers are vegetated areas (“buffer strips”) near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a key role in increasing water quality
What is Section 404 of the Clean Water Act?
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires a permit be obtained from the Army Corp for the discharge of material.
-US Army Corps of Engineers administers the program including permit decisions
-EPA develops and interprets policy and guidance and environmental criteria
-US Fish & Wildlife Service evaluates impacts in fish and wildlife
The 404 permit process protects wetlands - which are essential to control nonpoint pollution because this slows the rate of surface water runoff and removes sediment and pollutants before reaching lakes and streams.
What is the Clean Air Act of the 1950s?
What are the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act?
Federal Law covering the entire covering the entire country. States do much of the work to carry out the act.
designed to curb four major threats to both the environment and public health: acid rain, urban smog, toxic air pollution and the hole in the Earth’s ozone layer
What is a State Implementation Plan (SIP)?
a US state plan (1970s) for complying with the Clean Air Act
Review and approval of the plan by the U.S. EPA is required before the SIP is complete.
The EPA approves state implementation plans and any revisions to those plans.
The purpose of the state implementation plans is to demonstrate that the state has an air quality management program and to identify emission control requirements that the state will use to attain the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS).
What are the CAFE standards from 1975?
Enacted by Congress with the purpose to reduce energy consumption by increasing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards regulate how far our vehicles must travel on a gallon of fuel
What 4 things do Economic Development programs typically focus on?
- Retaining existing businesses and industry
- Attracting new commercial or industrial businesses
- Developing and financing infrastructure to attract new business
- Richard Florida’s Creative Class focus on people
What is the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977?
US Federal Law encouraging banks (and savings & loan associations) to help meet the needs of borrowers in all parts of the community.
The purpose of the CRA is to reduce redlining where parts of the community were shut out.
Banks must show CRA compliance.
What is the Empowerment Zone (EZ) Enterprise Communities (EC) Renewal Communities (RC) program?
Geographic areas characterized by high levels of poverty and economic distress delineated by the city where companies can qualify for a variety of subsidies.
Initiatives sought to reduce unemployment and generate economic growth through the designation of Federal tax incentives and award of grants to distressed communities. Intent of the empowerment zone program is to encourage businesses to stay.
Clinton administration 1993-1994.
EZs, ECs, RCs are geographic areas that have been granted special tax breaks, regulatory exemptions, or other public assistance in order to encourage private economic development and job creation.
HUD manages this in partnership with locals.
What is the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000?
What is the New Markets Tax Credit Program?
an opportunity to stimulate business development
Targets investment to stimulate economic development in underserved communities.
Incentivizes community development and stimulate economic growth through the use of tax credits that attract private investment to distressed communities.
Permits individual and corporate investors to receive tax credits against their federal income tax in exchange for making equity investments in specialized financial intermediaries called Community Development Entities (CDEs). Credits are claimed over a period of 7 years.
The New Markets Tax Credit Program spurs business development by providing tax credit incentives to investors for equity investments in Community Development Entities. The Community Development Entities then invest in development in low-income communities.
What are the 8 action steps of Sustainable Urban Industrial Development?
- Become “manufacturing aware”
- Inventory industrial land, buildings, and businesses
- Create regulations and policies that protect industrial land
- Utilize federal and university resources for advanced manufacturing practices
- Develop industrial district design guidelines
- Upgrade physical infrastructure
- Help local industry access capital and production space
- Support and advocate for industry
What is the Maker Movement?
About small-scale manufacturing. Enlivening local communities by re-energizing industrial production on a small scale.
- Digital desktop tools used to create designs for new products and prototype them.
- Cultural norm to share those designs and collaborate with others in online communities.
- Use of common design file standards allowing anyone to send designs to commercial manufacturing services to be produced in any number.
How many acres in one square mile?
640 acres in one square mile.
How many square feet in one acre?
43,560 square in one acre.
How many square feet needed for one parking space?
400 square feet are needed for one parking space.
How many acres are needed for 1,000 parking spaces?
Approximately 9 acres are needed for 1,000 parking spaces.
What is intersection density?
Often, the goal is to increase intersection density for greater connectivity. Grids tend to be better connected than the superblocks of Irvine, CA (for example).
More blocks, more connectivity.
What are pedestrian sheds and the standard pedestrian shed radius?
A catchment area, typically 1 quarter mile (Clarence Perry).
For transit oriented development (TOD) the catchment areas could be a little larger at 1/2 a mile.
What is gross density vs. net density?
Gross density refers to the sum of all development and activity across a larger area (eg. private land + areas that are not available for development like streets and public facilities)
Net density is the level of activity on a single parcel of land. Describes the desired intensity of land use on an individual parcel or group of parcels.
What are the different densities needed for transit?
Depends on where you’re located; though, highest in the downtown urban core.
Downtown: 16-60 du/acre
City Center: 10-30 du/acre
Suburban Center: 5-20 du/acre
du=dwelling units
Who is Kevin Lynch?
He wrote a book called The Image of the City.
Important for the history/establishment of urban design as a field, written in 1960.
What are the 5 Elements of Imageability?
from Kevin Lynch’s book The Image of the City:
- Paths
- Edges
- Districts
- Nodes
- Landmarks
What is the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU)?
CNU’s mission is to champion walkable urbanism. CNU leverages New Urbanism’s unique integration of design and social principle to advance three key goals: to diversify neighborhoods, to design for climate change, and to legalize walkable places.
Their Charter for New Urbanism book includes 27 principles about what our goals should be in the built environment.
What is a figure-ground map?
a mapping technique/urban planning graphic tool used to illustrate the relationship between built and unbuilt space in cities.
