[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SMART GROWTH IN MARYLAND

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                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 11, 1999

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank Representatives 
Blumenauer and Hoeffel for their effort in organizing this special 
order on the Department of Transportation's ``Transportation and 
Community and System Preservation Pilot Program''--an outgrowth of the 
Clinton Administration's ``Livable Communities'' and ``Smart Growth'' 
initiatives.
  Innovative land-use and conservation policies, known as ``smart 
growth'' strategies, are used by communities across the U.S. to 
preserve green space, ease traffic congestion, and monitor 
infrastructure development.
  As stated by Maryland Governor Paris Glendening, ``The goal of smart 
growth is not no growth or even slow growth . . . rather, the goal is 
sensible growth that balances our need for jobs and economic 
development with our desire to save our natural environment before it 
is forever lost.''
  Mr. Speaker, I submit to you these facts: in 1970, 12 billion vehicle 
miles were traveled each year in Maryland, by 1990 that number more 
than doubled to 28 billion vehicles; from 1970 to 1995 Maryland's 
population grew by 25% from 4 to 5 million--and is expected to top 6 
million by 2020; during the same 25 years, the population in the major 
suburbs around Baltimore City skyrocketed by 67 percent. In the last 
four years alone, Baltimore City has lost more than 50,000 residents!
  Facing these daunting statistics, the state of Maryland has been at 
the forefront of smart growth initiatives. Maryland passed the nation's 
first comprehensive ``Smart Growth'' Act in 1992, which sought to: 
concentrate development in suitable areas; protect sensitive and 
resource areas; direct growth in rural areas to existing population 
centers; promote stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay; practice 
conservation and reduce consumption of resources; and encourage 
economic growth and streamline regulatory mechanisms.
  As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I am 
pleased that the Administration has maintained its commitment to 
strengthening the federal government's role as a partner with urban and 
rural communities. Through the Department of Transportation, the 
Administration has actively pursued objectives that not only make 
communities more economically attractive, but also improve quality of 
life.
  Under the TCSP program funded by the Department of Transportation, 
the ``Maryland Integrating Transportation and Smart Growth Program''--
MINTS--has been awarded $450,000 to demonstrate how smart growth can 
successfully be linked with innovative transportation policies.
  The grant will be used to: maintain and enhance existing communities 
and contribute to their quality of life and economic vitality; 
demonstrate how investments in transportation strategies can encourage 
well-planned growth where it is desired and discourage new development 
where it is inconsistent with smart growth objectives; and use sound 
growth management to facilitate community conservation, preservation of 
infrastructure capacity, and ``smart'' transportation strategies.
  The MINTS program will be implemented in two distinct growth 
management settings:
  First, an urban community where there are challenges to improve the 
efficiency of the existing transportation system, to conserve the 
community, and to prompt re-development; and
  Second, where suburban sprawl threatens rural resource protection 
goals and generates highway and other infrastructure needs.
  Mr. Speaker, As legislators, we MUST recognize that growth is 
inevitable and growth is necessary. However, my hope is that my 
colleagues will utilize smart growth initiatives outlined by the 
Clinton administration to protect the environment, while also 
supporting the growing transportation and infrastructure needs of their 
districts and states.

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