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<br />House Environmental Matters Committee Chairman Craig Knoll is also preparing <br />a land use bill. The Maryland Environmental Trust plans to push for a bill that <br />would set up a state commission and rely heavily on existing local planning and <br />zoning bod1es. <br /> <br />PIPELINES <br /> <br />Secretary of Housing and Urban Development George Romney has announced <br />suspension of almost all new commitments to subsidize low and middle-income <br />housing . . . present obligations indicate an l8-month continuation of programs <br />totalling $7.3 billion at the current lower-than-usual annual rate of 250,000 <br />units . . . urban renewal and Model Cities programs' are slated for cutbacks <br />July 1 . . . Congressional leaders and construction industry spokesmen have <br />termed the action "disastrous, "irresponsible" and "presumptuous" . . . a <br />moratorium is also in effect for the Agriculture Department's Farmers Home <br />Administration, cancelling plans for an estimated 30,000 loans to low-income. <br />rural families. . . remedies may come after further Administration evaluations, <br />or ultimately from incorporation of community and rural development programs into <br />revenue sharing proposals . . . <br /> <br />Claude S. Brinegar, nominee for Secretary of Transportation, last week at <br />his confirmation hearings before the Senate Commerce Committee, refused comment <br />on last year's Administration commitment to transf~r Federal highway monies to <br />urban mass transit programs . . . Brinegar has been an executive of the Union Oil <br />Co., which opposed use of California gasoline tax revenues for mass transit. <br />Rep. Charles Bennett (D-Calif.) has introduced a bill, H.R. 301, to permit <br />states that have completed their share of Interstate highways to use highway <br />trust fund appropriations for mass transit . . . December reports from the <br />Federal Highway Administration show no states with completed Interstate systems . . . <br /> <br />National urban growth policy at this time would be unwise and perhaps <br />impossible due to inadequate data, concludes a report to HUD by a land use sub- <br />committee of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of <br />Engineering . . . the report sees lack of understanding of the process of <br />land development -- costs, zoning, taxes, municipal services -- as a basic <br />problem . . . recommendations include combining existing Federal urban planning <br />grants into single packages for each area, tax subsidies to communities providing <br />low-income housing, Federal grants for land banking, subordinate reliance on new <br />cOlm.unities . . . "Urban Growth and Land Development" is available for $2.95 from <br />Publications Office, NAS, 2101 Constitution Ave., Wash. D.C. 20418 . . . <br /> <br />The 78th Michigan Legislature this year will consider a Land Use Omnibus <br />Bill to create 13 regional authorities to implement Federal guidelines and <br />identify unique and critical areas -- including prime agricultural land, forest <br />lands, wetlands and wildlife areas. . . Governor William Milliken is considering <br />designating a state land use planning agency by executive order . . . <br /> <br />Recent planning grants from the Federal Aviation Administration include <br />$337,000 for preparation of airport master plans in 12 communities, including <br />new airport site studies for Louisville, Ky., San Juan County, N.M., Rumford, <br />Me., and Yap Island, Micronesia. . . expansion plans included Carbondale, Ill., <br />Kenosha, Wis., Presque Isle, Me., Texarkana, Ark., Bowling Green, Ky., Murray, <br />Ky., Harrisburg, Pa., and Erie, Pa. . . . <br /> <br />6 <br />