Land coverage of buildings is visualized as solid mass (figure), while public spaces formed by streets, parks and plazas are represented as voids (ground).
Who is Randall Arendt?
known for writing the book Rural by Design.
What is CPTED?
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
Oscar Newman wrote Defensible Space in 1972 about strategies incorporated into urban design as a way of preventing crime
There are several things that Newman mentions are important to inhibit crime.
What inhibits crime (CPTED) according to Oscar Newman’s book Defensible Space?
-Physical expression of the social fabric
-Real or imaginary barriers that control entry into a space and discourage trespassing
-Limited access points
-Clear demarcation of whether or not a space is public or private (ambiguity creates less safety)
-Territorial markers
-Natural surveillance (eyes on the street)
-Management & maintenance
What is Tactical Urbanism?
DIY urbanism.
Demonstration > Pilot > Interim Design > Long-Term/Capital
What are standard catchment areas for pedestrian sheds?
A pedestrian shed is the area around a given resource, typically based on a radius of 1/4 or 1/2 mile.
What density is needed to support transit?
Depends on location, but typically ranges from 10-30 dwelling units per acre around a station in a city center, to 5-20 units per acre around a station in a suburban center.
3 Types of Urban Design Diagrams:
-Bubble Diagram
-Movement Diagram
-Layered Diagram
What is the bubble diagram in urban design?
sketches the general location of buildings or activities
What is a movement diagram in urban design?
shows how people or traffic move through an area, how they enter or exit. locates paths and connections between places or uses.
What is a layered diagram in urban design?
uses multiple types of drawings to convey a lot of information quickly. eg. bubble + movement
What are the 4 main steps of the urban design process?
- Conduct a visual preference survey of the visual environment
- Evaluate land use and circulation relationships
- Delineate “hard” (paved outdoor areas, roads, sidewalks, and plazas) “soft” (unpaved areas, lawns, planting strips) areas
- Translate proposals for action
Who is Anton “Tony” Nelessen?
Tony is the inventor of the Community Visioning Process using the Visual Preference Survey and Vision Translation workshops.
What is a Design Charrette?
key for tackling a design problem in a group setting
working with design professionals collaboratively to visualize future development
What are 6 examples of criteria for evaluating urban design?
-degree of conflict between pedestrians and vehicles
-compatibility of land uses, but typically not design guidelines
-availability of places to rest, observe, and meet
-creation of a sense of security
-protection from rain, noise, and wind
-ease of orientation for users
What are 9 elements an urban designer must always consider?
-topography
-land area
-amount of traffic that will be generated
-adequacy of public infrastructure
-parking space requirements
-generated need for schools
-parks and playgrounds
-relevant zoning and subdivision ordinances
-orientation
What are 5 ways planners can help promote “Aging in Place”?
-allowing “granny flats” - ability to add accessory dwelling units
-improving transmit
-overlap with “Complete Streets”
-loans for accessibility improvements
-Universal design
What is the difference between accessibility and universal design?
Universal design is a broader concept than accessibility and refers to ensuring that all locations are “visitable” by anyone.
Accessible Design is focused on the needs of people with disabilities, Universal Design considers the wide spectrum of human abilities.
Universal Design is inclusive of Accessibility, and not solely focused on Accessibility. Universal Design expands Accessibility’s definition by including all persons, not only persons with disabilities.
What is the National Housing Act of 1934?
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was established. The goal was to make housing and home mortgages more affordable. It stimulated single-family homeownership.
Part of FDR’s New Deal.
What is the National Housing Act of 1937?
Created the US Housing Authority to construct public housing. It was shortlived and ended in 1947.
Catherine Bauer - a strong housing advocate involved in getting this act passed was involved with the US Housing Authority
What is the National Housing Act of 1949?
Provided federal financing for SLUM CLEARANCE.
Increased the FHA mortgage insurance program.
Constructed 810,000 public housing units.
What is the National Housing Act of 1954?
This was federal planning assistance to local governments. It stimulated the creation of comprehensive plans.
Pruitt-Igoe
Shortly after the National Housing Act of 1954, Pruitt-Igoe was built in 1955 right outside of St. Louis - demolished in 1972 because there was no funding provided for maintenance.
When was the presidential cabinet Department of HUD formed?
1965, under Lyndon Johnson as part of the Great Society program
What is the Fair Housing Act (part of the Civil Rights Act) of 1968?
intent was to outlaw discrimination in housing. you cannot refuse to sell or rent to anyone because of the religion, sex, race, color, or family status.
What is the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program of 1974?
Allocates funds to 1,100 local and state governments on a formula basis. You are required to prepare a Consolidated Plan that establishes the goals for use of CDBG funds.
What is the HUD Consolidated Plan?
This plan establishes the goals for use of the CDBG funds. It is required by the CDBG program. AND
It links the provision of subsidized housing to community development and it encourages local governments to develop strategies to assist low- and moderate-income residents to obtain housing.
The consolidated planning process serves as the framework to identify housing and community development priorities that align and focus funding from the block grant programs like CDBG, HOME, HTF…etc.
The Consolidated Plan is designed to help states and local jurisdictions to assess their affordable housing and community development needs and market conditions, and to make data-driven, place-based investment decisions.
What is the Gautreaux Lawsuit?
US Supreme Court housing case. There was a lot of housing segregation in Chicago.
Dorothy Gautreaux sued the Chicago Housing Authority for the segregation of housing.
As a result, CHA was ordered to provide scattered site housing, including housing in white, suburban areas.
What is the Gautreaux Program of 1976?
This program was set up using Section 8 vouchers. They are given to renters to subsidize their housing in the private market. Vouchers to be used in white, suburban areas.
