To help communities reconnect with their land and water, preserve green space for future generations, and provide attractive settings for economic development, the Clinton-Gore Administration is proposing a new financing tool generating $9.5 billion in bond authority for investments by state, local and tribal governments. Better America Bonds can be used to preserve open space, clean up brownfields and protect water quality.

Across America, communities are searching for ways to keep growing while preserving a high quality of life. Among their concerns are revitalizing older neighborhoods, curbing water pollution, and protecting farmland and other green space close to home. While each community must chart its own destiny, the federal government can be an important partner in building healthy, livable communities for the 21st century.

To provide communities with additional resources to achieve their "smart growth" objectives, the Clinton-Gore Administration's proposed budget will include a total of $700 million over five years for Better America Bonds. This funding will support federal tax credits enabling state, local and tribal governments to issue $9.5 billion in bond authority over 5 years. Communities will have access to zero-interest financing because investors who buy these fifteen year bonds will receive tax credits in lieu of interest.

Better America Bonds can be used to:

Preserve and Enhance Green Space. State, local and tribal governments, working alone or in partnership with land trusts and other nonprofit organizations, can create or restore urban parks, preserve suburban green spaces, and protect threatened farmland and wetlands. Land can be protected either by acquiring title or purchasing permanent easements. Proceeds can also be used for reforestation, replanting and other types of environmental restoration or enhancement.

Protect Water Quality. Rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and wetlands -- and drinking water sources -- can be restored or protected through measures to reduce pollution runoff and land acquisition to reduce polluted runoff. Eligible projects include "passive" controls, such as settling ponds, or the creation of planted or forested buffer strips along waterways that filter contaminants from runoff.

Clean Up Brownfields. Pressure to develop green space can be eased by preparing brownfields -- abandoned industrial sites -- for new economic uses. Better America Bonds will supplement the Administration's existing brownfields initiatives by providing new resources to assess and clean up brownfields for use as open spaces or for development under limited circumstances.

To become eligible for a bond allocation, state, local and tribal governments will submit proposals to the Environmental Protection Agency for initial review in consultation with several other agencies with programs and expertise in the competing communities. EPA will award bond allocations in conjunction with the Vice President's Community Empowerment Board and other cognizant agencies. Preference will be given to regional proposals that reflect collaborative planning by neighboring communities, particularly partnerships among cities, suburbs and rural areas.

• Clinton-Gore Livability Agenda: Building Livable Communities
  for the 21st Century: Introduction
• Clinton-Gore Livability Agenda: Building Livable Communities for the 21st Century--Press Release
• Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Vice President Al Gore, Monday, January 11, 1999