I. Smart Growth and Wet Growth

A. The Environmental Regulation of Land Use

Land use regulation and planning have taken an "environmental turn": a pervasive and inescapable attention to the impact of land use and land development on the natural environment. The literature on the environmental regulation of land use is so vast as to defy summary or citation. Furthermore, specific examples of environmental concerns arising in land use matters--as found in statutes, regulations, cases, local ordinances and codes, planning documents, periodicals, professional publications, websites, and news reports--are even more vast than the scholarly and professional literature. Anyone who is involved in land use law, planning, or regulation is undoubtedly familiar with issues of biodiversity and endangered species, wetlands protections, coastal zone protections, land and open space conservation, brownfields, environmental justice considerations, environmental impact studies, and the impacts of land development on air quality, water quality, ecosystems, and the natural environment generally. Many scholars researching particular aspects of the connections between land use and the environment have contributed to a growing body of knowledge and ideas. More comprehensively, the scope and importance of these issues are illustrated by Prof. Linda Malone's excellent treatise Environmental Regulation of Land Use, and the pathbreaking work of Prof. John Nolon on local environmental regulation, published by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in a series of books. In addition, Prof. John Randolph, an environmental planner, recently authored a much-needed multidisciplinary book, Environmental Land Use Planning and Management. This book is a critical resource for any professional involved in land use to understand and integrate environmental considerations into land use.