What is the Moving to Opportunity controlled experiment from the 1990s?
Some people moved to traditional public housing and some used vouchers to move to white, higher-income neighborhoods.
Results were at first mixed. Research has come out recently - in tracking these families for a longer period of time, you can see that they have better outcomes.
Why was the 1954 Housing Act important to local planning?
Under the Section 701 program, it provided federal planning assistance to local governments and therefore stimulated the production of comprehensive plans.
What is the HOPE VI program?
about mixed-income housing development - evolved into Choice Neighborhoods
design was based on New Urbanist principles
What is the Choice Neighborhoods program?
a broader, more comprehensive program where HUD is paying more attention to:
-educational outcomes,
-services,
-support for families,
-and the neighborhood context
What are Promise Zones?
high poverty communities where HUD partners with local leaders to:
-increase economic activity
-help educational outcomes
-leverage private investment
How many households are currently living in public housing units?
1.2 million households
managed by 3,300 PHAs
What is LIHTC?
-The largest funding source for affordable housing
-created by Tax Reform Act of 1986
-Allows investors to take a federal tax credit
-Competitive allocation via state agency/State Allocation Plans
What is the largest funding source for affordable housing?
LIHTC
What did the Tax Reform Act of 1986 create?
LIHTC
What is the National Housing Trust Fund of 2008?
A program managed by HUD that provides grants to states to produce and preserve affordable housing for extremely low- and very low-income households.
What is the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) program from HUD?
Set up under Obama
The program is about making sure that communities are desegregating their public housing.
A way of providing assessment tools so people can figure out whether or not their housing is integrating and inclusive.
What are the 3 main take-aways from the Making Space for Tiny Houses PAS QuickNotes?
-some zoning regulations may be too restrictive in not allowing tiny houses; remove unintentional barriers
-identify appropriate locations
-mitigate negative potential impacts, if any
What is the main take-away from the Regulating Short-Term Rentals PAS QuickNotes?
The key is making regulations that are clear, easily enforced, allow voices to be heard and do not make residents or landlords out to be “scofflaws” unnecessarily.
What land use category should apply to small group homes?
According to the APA, small group homes should be considered a residential land use.
What is the National Recreation & Park Association (NRPA)?
leading non-profit dedicated to the advancement of parks, recreation, and conservation.
partnership with APA supporting green infrastructure including parks
They have a Great Urban Parks Campaign.
What are some examples of different types of green infrastructure?
bioswales, constructed wetlands, green parking lots/streets/alleys, green roofs, green schoolyards, permeable pavement, rain gardens, river and streambank restoration
What are green parking lots/streets/alleys?
Incorporate features such as depressed curbs, permeable pavement, and plant materials to capture and/or filter stormwater before it is absorbed into the ground or directed into another stormwater containment system.
What are cap parks?
A park built over a segment of a freeway. They’ve been around since the 1950s.
Seattle’s Freeway Park from 1976 is a GREAT example.
What are the various ways/metrics for measuring park provision? 4 examples
-Acreage per population
-Park conditions
-Park amenities
-Park pressure (based on the density of an area compared to available access to parks)
What is the definition of historic preservation?
Historic preservation keeps historic properties in active use and accommodate appropriate improvements to sustain viability.
Demolition of Penn Station, New York:
An important event to know on the topic of historic preservation.
Built in 1910, demolished in 1963. There was no landmarks protection law at this time. The PA Railroad owned the property and destroyed it.
What is the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966?
signed by President Lyndon Johnson
It created the National Register of Historic Places, officers, and State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).
How can planners protect historic places from demolition?
The National Register does not protect historic places from demo. The best way is to designate a Historic District and integrate historic preservation controls within a zoning ordinance.
What is Section 106 review?
This mandated federal agencies to undergo a review process for federally funded and permitted projects.
What is the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards?
Includes standards (regulatory) and guidelines (advisory) used by all levels of government including planning commissions.
Lays out the difference between:
-preservation
-rehabilitation
-restoration
-reconstruction
What are National Heritage Areas?
created by Congress - there are 49 across the US.
They are not federally owned or managed. The NPS plays an advisory role. They are administered by State governments or non-profits.
What is preservation according to the Secretary of the Interior Standards?
retention of form
What is rehabilitation according to the Secretary of the Interior Standards?
acknowledges the need to alter
What is restoration according to the Secretary of the Interior Standards?
a property at a particular period of time
What is reconstruction according to the Secretary of the Interior Standards?
recreation
Where can the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards be applied?
to the interior, exterior, landscape, site, and environment
What is the Federal Historic PreservationTax Incentives/Historic Preservation Tax Credit (HPTC) program?
only applies to income-producing buildings.
1976: accelerated depreciation
1979: 10% tax credit
1986: two tiers - 20% and 10% HPTC
What is a Historic Preservation Easement?
A tax benefit/incentive for those who provide these easements - a voluntary legal agreement in the form of a deed where you are permanently protecting a historic property by placing restrictions.
Does the National Trust for Historic Preservation still exist?
A privately funded non-profit responsible for taking on acquisition and administration of historic sites.
Set up in 1949
Offer programs, resources, education, advocacy, and sustainability. They maintain a lot of historic sites.
What is the first National Park?
Yellowstone, 1872. President Grant.
What is the Antiquities Act of 1906?
What is the Historic Sites Act of 1935?
What is the first Historic District and when was it created?
Charleston, SC created in 1931
How do you tie historic preservation and sustainability together?
Cultural/Socially: helps maintain a connection to the community’s heritage.
Environmentally: reduction of env impacts by reusing a space resources/not creating a new one; avoiding landfill impacts
Economically: preservation creates higher property values, job creation, increased heritage tourism.
