Quelle Surprise !!!: Repugs want to kill the EPA's Office of Smart Growth

[marmar]

In addition to the disappointing Surface Transportation bill, Congress has produced another bit of bad news for urbanists. The House Appropriations Committee released its approved bill for funding both the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency. Unsurprisingly, since House Republicans harbor serious antipathy toward the EPA, they propose drastic cuts to the agency.

The bill would cut EPA funding overall by 17 percent. In terms of the most important programs for cities, the results are wildly divergent: The Brownfields program would be funded at about $23.6 million, equal to the fiscal year 2012 enacted level and over $2 million below the Obama administration’s budget request.

But more pressingly, the EPA’s Office of Smart Growth would be defunded entirely.

The Office of Smart Growth is not some command-and-control bureaucratic effort to tie up economic development in red tape. It actually enables economic growth and efficiency — in theory, something Republicans should be amenable to supporting. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://americancity.org/daily/entry/urban-nation-dont-kill-the-office-of-smart-growth