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. 1971 legislature for establishing county subdivision regulations. Coalition members are giving advice to the CLUC. ROMCOE has drafted a sample set of model subdivision regulations which contain strong environment and consumer protection measures. ROMCOE is now readying a region-wide land use project on the basis of experience gained in Colorado. In preparation is a package of materials which will be sent to the chairman of each county commission and each county attorney in all eight states. The package will include copies of Colorado Land Use Acts, details on the activities of the LUC in Colorado so far, a paper on the Power of Counties to Control Land Use, the ROMCOE Model Subdivision Regu- lations and a paper detailing a potential conflict between subdivision development and owners of vested water rights. ROMCOE is eager to receive comment on what other states in the region are doing to control land use. Of general interest is a recent paper prepared for the Council on Environmental Quality by Roger Hansen, entitled A National Land Use Policy. This paper discusses federal, state and local roles in land use planning and control, lists requirements for environmentally sound land planning, con- siders the difficulties which the dogma of the unre- stricted right of private property puts in the way of land use control, and comments critically on two land use bills currently before the U.S. Senate, S.632 and S.992. This paper is available from ROMCOE on request. SOUTHWEST ENERGY STUDY TIMETABLE TOO BRIEF The Interior Department's Southwest Energy Study Task Force held its second briefing on October 13 in Salt Lake City. This Study was initiated as a re- sult of the Senate Interior Committee hearings held in the Four Corners area in May, 1971. The Project Manager and part of his management team were present. The organization of the Study Plan tasks included were described, and questions were presented from the floor. Although some 90 conservationists from throughout the Southwest region were invited to the briefing, attendance was poor. ROMCOE, in a critique which is being sent to all the invitees, stated that the time schedule for the Study is too short and urged consideration of a second phase after the May 1 Final Report is pub- lished. It seems increasingly apparent that this Study alone should not be the basis for untrammeled power development in the Southwest. Rather, it will probably define more questions than it will answer. Some federal agencies participating in the Study have complained that they will be unable to do an adequate job in the limited time a110ted. The Task Force work groups have a December deadline for submission of their reports. The pre- liminary draft of the complete Study will be re- viewed by the participating agencies during January. ROMCOE hopes that there will be provision for ex- tensive conservationist involvement in review of the Orafts during the December 8--February 1 period. ELECTRIC POWER BILL SPARKS CONTROVERSY Conservationists across the country are outraged over a bill recently reported out favorably from the -2- . Subcommittee on Communications and Power, House Com- mittee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. According to the Conservation Report, a weekly publication of the National Wildlife Federation which follows Congressional activity on environmental legislation closely, H.R.ll066 "blatantly favors and grants exemptions to the electric power industry." II \, Subcommittee hearings earlier this year were dominated by power industry representatives. Those conservationists who were heard generally supported the Administration-backed bill, H.R.5277, although calling for certain modifications to insure adequate long-range planning of power siting, public partici- pation and an independent agency to determine a proper balance between energy supply, environmental protection and national economic and population growth. H.R.1l066 calls for the creation of panels which would settle disputes over generation and trans- mission facility siting, if there were danger of imminent brownouts. Since the panel would have extraordinary powers to override state and federal laws, including those intended to protect the environment, in order to meet power crises, power companies might be tempted to postpone construction of clearly needed facilities in the hope of being permitted less stringent environmental protection measures in emergency situations. In addition, the long-range planning called for in H.R.11066 would be conducted by regional panels consisting solely of industry representatives with no provision for public comment on the siting plans. Representatives Dingell (Michigan) and Moss (California) are attempting to draft an amended ver- sion of H.R.5277 to offer to the full House Committee when it considers H.R. 11066. The substitute bill is expected to include provisions for complete disclosure of power industry long-range siting plans and public participation in all stages of the site approval process. Conservationists are hopeful that the Administra- tion will support a bill which would control the environmental impact of a critical national in- dustry, as President Nixon recommended in his February 2. 1971 environmental message. I \ \ I \1 ~ \ WEST WIDE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETS The 38.member advisory committee to the Western U.S. Water Plan (Westwidel met on October 7 in Salt Lake City. Albert G. Melcher attended for ROMCOE. Committee members divided into four groups to consider various possibilities for redrawing the scope of the Plan. Comments received from state and federal agencies on the official draft of the Plan of Study made it seem that a re-examination of the goals of Westwide was in order. The House Appropriations Committee has also requested that the scope of the Study be narrowed in breadth and depth. According to the 1971 Progress Report on West- wide, the Plan will "project a series of alterna- tive plans to meet those requirements that will cover a full range of economic and environmental objectives, as well as reflect sociological impacts; focus on a recommended plan selected through a rational application of priorities and preferences... and present as a major segment of the adopted plan a program to augment the flows of the Colorado River."