Land Use and Built Environment Laws and Regulations
This tab includes laws, legislation, regulations, agency guidance, and executive orders relevant to land use and the built environment.
Resources are automatically presented by rating, but can be sorted by date or title. Apply additional filters to narrow by resource type, state, region, impact, or jurisdictional focus.
67 results are shown below.
Filter by States AffectedSelect states to filter this list
All
Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Marianas Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Resource
December 16, 2016
This final rule updates the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) Consolidated Plan planning process to require states and local governments to consider two additional concepts: 1) the availability of broadband access, and 2) the vulnerability of housing occupied by low- and moderate-income households to natural hazards risks, many of which may be increasing due to climate change. Consolidated Plans are used by state and local governments receiving HUD funds to assess their affordable housing and community development needs, so that they may make place-based investment decisions.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
November 8, 2016
On November 8, 2016 Berkeley voters passed Measure T1 with an 86. 5% approval. This measure authorizes the City to sell $100 million of General Obligation Bonds (GO Bonds) to repair, renovate, replace, or reconstruct the City’s aging infrastructure and facilities, such as sidewalks and streets, senior and recreation centers, and other important City facilities and buildings. The first round of funding includes the use of green infrastructure for storm drains and parks, and is focused on advancing social equity across projects.
Resource Category: Funding
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
September 26, 2016
The California legislature passed legislation (AB 2800) to ensure that the planning and design of state infrastructure projects consider future climate change impacts -- citing prolonged heat waves, extreme precipitation events, severe drought, increasing wildfires, and other potentially dangerous climate impacts on critical infrastructure. Assembly Bill 2800 requires the California Natural Resources Agency to create a Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group, and for state agencies to take into account the current and future impacts of climate change when planning, designing, building, operating, maintaining, and investing in state infrastructure.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
May 4, 2016
In May 2016, the City Council of Satellite Beach in Brevard County, Florida approved Ordinance 1113, amending the Infrastructure, Coastal Management and Conservation, Intergovernmental Coordination, and Capital Improvements sections of the town’s Comprehensive Plan to adopt Adaptation Action Areas and a shared planning horizon and sea-level curve for city projects.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
April 25, 2016
The City of Laurel, Maryland, adopted Article IV of their Unified Land Development Code on April 25, 2016. Article IV, Floodplain Management, outlines building and structure regulations in the floodplain, including elevating critical facilities to the 0.2-percent chance flood level and enhancing flood protection setback standards.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
April 22, 2016
Connecticut EO 53 directs state agencies to develop new building code standards that will strengthen building codes to better protect residential and commercial structures from damage caused by flooding and high winds that accompany extreme weather.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
March 2016
Prepared by Delaware’s Flood Avoidance Workgroup, this report outlines a set of principles and instructions for ensuring that existing and future flood risks are considered during site selection and project design, as required by Executive Order 41.
Resource Category: Solutions
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
October 8, 2015
California SB 379 requires all cities and counties to include climate adaptation and resiliency strategies in the Safety Elements of their General Plans upon the next revision beginning January 1, 2017. The bill requires the climate adaptation update to include a set of goals, policies, and objectives for their communities based on the vulnerability assessment, as well as implementation measures, including the conservation and implementation of natural infrastructure that may be used in adaptation projects.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
May 21, 2015
On May 21, 2015, Governor Rick Scott signed into law Florida Senate Bill 1094, “An Act relating to the peril of flood. ” SB 1094 requires consideration of future flood risk from storm surge and sea level rise in certain portions of local government comprehensive plans. In accordance with SB 1094, Florida Statute section 163. 3178(2)(f)1 now includes sea-level rise as one of the causes of flood risk that must be addressed in the “redevelopment principles, strategies, and engineering solutions” to reduce flood risk.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List
Resource
May 2015
In 2015, the New Orleans City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO). Article 23 of the CZO addresses landscaping and stormwater management with the intended purpose of reducing the urban heat island effect, decreasing flooding and strains on the existing drainage system, improving water conservation, and protecting public health, safety, and welfare. Article 23 of the CZO does not directly mention climate change or climate adaptation, but does specify regulations that can improve the cities ability to manage stormwater in the face of increased precipitation and mitigate heat in the face of rising temperatures though green infrastructure.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
See Resource Login to Add to My Resource List