In this issue:

• Federal Policy Update
• Overview of Smart Growth America’s Coalition Meeting and Lobby Day – April 25th – 26th
• New SGA Report: “From Vacancy to Vibrancy: A guide to redeveloping underground storage tank sites through area-wide planning”
• Send Smart Growth America your “Smart Growth Stories”
• Register for the LOCUS Leadership Summit on June 5-7, 2012
• Send your nominations for The ULI Terwillinger Center for Housing Awards by May 18, 2012

Federal Policy Update

• The House and Senate appointed conferees for negotiations on transportation authorization. The first meeting of the conference committee is scheduled for May 8.
• The House Appropriations Committee adopted its 302(a) and 302(b) allocations for FY13 last week at the $1.028 level proposed in the Ryan budget earlier this year, $19 billion lower than the overall spending level recently approved by the Senate. The Committee also approved a $51.606 billion spending level for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development spending bill, a $1.8 billion (3.3%) drop compared to the $53.4 billion T-HUD bill approved by the Senate. The Committee approved their spending levels 28-21.

Smart Growth America’s Coalition Meeting – April 25, 2012

On April 25th, SGA coalition members convened in Washington, DC for the annual coalition meeting and lobby day. During the meeting each coalition member provided updates on new issues and campaigns that their organizations are doing , were trained to use the new prospect search database WealthEngine, and discussed strategies to defend their work against groups opposed to smart growth and sustainable development; you can access full notes on the coalition website. The next day coalition members met with over 40 members of Congress to discuss funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities Program as well as issues affecting their regions. It was very successful and we’d like to thank everyone who joined us for the meeting or lobby day or both!

New SGA Report: “From Vacancy to Vibrancy: A guide to redeveloping underground storage tank sites through area-wide planning”

From Vacancy to Vibrancy focuses on underground storage tank (UST) sites – properties with buried or partially buried tanks that have been used to store petroleum or other hazardous substances. When gas stations, auto body shops, industrial facilities or other types of development close down, these tanks are often left behind. As they age, the tanks are prone to leakage and can contaminate both soil and groundwater, posing a serious environmental threat. The new guide takes aim at one of the primary reasons these types of properties remain vacant for so long: many officials just don’t know what to do with them.

Click here to download the report.

SGA’s latest blog series: “Smart Growth Stories”

Smart Growth America is collecting ideas for its latest blog series and e-mail campaign, “Smart Growth Stories.” Not only will the stories provide coverage for some of the country’s most exciting projects, they will also serve as a resource for SGA coalition partners. Looking for fresh news content? Feel free to pull from the blog and to re-post. If there are opportunities to further spread the word or to get a posting in front of a new audience, alert us. For more information, send an e-mail to SGA’s press manager, Tom Madrecki.

Register for the LOCUS Leadership Summit

Real estate developers, investors and professionals are invited to join LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors for the first annual LOCUS Leadership Summit in Washington, DC. In partnership with Smart Growth America, this three-day event will provide real estate professionals from across the country the opportunity to meet with Congressional leaders and smart growth industry leaders, to network with fellow professionals, and gain in-depth information about the federal financing of real estate and other innovative solutions to challenges facing the real estate industry. Click here for more information.

Send in your nominations for the ULI Terwilliger Center Housing Awards by May 18th

The ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing has just issued a call for entries for their annual housing awards program. For 2012, they have two designations:

• The Jack Kemp Workforce Housing Models of Excellence Award recognizes exemplary developments that meet workforce housing needs in the local community.
• The Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Public Policy Award recognizes innovative state and local policy initiatives that provide ongoing and sustainable support for workforce housing.

 Click here for more information.