What catalytic event energized the historic preservation movement?
The demolition of New York’s Penn Station in 1963.
What institutions does institutional planning involve?
Schools and religious organizations.
What is the EPA-published Smart School Siting tool?
a useful guide
School locations affect community land use patterns and infrastructure investments. Community decisions to site schools and make other investments influence housing and transportation choices, neighborhood vitality, economic development, the cost of providing local services, environmental quality, and overall community health and well-being.
The strong connections between school location and community development suggest the importance of coordinating school siting with other community decisions.
What is the CEFPI of 1953?
Council Educational Facility Planning International (CEFPI) - published guidelines that focused on having more acreage and larger schools.
guideline: minimum 1 acre of land per 100 students
school facilities have been managed by this document.
Today we have 1/3 of the schools we used to have but double the population.
What is School Siting and Smart Growth about? 4 things
-supporting neighborhood-centered schools (smaller and closer to students)
-reducing trips
-using existing infrastructure
-reducing land impact
What is a concern about the 1953 CEFPI school siting guidelines?
The 1953 school siting guidelines are still in effect in many places and call for large school sites that are inconsistent with walkable neighborhoods and smart growth principles.
What is the RLUIPA Act?
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 allows:
-prisoners to be able to worship as they please.
-gives churches a way to avoid zoning law restrictions.
What is the law case related to RLUIPA?
St. John’s UCC vs. City of Chicago, 2007
St. John’s church fought the O’Hare Airport expansion which intended to take out a nearby cemetery that they owned.
St. John’s lost. Court said this was an act of eminent domain not zoning. Since RLUIPA is related to zoning, they church couldn’t use it.
25 states have ____________, which address issues like food deserts, obesity rates, and loss of agricultural land and take an integrative approach to looking at food.
Food Policy Councils
What is a Community Food System?
a food system in which food production, processing, distribution, and consumption are integrated to enhance the environmental, economic, social and nutritional health of a particular issue.
What 4 things are community food systems concerned with?
-food security
-proximity between food and where people live
-self-reliance
-sustainability
What 7 issues are there with community food systems?
- Production issues (farmland preservation, farmers markets, food gardens)
- Processing issues (local vs. external)
- Distribution issues (transportation, warehousing)
- Access issues (co-ops, school meals, food stamps, the WIC program)
- Use issues (food safety and handling, restaurants, street vendors)
- Food recycling (food banks, pantries, soup kitchens)
- Waste stream issues (composting, feeding pigs)
What are food deserts?
socially distressed neighborhoods with low average household incomes and an inadequate accessibility to healthy food.
What are the elements to be integrated in a food system?
food production, processing, distribution, consumption (and often disposal)
How did the 65+ age group compare to the US as a whole in terms of growth rate?
According to the 2010 census, the 65+ population grew much faster: 15.1% growth for the 65+ group vs. 9.7% for the US.
What are 6 ways to conserve/protect farmland?
-comprehensive plans
-urban growth boundaries
-agricultural protection zone
-subdivision ordinances
-right-to-farm laws
-local property tax reduction programs
What is agricultural protection zoning and how can it help protect farmland?
Agricultural Protection Zoning (APZ) ordinances designate areas where farming is the primary land use and discourages other land uses in those areas.
APZs typically restrict the density of non-farm residential development. By limiting development potential, APZs can also help keep land affordable to farmers and ranchers.
How can local property tax reduction programs help protect farmland?
reduce taxes beyond state authorized taxes - reduce operating costs for farm operations
What are right-to-farm laws and how do they protect farmland?
They protect farmers who use standard farming practices and have been in prior operation from private nuisance lawsuits and overly restrictive local regulations, even if these practices harm or bother adjacent property owners or the general public.
What are Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement (PACE) Programs?
where you compensate farmers and ranchers for permanently protecting their land.
What is a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) and what is being transferred under TDR?
type of zoning allows property owners in designated areas to sell development rights to other property owners
very useful zoning technique that can be used to permanently protect farmland and other resources by transferring development potential from a farmland parcel to an area that can accommodate new development
-TDR creates a market where people can sell their development rights to someone wishing to develop in a receiving area
-a way to help stop sprawl
-an economic incentive for preserving undeveloped land
Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) represents an innovative way to direct growth away from lands that should be preserved to locations well suited to higher density development. Areas that may be appropriate for additional development include pre-existing village centers or other districts that have adequate infrastructure to service new growth.
TDR can protect:
-Well fields and aquifer recharge zones
-Agricultural land
-Riparian buffers
What density does the book Rural by Design (Randall Arendt) advocate for?
Small towns need medium density not low density.
What is Conservation Design?
Rural by Design (Randall Arendt) promotes this. Not the same as PUDs.
Conservation design is about making the most use of the open space created by the PUDs.
What is the book Rural by Design about? 8 main topics.
-Open space preserved as a result of PUD planning ended up not being particularly useful.
-Conservation design is about making the most use of the open space preserved by the PUDs/clustered development
-Pocket neighborhoods
-Importance of cohousing
-Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
-Land Trusts
-TDRs and PDRs
-Low Impact Development (LID)
What are pocket neighborhoods?
-nested housing
-eyes on the commons (strong network of neighbors)
-cottage scale, compact-size (1.5 stories)
-porch rooms
-living large in a small house
What is the importance of cohousing according to Randall Arendt?
What are PDRs?
PDRs are planned development rights and involve the selling of development rights. Purchase of Development Rights? (PDRs) allows someone to voluntarily separate ownership of property from the right to develop it.
It’s expensive (unlike TDR) but it’s good for small units of development like 20-40 acres and excellent for protection of small farms.
