Environmental Planning Handbook: For Sustainable Communities and Regions

Environmental protection is a global issue that largely depends on effective and timely action at the local level. In this book, the authors clarify complex environmental issues, examine current sustainability efforts, and offer step-by-step guidance for local governments to incorporate sustainable environmental quality into local and regional comprehensive planning. Practical and comprehensive A hands-on and thorough approach sets this book apart. The authors tell how to assess local environment conditions and create an action plan. They discuss the role of environmental law and economics, ethics, and ecology in decision-making. The core of the book covers planning for public health (water supply and quality, solid waste and recycling, and toxic waste), natural areas (landscapes, wildlife habitat, wetlands, coastal zones, and hazard and disaster mitigation), working landscapes (farming, ranching, forestry, and mining), and the built environment (transportation, energy, sustainability, and greenfield development). Each chapter reviews relevant federal and state-level environmental laws and programs and advises local governments how to conform to federal and state regulations and use their own planning tools and techniques to customize their comprehensive plan. The authors explain scientific considerations that planners must understand. They review positive trends in environmental quality and point out what is most essential to ensure continued progress. Help for public- and private-sector planners this book also discusses the important role that private, nonprofit groups have come to play in environmental protection efforts.