What is an appropriate methodology for generating “land use credits”from sending areas? What attributes of rural land and natural resources will be measured? How will whatever is measured be used to calculate the number of credits a landowner in a sending area receives? What conservation actions must the landowner take to generate the credits? Are credits available only for conservation actions that go beyond the minimum that would have been required by applicable regulations (such as the Endangered Species Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act)?
What is the appropriate methodology for identifying and designing development in receiving areas? What is it that land use credits are “buying”in the way of number of units, density of development, mixed uses, and so on? What is the “conversion rate”from credits for conservation of natural resources and rural lands in sending areas into development rights in receiving areas? How many square feet of development is an acre of wetlands worth?
How will the program calibrate the number of credits being generated in sending areas with the number of credits demanded in receiving areas? Will there be a cap on credits? Will they be auctioned off? Will they be traded in markets? Can credits be createdthrough restoration, or only through conservation of existing resources?
As the size of a RLSA grows larger, say upwards of 50,000 acres, may landowners in sending and receiving phase in conservation and development over time, or must they commit to a conservation and development plan that covers the entire RLSA and is fixed in place?
What is it about rural lands that is being preserved? How is rural land preservation valued? Who benefits from it? Why is this an important land use policy? How do we know it is better than the alternative? What is the alternative?
How will receiving area governments deal with the increased development units and density made possible by the transfer of RLSA land use credits? Who will finance the additional schools and other public services that are generated by development carried out with RLSA land use credits?
No comments:
Post a Comment