What is Low Impact Development (LID)?
principles for recharging groundwater to be incorporated in development through better design of streets, swales, furrows.
What is the 4 step Conservation Design Process?
- Identify primary (wetlands, floodplains, steep slopes) and secondary (unprotected areas that also deserve to be preserved from development) conservation areas.
- Identify potential development areas and locate house sites
- Align streets and trails
- Draw the lot lines
What are primary conservation areas?
wetlands, floodplains, steep slopes
What are secondary conservation areas?
unprotected areas that also deserve to be preserved from development
What is the resulting benefit of the Conservation Design Process?
-land preservation
-usable open space
-a lot of land is used
How can Conservation Design also be applied to commercial areas?
clustering development so that you protect open space and land could look like rezoning for “nodal development” as compared to conventional linear commercial districts
What is the purpose of swales?
Swales collect, absorb and filter rainwater from streets and houses into the ground before going into the city storm drain.
What are conveyance furrows?
They direct water away from the house via a path of gravel and crushed rock.
How is conservation design different from a PUD?
Conservation design is about making open space usable when development is clustered; according to Rural by Design, open space that was preserved as a result of PUDs tended to neglect his consideration.
How is a TDR different from a PDR?
PDRs are planned development rights and involve the selling of development rights. TDRs involve transferring development to a receiving area.
What is the goal of Low Impact Development?
LID’s goal is to preserve and recharge groundwater by using appropriate principles of site development and design.
You are concerned that the current level of development may be affecting water quality. The county has a series of wetlands. Much of the growth is occurring on the edge of the wetlands. You are to develop GIS maps that will illustrate environmental contamination in the wetlands. What datasets will be most helpful to the county?
Land use, because it contributes differently to water contamination. For example, you would expect more polluting runoff from a fertilized golf course than you would from a house.
An origin-destination survey which will demonstrate the:
Pattern of daily trips
Origin-Destination studies are conducted to understand the pattern of the movement of persons and goods in a particular geographic area.
Storm sewers are typically designed to handle up to a _____ year flood.
a 25 year flood.
You have been asked to consult with a group of local businesses who want to focus on job development, building rehabilitation and neighborhood improvement. You recommend the property owners come together to form a:
Business Improvement District
increases the tax rate to pay for a mix of services, programs, and improvements that specifically benefit the property owners in that district.
What does not determine the size of an infrastructure network?
The cost of infrastructure
What 3 things determine the size of an infrastructure network?
- The size of the service area
- The future population of the service area
- The per capita service requirements
One of the key features of the parks and recreatfion plan is the development of a “greenway” or linear park system along regional rivers and streams. The Plan was adopted six months ago and you are now moving into the implementation phase. The District’s Board has asked you to provide recommendations on how to inexpensively acquire undeveloped land to implement the plan. What would be the best recommendation?
Acquire the “conservation easements” (development rights) for certain key properties along the streams.
In order to achieve the plan for a linear park system, there will be a need to acquire an easement to allow people move through a natural area.
As a planner with HUD, you have been charged with drafting regulations that will improve public housing maintenance. You haven’t even started writing the rules but you have received significant negative feedback from both public housing authorities and owners of section 8 properties. You have decided to use a negotiated rulemaking process. Which of the following will you do?
You form a committee to negotiate the text before the proposed rule is published.
Negotiated Rulemaking is a process for drafting regulations that brings together parties who would be affected by a rule.
What is Negotiated Rulemaking?
Negotiated Rulemaking is a process for drafting regulations that brings together parties who would be affected by a rule. This was enacted as US federal law in 1990 under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act.
(eg. you form a committee to negotiate the text before the proposed rule is published)
Which of the following street types generally has the lowest design speed?
a.Arterial
b.Residential/local
c.Highway
d.Collector
Residential/local roads generally have the lowest design speed.
_______________ is the downslope movement of earth materials due to the force of gravity.
Mass wasting
Lot 3 Block 4 of Lakeview Subdivision is a __________ description of a piece of land?
Plat
You are planning to take the planning commission on a field trip to visit a neotraditional community. Which places would you choose to visit?
Seaside, Florida is a neotraditional community built on the principles of new urbanism.
Recent droughts have placed significant strains on the water supply. You are responsible for leading a water security plan for the region. You have decided to use a joint fact-finding method. What are the 4 expected benefits?
I. Overcome conflicting science
II. Produce new data
III. Identification of research gaps
IV. Joint interpretation of data
All of these would be expected benefits of using a joint fact-finding method. This method involves scientists from a wide range of perspectives in a process designed to produce new data that will lead to consensus scientific recommendations.
You decide to propose a national heritage area in your region. What are the 4 appropriate action steps?
I. Demonstrate a nationally unique natural, historic, cultural or scenic resource
II. Ask your congressperson to sponsor authorizing legislation
III. Describe the unique story that links the sites together
IV. Establish a non-profit organization to manage the National Heritage Area
What is a National Heritage Area and who manages it?
A National Heritage Area can be managed by a non-profit or a state government. A National Heritage Area is created by authorizing legislation of Congress based on an areas unique resources and the unique story it tells about the United States.
An ordinance requiring the set-aside of land or dollars to construct affordable housing within a subdivision is referred to as which of the following?
Inclusionary Zoning
What is Inclusionary Zoning?
Inclusionary Zoning is a tool included in zoning ordinances that requires a given share of new construction to be affordable to people with low to moderate incomes.
What is Conservation Zoning?
What is Set Aside Zoning?
What is Exclusionary Zoning?
Native Americans living on a designated reservation are required to follow ____________ governing development.
Federal
What type of zoning approval allows certain uses in a specific zoning district under certain circumstances?
