With the rapid increase in the senior population due to the aging of the baby boomers, communities can no longer rely on federal and state government programs to deliver the necessary affordable housing stock to meet demands. Federal subsidized housing programs simply cannot add enough units to...

Although federal, state and local government officials are subject to applicable codes of ethical conduct and are under the jurisdiction of ethics enforcement agencies created pursuant to these laws, ethics oversight agencies are limited in the breadth and scope of covered activities. With an...

This paper considers the history of affordable housing in the Unites States, and discusses the further leadership role that state and local governments can play in meeting the affordable housing needs of communities by using their authority to implement effective and creative land use planning...

Sustainable development is an international challenge that demands attention at all levels of government. The calls to action to achieve sustainability have varied over the last few decades. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s attention was focused on the need for environmental review and growth...

This Article proposes a federal wind siting policy modeled on the cooperative federalism framework of the TCA’s Siting Policy. Part I describes some advantages of wind energy, focusing specifically on the environmental, economic, and social benefits. This Part also discusses several technical...

A host community agreement (HCA) is a contract between a developer and the local governing body or bodies of the host community, whereby the developer agrees to provide the community with certain benefits and mitigate specified impacts of the project. This has been a popular device with wind...

Following allegations of corruption and unethical conduct on the part of both wind farm developers and municipal officials, the New York Attorney General unveiled a voluntary code of ethics for wind energy companies. Perhaps recognizing the gaps in municipal ethics laws and regulations at the...

A community benefits agreement (CBA) is a private contract negotiated between a prospective developer and community representatives. In essence, the CBA specifies the benefits that the developer will provide to the community in exchange for the community's support, or quiet acquiescence, of its...

The field of Health Impact Assessment is relatively new to the United States, but already a number of state and local governments are incorporating these assessments into land use planning and decision making. In five years, the use of HIA in the U.S. has increased dramatically with more than...

This Article briefly discusses examples of the limited involvement and recognition states have carved out for local governments in state-level climate action plans. The main focus of the Article follows with an examination of the high level of largely uncoordinated activity taking place at the...