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001011 RAPID GROWTH FROM ENERGY PROJECTS Hundreds of new energy projects - from coal mines to nuclear power plants to offshore oil and gas - are proposed to meet national energy needs and goals. One or more of these projects may be proposed for your community. Long-term positive contributions to the \ocal economy are easy to document: improved energy supply, increased employment, in-migration of skilled labor, and diversification and expansion of the economic base. The energy produced will be of great benefit to the economy of the region and the nation as a whole. But at what price are these benefits purchased? There may be overcrowded schools, higher prices and taxes, traffic congestion, and pressures put on housing supply and medical services. Loss of the relaxed pace of life and friendly life style may very well emerge. These impacts will face citizens and elected officials of many communities across America. How are they to predict and plan for impacts? In the past few years, a number of States and com- munities have felt the impact of energy projects, They demonstrate what often happens to population and housing, to services and the Quality of life. Their experience in overcoming three problems - informa- tion, management and money - can help guide future planning and action programs of other States and communities. The purposes of this publication are simple: To show what the community impacts of energy projects are likely to be; To share ideas for action among communities, based on actual experiences; and To poi(lt out sources of help: for information, planning and financial assistance. APPROACH OF THIS PUBLICATION To be ot value to you in planning for and respond- ing to energy project impacts, the emphasis of this publication is: On ideaS for acrion. There have been many studies of the impacts, actual and projected. What is needed now are ideas on what to do to prepare for the impacts. On the construction phase. It is immediate, rapid, massive, yet temporary. Conventional planning, management and financing are not geared to this pattern. On smaller communities. The rate of growth in these communities is much higher than it would be in larger ones. And the smaller communities generallY have more limited resources at the start. On generally transferrable information. Responses to one type of project may be used for others. There is a concentration on Western coal projects in this book. That is where the largest number of cases are presently available. On brevity. To keep down the size, only selected examples have been included. Some problems have few ready solutions (for example, the inflation of housing prices and changes in life style). In pre- senting somces of -u.,sistance at the Federal level, only those which were available at the time of pub. lication are included. ENERGY PROJECTS The national policies and programs being developed to resolve our energy problems include the conserva- tion of energy, research and development on new energy sources and the construction of many new energy projects. While many alternative energy futures have been considered, all recognize a need to accelerate production of domestic resources. Conservation is important, but cannot do the whole job. The energy projects which are proposed, and dis. cussed in this publication, are: coal export mines, electric generating plants (coal-fired), substitute gasification plants (from coal), oil shale processing facilities, nuclear power plants, support facilities for offshore oil and gas, platform fabrication facilities, deepwater ports, liquid natural gas (LNG) conversion plants, and oil refineries. Many parts of the nation would be affected, with the most prominent being: . RockV Mountains and Northern Great Plains - coal and oil shale . Appalachia - coal and nuclear plants . Coastal zones - offshore oil and gas, and nuclear power plants . Nationwide - nuclear power plants r \, THE IMPACT UPON COMMUNITIES Construction and operation of an energy project can provide many benefits to the region in which it is located. The economic base may be expanded and diversified, providing new employment opportunities- especially for young workers who might otherwise have to leave the region for work. The energy supply may be maintained or improved, and the tax base of the region strengthened. Comparative case studies show that in Tullahoma, Tennessee (with the Arnold En- gineering Development Center) and in Idaho Falls, Idaho (with the National Reactor Testing Station - both Atomic Energy Commission facilities) the "quality of life appears to tlave been enhanced."I The reason for this was a moderate growth rate, fol-