Conditional Use
The location of wireless phone towers can be regulated by which of the following?
Local governments maintain the authority to regulate the location of wireless phone towers.
As the regional energy planner for a Metropolitan Planning Organization, you have been giving serious consideration to consumption of energy in the region. You are concerned that we may soon reach a situation where the petroleum output is at its maximum with a continued increase in demand. This is known as:
Peak Oil - a situation where the petroleum output is at its maximum with a continued increase in demand.
What 3 things does Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) accomplish?
I. Creates an economic incentive to preserve land
II. Creates a market for trading development rights
III. Reduces sprawl
Transfer of Development Rights is an incentive-based program that allows landowners to sell development rights from their land to a developer or other interested party who then can use these rights to increase the density at another location.
What is TDM?
Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is the application of strategies and policies to reduce motor vehicle travel demand or to redistribute this demand in space or in time.
Tools for transportation demand management include:
-Telecommuting (WFH)
-High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes
-Ride sharing/car pools
-Guaranteed ride home program
-Bicycle racks on buses
NOT Adding lanes to a freeway
What 2 employee-focused TDM strategies are commonly used specifically for Commute Trip Reduction?
- end of trip facilities
- transit fare subsidy
What 4 things did the 2010 Census reveal?
- increasing migration into the US
- increasing diversity of the population
- greater gap in household income between higest and lowest quintiles
- increase number of households below the poverty line
According to ITE’s Trip Generation, ___ trips per day per dwelling unit will be generated by single family homes.
9.52 trips
An EIS can be defined as…
written to satisfy requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when a major action will have a significant impact on the environment.
What is oligotrophic?
deep lakes that have a low supply of nutrients and thus contain little organic matter
What is the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) and when was it adopted?
passed by the U.S. Congress in 1972 to provide for the management of the nation’s coastal resources (including CA, the Great Lakes, etc…)
Created to protect the coastal environment from growing demands associated with residential, recreational, commercial, and industrial uses (e.g., State and Federal offshore oil and gas development).
The goal is to “preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the nation’s coastal zone.”
What are the 7 goals of Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act?
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act has seven goals including safety, infrastructure condition, congestion reduction, system reliability, freight movement & economic vitality, environmental sustainability and reduced project delivery delays.
Which level of government would be most likely to plan for a sustainable multimodal freight system?
State
Multimodal freight planning typically happens at a national and state level, focusing on supporting adequate, convenient and safe access for goods movement. According to the APA Surface Transportation Policy Guide, freight planning should seek to facilitate good movement, while addressing potential negative impacts.
Which Act created the HOME program?
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (1990) created the HOME program.
The HOME program provides block grants to local governments to increase the supply of affordable housing. The funds can be used to provide down payment assistance, construct or renovate affordable housing, acquire sites for affordable housing development, and support Community Housing Development Organizations in providing affordable housing.
As a planner in a growing county, you are concerned with the effects of increasing urbanization on stormwater runoff. Which of the following would NOT help to minimize the degree of stormwater runoff?
Select one:
a.Require on-site retention of all stormwater
b.Channelization
c.Limited impervious surface creation
d.Restrict floodplain development
Channelization straightens and increases the volume of water delivered to streams.
Which of the following is NOT true of the Superfund?
a.It is a federal program
b.It requires a polluter to pay for site cleanup
c.It holds the current property owner liable for site contamination
d. It is a state program
the Superfund is not a state program it’s a federal program.
For water and sewerage systems, the average cost per service unit
decreases as the system nears its capacity
What is the maximum decibel level acceptable for public housing according to HUD?
75 db
What is the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (1982)?
The United States Congress passed this in order to address the many problems associated with coastal barrier development in 1982
The Refuse Act of 1899 is widely considered the first type of this legislation in the USA:
environmental protection
Love Canal and Tar Creek are examples of..
Superfund sites
The “triple bottom line” refers to..
Sustainability - Environment, Equity, and Economy
The triple bottom line is a business and planning concept that posits firms should commit to measuring their social and environmental impact—in addition to their financial performance—rather than solely focusing on generating profit (the standard “bottom line”).
It can be broken down into “three Ps”: profit, people, and the planet.
A policy measure that provides environmental, economic, and social benefits.
firms should also value environmental and social externalities and benefits.
Links and HUBS refers to..
Green infrastructure networks
✓ Hubs – anchor the system. ✓ Links – tie the system together.
Non-attainment areas
have poor ambient air quality
Links and NODES refer to
Street connectivity
What is a base map?
This type of map is used as the starting point for many planning projects and shows the essential natural or man-determined features of an area
Basemaps serve as a reference map on which you overlay data from layers and visualize geographic information. An individual basemap can be made of multiple feature, raster, or web layers. Basemaps are the foundation for your maps and provide context for your work.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is responsible for coordinating which of the following federal programs?
The Council on Environmental Quality coordinates federal environmental efforts and works with federal agencies on the development of environmental policies and initiatives.
-National Environmental Policy Act
-Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act
-Farm Bill Conservation
What standards for air and water quality restrict the discharge of pollutants into the environment?
Effluent - The state establishes basic effluent limits for all facilities to protect surface water quality and air quality standards.
A point source is a source of effluence, while wastewater is a type of effluent.
According to the 2008 APA Policy Guide on Planning and Climate Change 75% of the electricity used in the country goes towards ____________________________.
heating, cooling, and lighting buildings.
What is a blueway?
A mixture of land and water-based activities. on developed trails or recreation sites. aka “water trails”
are marked routes on navigable waterway such as rivers, lakes, canals, and coastlines for recreational use.
