ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses first on Federal legislation, then on local/state legal tools for implementation. The widespread movement to provide better accessibility to the elderly and handicapped was reflected in transportation. The cornerstone environmental legislation was the National Environment Policy Action of 1969. The complex problems of technologically, socially, and economically advanced society—pollution, inflation, integration, crime, resource limitations, etc.—required more coordinated approaches to Federal-state-local planning and decision-making. Two examples of the use of fiscal powers are special assessments and creation of development districts. Eminent domain is the power used by governments to acquire land or easements. Two uses of the proprietorship principle are in location of facilities to influence growth and in provision of access to existing facilities. Zoning has been known as a "preventive" device, intended to deter community blight and deterioration by prescribing standards for uses in separate areas and by assisting in the control of new buildings.
