Environmental Protection: Federal Incentives Could Help Promote Land Use that Protects Air and Water Quality

Americans have begun to focus on the downside of certain patterns of
growth and development—increasing dependence on automobiles;
worsening traffic congestion; and contributing to the loss of farmland,
forests, and open space. Increasingly, some are also concerned that this
prevailing pattern of land use, commonly called “urban sprawl,” can
increase air and water pollution, threatening their health and, in some
cases, their livelihood. Vehicle emissions in congested areas can trigger
respiratory and other illnesses, and runoff from impervious surfaces can
carry lawn chemicals and other pollutants into lakes, streams, and rivers,
thus threatening aquatic environments. Some states and localities—
spurred in part by citizens’ lawsuits and ballot initiatives—recognize that
growth provides housing and economic development opportunities and is
inevitable, but would like to better manage their future land use. The
Congress has also expressed an interest in better understanding how
federal policies and programs affect growth and land use. In two prior
reports, GAO discussed how a broad array of federal policies can help or
hinder state and local efforts to limit any negative effects and the general
types of federal assistance that states and localities want to help them
achieve this goal.