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National
DOT-HUD-EPA Partnership Looks to Boost Investment in Smart Growth
The first administration to make smart growth a federal policy, President Obama entrusted its implementation to the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which created an interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities last June and now work to inject some $667 million more into the economic foundation for a ''cleaner and greener'' America.
With nothing more important now than creating jobs, wrote DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a Seattle Times guest column at the start of the 9th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, February 4-6, ''(w)e need communities where residents have easy access to jobs; where there are clean, reliable options for transportation to work and school; where housing is affordable and energy efficient; and where clean and renewable energy is abundant.''
To help that happen, they wrote, HUD is launching its Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, with $140 million in planning and challenge grants for innovation, and with funds for a new program to lower homeowner utility bills by allowing inclusion of home-energy upgrade costs in mortgages. Simultaneously, DOT is proposing $527 million to let its Office of Livable Communities fund low-income neighborhood transit expansion or similar initiatives, and offer state and local transportation agencies grants for more transportation choices that spur economic development. And the EPA Office of Sustainable Communities is strengthening its work with HUD, DOT, state and local officials ''to ensure that unprecedented investments in clean-water infrastructure support existing communities, create jobs, protect vital resources like the Puget Sound, and strengthen our country’s foundation for prosperity.''
Though the government ''can set the pace for change and provide critical funding support,'' LaHood, Donovan and Jackson pointed out, the initiative is not the government’s alone. ''We are looking to emulate Seattle and regions across America that for years have provided leadership and support, innovative ideas and partnerships, and a long-term commitment to building livable, economically competitive communities,'' they stressed. ''Working together, we can provide consumers and communities with the sustainable housing and transportation choices they need to build a stronger future for our country.'' 2/3/2010
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