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Show showing of need. Lots are sold to the highest bidder. To date, the law has never been used.15 The temporary Public Land Sale Act of 1964,15 which will expire on December 31, 1970, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to sell public lands that have been classified for disposal after a determination that (a) the lands are required for the orderly growth and development of a community, or (b) the lands are chiefly valuable for residential, commercial, agricultural (exclusive of lands chiefly valuable for grazing, and raising forage crops), industrial, or public uses or development. Sales may be in tracts not greater than 5,120 acres each to state or local government agencies at (1) the appraised fair market value, or (2) negotiated market value. During its 5-year existence, this law has accounted for the disposal of a few thousand acres, only a small portion of which was for urban expansion. Other authorities which have been used to a very limited extent for disposal of public land for urban purposes by the Department of the Interior are the Small Tract Act and the Recreation and Public Purposes Act.16 The Department of Agriculture can also make national forest land available for disposal for community purposes through the various laws providing for exchanges of national forest lands.17 Establishment of New Cities Proposals which have been advanced by advocates of a new cities policy contemplate that as many as 100 cities of 100,000 population each and 10 cities of about a million population each must be established nationwide during the next 30 years. Each project obviously would be an enormous undertaking. At present, there is no national policy for such a new cities program, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development has the matter under study, as do committees of Congress. It is recognized that the major aspects of such a program (including long-term capital, tax credits, insurance of loans, provisions for schools, parks, freeways, and other public facilities, etc.) will not involve public land policy. Nevertheless, one of the critical problems in the development of new cities is that of the initial assembly of a large block of land. In this respect, public land might play an important role, for such blocks can be more readily assembled on public than on private lands. Congress, therefore, should as the first step make some public land available for a prototype "new city" on an experimental basis to provide information 15 43 U.S.C. §§1421-1427 (1964), as amended, (Supp. IV, 1969). 16 43 U.S.C. §§ 682a-682e, 869-869-3 (1964). 17 E.g., 16 U.S.C. §§ 485, 516 (1964). on policy aspects of using public lands for new cities in the future. However, before making any public lands available for a new city, there must be an evaluation of the need for the development. We have confidence that the public land management agencies can and will properly classify land as being suitable for urban use. This alone would not demonstrate that there is a requirement in that area. It is recommended that the land management agency obtain evaluations as to the need for public land to be used for a new city from the Department of Housing and Urban Development as the Federal unit charged with the general responsibility for urban programs, from an appropriate state planning agency, and from a recognized land planner from outside government. The evaluations should accompany the recommendation on the proposed project when transmitted from the executive branch to the Congress. The following points should also be considered by the Congress in making public lands available for new cities: (a) the classes of lands, e.g., parks, wilderness areas, etc., that will not be made available; (b) maximum size of units to be made available; (c) whether or not land will be made available at a low or nominal price; (d) whether payment to the Federal Government should be deferred; (e) whether each unit will have a time schedule for completion; (f) whether restrictions should be placed on use of the land; (g) who would be eligible as grantees (e.g., private developers, state governments, local governments, federally chartered development corporations); (h) whether state approval should be a requirement; and (i) provision for staged development of the project to assure balanced growth and minimize risks, particularly as to possible adverse impact on the environment, associated with such a novel program thereby permitting reevaluation before each successive stage is approved. Even after the prototype project has been initiated, because the concept of building entirely new large viable cities is so complex and costly, Congress should, until more experience is gained with them, approve them on a case-by-case basis, in very much the same manner as authorizations for power or reclamation projects. Expansion of Existing Communities The Commission believes the present laws providing for disposal of public land for expansion of existing communities are inadequate. They were enacted at a time when the methods of development and the needs of the Nation were quite different from what they are today. The numerous laws which have grown up, the variety of restrictions as to qualifications of purchaser and type of use, the acreage 227 |