40 U.S.C. § 14101 — Findings and purposes
submitted 24 years ago by Pub. L. 107-217 to r/title-40-PUBLIC-BUILDINGS-PROPERTY-AND-WORKS · 923 words · no verdicts yet
Congress explains why it created programs to help Appalachia's economy grow. The 1965, 1975, and 1998 findings describe the region's ongoing struggles and changing needs. The purposes are to fund infrastructure, jobs, and coordinated state-federal planning across Appalachia.
(a) 1965 Findings and Purpose. (1) Findings. Congress found that the Appalachian region has plenty of natural resources and potential, but its economy has lagged behind the rest of the country. Congress said the region's people haven't fairly shared in the nation's prosperity, largely because the region relied too heavily on just a few basic industries and weak farming, which never gave it a strong enough economic base to grow on its own. Congress noted that state and local governments and the region's people already understood these problems and were working on solutions. Congress pointed to a report from the President's Appalachian Regional Commission backing up these findings, and concluded that developing the whole region together is doable, worthwhile, and urgently needed. (2) Purpose. This subtitle's goal is to help the region solve its special problems, grow its economy, and set up a joint federal-state framework to build the basic facilities the region needs and to tackle its shared problems together. Public money spent under this subtitle should go to places with strong potential for future growth and the best expected return. States are responsible for recommending which local and state projects within their borders get this assistance. Congress expected that as the region got the transportation and other facilities it needed and developed its workforce, it would grow a more varied set of industries and eventually support itself through a stronger free-market economy.
(b) 1975 Findings and Purpose. (1) Findings. Congress found that a lot of progress had been made toward the 1965 goals, especially in building basic public facilities, but much more work remained -- especially on health, education, and other public services. Congress recognized that the nation's priorities had shifted in the decade since 1965, putting more weight on conservation and quality of life, values the region had always cared about. As of December 31, 1975, Congress said Appalachia had a chance to handle its future growth in a way that fits its traditions and natural beauty, respects conservation, and improves quality of life -- including by pursuing "eco-industrial development," which grows both jobs and the economy while protecting natural resources. Congress also noted big changes happening in the nation's energy needs and production, which risked short-term problems but would clearly have major long-term effects on the region. Congress said it was essential to use any new energy-production opportunities to maximize social and economic benefits while minimizing social and environmental costs to the region and its people. (2) Purpose. This subtitle also aims to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts to: (A) anticipate the effects of different possible energy policies; (B) plan for the growth and change that comes with them, maximizing benefits and minimizing costs; and (C) run federal, state, and local programs and projects in a way that better addresses the region's special problems caused by the nation's energy needs and policies -- including problems with transportation, housing, community facilities, and human services.
(c) 1998 Findings and Purpose. (1) Findings. Congress found that while a lot of the subtitle's goals had been met, the decade before November 13, 1998, brought fast-changing national and global economic conditions that created new problems and challenges for rural areas everywhere, and especially for Appalachia. (2) Purpose. Beyond the purposes already listed in (a) and (b), this subtitle now also aims to: (A) help the Appalachian region by building the infrastructure needed for economic and human development, growing the region's industries, building entrepreneurial communities, diversifying the regional economy, and making the region's industrial and commercial resources more competitive nationally and globally; (B) coordinate federal, state, and local efforts to meet economic competitiveness challenges by improving the workforce's skills, adopting new technologies (including eco-industrial technologies) for local businesses, and improving businesses' access to technical and financial help; and (C) focus special attention on the parts of Appalachia facing the most severe and long-lasting distress, to give people there a fairer shot at the quality of life other Americans enjoy.
Congress finds and declares that the Appalachian region of the United States, while abundant in natural resources and rich in potential, lags behind the rest of the Nation in its economic growth and that its people have not shared properly in the Nation’s prosperity. The region’s uneven past development, with its historical reliance on a few basic industries and a marginal agriculture, has failed to provide the economic base that is a vital prerequisite for vigorous, self-sustaining growth. State and local governments and the people of the region understand their problems and have been working, and will continue to work, purposefully toward their solution. Congress recognizes the comprehensive report of the President’s Appalachian Regional Commission documenting these findings and concludes that regionwide development is feasible, desirable, and urgently needed.
It is the purpose of this subtitle to assist the region in meeting its special problems, to promote its economic development, and to establish a framework for joint federal and state efforts toward providing the basic facilities essential to its growth and attacking its common problems and meeting its common needs on a coordinated and concerted regional basis. The public investments made in the region under this subtitle shall be concentrated in areas where there is a significant potential for future growth and where the expected return on public dollars invested will be the greatest. States will be responsible for recommending local and state projects within their borders that will receive assistance under this subtitle. As the region obtains the needed physical and transportation facilities and develops its human resources, Congress expects that the region will generate a diversified industry and that the region will then be able to support itself through the workings of a strengthened free enterprise economy.
Congress further finds and declares that while substantial progress has been made toward achieving the purposes set out in subsection (a), especially with respect to the provision of essential public facilities, much remains to be accomplished, especially with respect to the provision of essential health, education, and other public services. Congress recognizes that changes and evolving national purposes in the decade since 1965 affect not only the Appalachian region but also its relationship to a nation that on December 31, 1975, is assigning higher priority to conservation and the quality of life, values long cherished within the region. Appalachia as of December 31, 1975, has the opportunity, in accommodating future growth and development, to demonstrate local leadership and coordinated planning so that housing, public services, transportation and other community facilities will be provided in a way congenial to the traditions and beauty of the region and compatible with conservation values and an enhanced quality of life for the people of the region, and consistent with that goal, the Appalachian region should be able to take advantage of eco-industrial development, which promotes both employment and economic growth and the preservation of natural resources. Congress recognizes also that fundamental changes are occurring in national energy requirements and production, which not only risk short-term dislocations but will undoubtedly result in major long-term effects in the region. It is essential that the opportunities for expanded energy production be used so as to maximize the social and economic benefits and minimize the social and environmental costs to the region and its people.
It is also the purpose of this subtitle to provide a framework for coordinating federal, state and local efforts toward—
anticipating the effects of alternative energy policies and practices;
planning for accompanying growth and change so as to maximize the social and economic benefits and minimize the social and environmental costs; and
implementing programs and projects carried out in the region by federal, state, and local governmental agencies so as to better meet the special problems generated in the region by the Nation’s energy needs and policies, including problems of transportation, housing, community facilities, and human services.
Congress further finds and declares that while substantial progress has been made in fulfilling many of the objectives of this subtitle, rapidly changing national and global economies over the decade ending November 13, 1998, have created new problems and challenges for rural areas throughout the United States and especially for the Appalachian region.
In addition to the purposes stated in subsections (a) and (b), it is the purpose of this subtitle—
to assist the Appalachian region in—
providing the infrastructure necessary for economic and human resource development;
developing the region’s industry;
building entrepreneurial communities;
generating a diversified regional economy; and
making the region’s industrial and commercial resources more competitive in national and world markets;
to provide a framework for coordinating federal, state, and local initiatives to respond to the economic competitiveness challenges in the Appalachian region through—
improving the skills of the region’s workforce;
adapting and applying new technologies for the region’s businesses, including eco-industrial development technologies; and
improving the access of the region’s businesses to the technical and financial resources necessary to development of the businesses; and
to address the needs of severely and persistently distressed areas of the Appalachian region and focus special attention on the areas of greatest need so as to provide a fairer opportunity for the people of the region to share the quality of life generally enjoyed by citizens across the United States.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 107–217, Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1252.)
- 2002Enacted · Pub. L. 107-217 · 116 Stat. 1252
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 107-217 on 2002-08-21.
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