A connected stretch of rivers, lakes, canals, or coastlines, providing opportunities for recreational boating etc.
includes: paddling, cycling, walking along trails on the water
aka Ohiopyle
__________________ is responsible for flood protection planning.
The US Army Corp of Engineers
Planning for flood protection projects typically occurs at the National level of government
While planning for flooding does occur at the city and state level, the Army Corp has a primary responsibility while partnering with other organizations.
What is a cartogram?
A cartogram is a map that distorts the geography or size of regions in order to convey the information of an alternate variable.
What are smart cities?
Smart cities are defined as a city that equitably integrates technology, community, and nature to enhance its livability, sustainability, and resilience, while fostering innovation, collaboration, and participatory co-creation.
A connection to nature and a focus on sustainability are inherent elements of true smart cities.
Smart cities equitably integrate technology into planning to enhance city organization, future resilience, and the quality of life of residents.
What does the APA identify as the 3 biggest current challenges to smart city development and maintenance?
i. With the abundance of data collected about urban residents, cities are vulnerable to cybersecurity threats.
ii. Data gaps and inconsistencies can replicate existing biases and exacerbate inequality.
iii. Access to broadband and digital services does not currently extend to all residents.
- cybersecurity and data privacy, 2. data gaps and biases, and 3. access gaps to technology
As a planner for the State who specializes in watershed planning you are assisting a small, but rapidly growing, suburb who is experiencing significant increases in stormwater runoff, causing flooding in neighborhoods. Which do you recommend as the best approach for the suburb to pursue?
Maximum lot coverage regulations - set limits on the amount of land that may be covered by impervious surface and can be helpful in stormwater management.
Floodplain regulations only apply to properties in the floodplain and require buildings to be elevated.
It is better to have _____ in regard to school siting:
-smaller neighborhood schools
-renovate rather than replace
schools serve as an anchor to communities. where you site them has a HUGE impact on communities.
-Students in small schools have better attitudes toward school and higher attendance rates.
-Students in small schools are more likely to participate in extra-curricular activities.
-There are fewer discipline problems in small schools.
-The level of parental participation – and parental satisfaction – is higher in small schools.
-Students feel safer and more secure in small schools because they are well known by their teachers and peers.
Forty years ago, almost half of all students walked or biked to school. Now, only ____% of children do.
14%!
What are 3 key contributors of sprawl?
-Extension of water and sewer lines
-Construction of a new regional mall
-Building of a package sewer plant
What is a connectivity index?
=links/nodes
approach requires new development to meet a minimum score on a “connectivity index”, which is calculated by dividing the number of street LINKS by the sum of intersections and culs-de-sacs (NODES)
-Links are stretches of roadway that connect nodes.
-Nodes exist at street intersections and cul-de-sac heads within a development
A roadway connectivity index refers to the density of connections in a road network and the directness of links. A well-connected road has many short links, intersections and minimal dead ends. As the connectivity increases, travelers have more route options and more direct travel between destinations.
HIGH RATIO = great the connectivity.
Which of the following flood zones does FEMA designate as a Special Flood Hazard Area ?
100-year flood
Flood hazard areas identified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map are identified as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). SFHA are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 1-percent annual chance flood is also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood.
The city you work for is interested in expanding its carbon sequestration. Which of the following would you recommend be included as part of the green infrastructure plan to achieve this goal?
Institute a food waste diversion program at all city facilities and create an urban forestry program.
Planting trees as part of an urban forestry program will result in carbon sequestration. In addition, the diversion of food waste to composting (rather than a landfill) will also result in carbon sequestration.
What is carbon sequestration?
Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide can be stored in vegetation such as grasslands or forests, as well as in soils and oceans.
Forests and woodlands are considered one of the best forms of natural carbon sequestration.
You have a vacant shopping center that has 75,000 square feet. Working with the redevelopment authority you are trying to identify potential tenants. Which of the following would be the most suitable anchor?
A grocery store would be the most suitable anchor. The average size of grocery stores grew throughout the 2000s and by the end of the decade averaged approximately 48,000 square feet.
-Restaurant = around 5,000 square feet or smaller.
-Departments stores are larger = around 150,000+ square feet.
-Discount store, such as Walmart, averages = 175,000 square feet.
Scoping is required as part of what planning process?
environmental impact statement. Scoping is required in the early states of preparing an EIS. A scoping meeting introduces the public to the project and the environmental issues.
What is the Internet of Things (IoT) and how is it relevant to planning?
the interconnection via the internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.
Eg. In order for driverless cars to become a reality in the region, cities will need to upgrade their traffic infrastructure ensuring the use of the Internet of Things for traffic control devices to communicate with driverless vehicles.
The city is hosting a design competition for design solutions for a riverfront redevelopment. You have recruited an esteemed group of judges. Which of the following criteria should be used in best judging the submissions?
I. Degree of conflict between pedestrians and vehicles
II. Compatibility of land uses
III. Availability of places to rest, observe, and meet
IV. Creation of a sense of security
ALL
I. Degree of conflict between pedestrians and vehicles
II. Compatibility of land uses
III. Availability of places to rest, observe, and meet
IV. Creation of a sense of security
From an urban design perspective, all of these criteria are appropriate to consider.
In the urban design process, what should come first?
- visually survey the area,
- then explore circulation patterns and identify green space
- develop design proposals / alternative design concepts
What did the Indian Reorganization Act (the Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934) provide for?
I. Organization of Native Americans residing on reservations
II. Adoption of constitutions for Native Americans living on reservations
The 1934 Act allowed Native Americans to adopt a constitution and organize for their common welfare.
aimed at decreasing federal control of American Indian affairs and increasing Indian self-government and responsibility.
