§8701 — Title 40 Public Buildings, Property, and Works | U.S. Code

§8701 Findings and purposes

Title 40 › Subtitle SUBTITLE II— - PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND WORKS › Part PART D— - PUBLIC BUILDINGS, GROUNDS, AND PARKS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA › Chapter CHAPTER 87— - PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERAL › § 8701

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires coordinated, regional planning for the National Capital area (Washington, D.C., and nearby parts of Maryland and Virginia) and sets up a central planning agency to help federal and District of Columbia projects fit together. Congress says the capital’s presence has shaped a larger metro area, federal sites affect how the region grows, and many different governments must work together on planning and interstate development. The procedures created will also give Congress the information and advice it needs. Aims of the law (except sections 8733–8736) are to make sure there is full planning for the physical growth of the capital and its surroundings, to include the right local planning agencies in that work, and to create the agency and rules needed to manage federal and District planning. Plans must respect the capital’s special role and the rights of nearby states and local governments, and should promote public health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity, general welfare, efficiency, and economy.

Title 40, §8701

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(a)Congress finds that—

(1)the location of the seat of government in the District of Columbia has brought about the development of a metropolitan region extending well into adjoining territory in Maryland and Virginia;

(2)effective comprehensive planning is necessary on a regional basis and of continuing importance to the federal establishment;

(3)the distribution of federal installations throughout the region has been and will continue to be a major influence in determining the extent and character of development;

(4)there is needed a central planning agency for the National Capital region to coordinate certain developmental activities of the many different agencies of the Federal and District of Columbia Governments so that those activities may conform with general objectives;

(5)there is an increasing mutuality of interest and responsibility between the various levels of government that calls for coordinate and unified policies in planning both federal and local development in the interest of order and economy;

(6)there are developmental problems of an interstate character, the planning of which requires collaboration between federal, state, and local governments in the interest of equity and constructive action; and

(7)the instrumentalities and procedures provided in this chapter will aid in providing Congress with information and advice requisite to legislation.

(b)(1)The purposes of this chapter (except section 8733–8736) are—

(A)to secure comprehensive planning for the physical development of the National Capital and its environs;

(B)to provide for the participation of the appropriate planning agencies of the environs in the planning; and

(C)to establish the agency and procedures requisite to the administration of the functions of the Federal and District Governments related to the planning.

(2)The general objective of this chapter (except section 8733–8736) is to enable appropriate agencies to plan for the development of the federal establishment at the seat of government in a manner—

(A)consistent with the nature and function of the National Capital and with due regard for the rights and prerogatives of the adjoining States and local governments to exercise control appropriate to their functions; and

(B)which will, in accordance with present and future needs, best promote public health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity, and the general welfare, as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 8701(a)40:71(a) (2d sentence).June 6, 1924, ch. 270, § 1(a), 43 Stat. 463; Apr. 30, 1926, ch. 198, 44 Stat. 374; May 24, 1928, ch. 726, 45 Stat. 726; July 19, 1952, ch. 949, § 1, 66 Stat. 781. 8701(b)(1)40:71(a) (1st sentence). 8701(b)(2)40:71(a) (last sentence). In subsection (a)(7), the words “from time to time” are omitted as unnecessary. In subsection (b), the text of 40:72a, restated as section 8732 of the revised title, is included in the purposes and objectives of this chapter because by its terms, the authority of the National Capital Planning Commission is enlarged as provided in that section.

§8701 Findings and purposes

Summary

Title 40, §8701

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Citations & Metadata