The Wheeler-Howard Act restored land management to Native Americans in order to create an economic foundation for residents.
A new master-planned casino and resort development is planned in a wetland area of the county which fronts along a coastal bay. The project will require filling a portion of the wetland areas near some of the coastal estuaries that will be incorporated into the development. Considerable land will be cleared for the construction of the casino, hotel, and condominiums. Local environmental groups have raised concerns about whether the project will impact an endangered frog habitat.
Under the Environmental Protection Agency guidelines that the Army Corps administers when considering whether to issue a section 404 permit, it may presume that other practical alternatives are available to the landowner unless it receives compelling proof to the contrary.
What is an Incidental Take Permit?
What is a Habitat Conservation Plan?
What is a Section 404 Permit?
Under the Clean Water Act, a party must obtain a Section 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before discharging any dredged or fill material into “waters of the United States.” This typically means that a permit must be obtained before construction or other work is performed in those areas, together with a water quality certification.
Section 404 requires a permit before dredged or fill material may be discharged into waters of the United States, unless the activity is exempt from Section 404 regulation (e.g., certain farming and forestry activities).
Fill activities may include the placement of fill material to build structures, roads or causeways, the construction of levees.
You are a planner working for a housing agency and you have been tasked with coming up with housing options for people with lower incomes who have extensive or intergenerational households. What kind of housing would you focus on?
Housing that is both adaptable and affordable.
Adaptability is a feature of housing that allows occupants and owners opportunities for incremental expansion, multigenerational living, and higher-density occupancy.
You are developing a state implementation plan for air quality. As part of the compliance with the Clean Air Act, which of the following is required before the plan is complete?
Review and approval of the plan by the U.S. EPA
The EPA approves state implementation plans and any revisions to those plans. The purpose of the state implementation plans is to demonstrate that the state has an air quality management program and to identify emission control requirements that the state will use to attain the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS).
What is the purpose of the Clean Water Act?
The Clean Water Act of 1972 governs water pollution.
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the principle law governing pollution control and water quality of the Nation’s waterways.
The object of the CWA is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters
-regulates discharges of pollutants into U.S. waters,
-controls pollution by means such as wastewater standards
-Regulates toxic runoff and chemical contamination
-Regulates development of wetlands
-Regulates water pollution
CWA was amended from the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948.
The strongest basis for design standards is in the ______________________________.
protection of historically significant areas
In order to ensure that the systems for allowing design review by a design review board or historic preservation commission do not amount to an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority, the emerging trend is for courts to require legislative boards to adopt more precise, concrete standards to guide and limit the approving board’s discretion.
The U.S. Department of Transportation requires consideration of enviornmental justice issues during the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. What might this entail?
I. Identification of minority or low-income populations
II. Ensuring an inclusive public participation process
III. Numeric analysis of public health data
IV. Alternatives and Mitigation
ALL.
Under the US DOT’s process, consideration of environmental justice issues must be considered during preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
General principles required as part of the EIS analysis are: Identification of Minority or Low-Income Populations, Public Participation, Numeric Analysis (that agencies should consider relevant demographic, public health and industry data), and Alternatives and Mitigation.
What are the 4 sections of an EIS?
- Description of the proposed action and its purpose and need
- Description of the affected environment
- Presentation of a range of alternatives to the proposed action, including a “no action” alternative
- An analysis of the environmental impact of each of the proposed actions and range of alternatives.
What is Executive Order 12898?
most important for advancing environmental justice
stated that federal actions shall address environmental justice in minority and low-income populations.
Every federal agency has as its mission to try to address environmental justice. stated that federal actions shall address environmental justice in minority and low-income populations.
What are the 3 major factors of creating homelessness?
-Domestic violence
-Lack of affordable health care
-Underemployment
Physical disabilities are NOT a major factor.
What is a watershed? How is it related to a floodplain?
A watershed is an area that drains into a lake, stream or other body of water. Other names for it are basin or catchment area.
Everyone lives in a watershed regardless of whether their property is in a designated floodplain or not. A watershed is simply a land area that collects and feeds water runoff into a channel or drain. This water can come in the form of rain, snow, irrigation, etc.
Located in these watersheds are areas designated as floodway and floodplain.
What are the 3Cs of the MPO Transportation planning process?
-comprehensive
-cooperative
-continuing
What is a Health Impact Assessment?
determines how laws policies or projects affect public health by using data, expertise, and public input.
HIA is a rapidly growing field that positions decision makers to make better choices by bringing together scientific data, health expertise, and public input to identify the potential and often overlooked effects, both positive and negative, of proposed laws, regulations, projects, policies, and programs on public health (Health Impact Project).
HIAs provide pragmatic, evidence-based recommendations about how to reduce risks, promote benefits, and monitor the health effects of the implemented decision.
HIA is a systematic, six-step process that determines the potential health effects of a proposed action, such as a plan, policy, or project.
The process incorporates multiple data sources and analytic methods, and considers input from community members, residents, experts, and other stakeholders to identify potential health impacts and how those impacts might be distributed within the population.
What is the Water Quality Act of 1965?
(along with amendments that became law in 1977) was enacted to protect and ensure the quality of surface and ground waters.
You are drafting a wellhead protection ordinance to minimize aquifer contamination. Which of the following would NOT be protected by a wellhead protection ordinance?
A wellhead protection area is a surface and subsurface land area regulated to prevent contamination of a well or well-field supplying a public water system.
Wellhead protection is established under the Safe Drinking Water Act and each state develops its own implementation approach. A wellhead protection ordinance would protect:
Primary Recharge Area
Secondary Recharge Area
Tertiary Recharge Area
NOT Quaternary
