Surveys of State Planning Laws

Project Overview

Since 2002, the American Planning Association (APA) has periodically surveyed planning enabling laws in all 50 states. The first survey, conducted under the auspices of the Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook project, served as a benchmark for subsequent efforts. With support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Cooperating Technical Partners program, APA researchers completed the latest survey in the summer of 2022.

2022 Survey of State Planning Laws: Land Use, Hazard Mitigation, and Climate Action

2022 Survey of State Planning Laws: Land Use, Hazard Mitigation, and Climate Action.

Story Map

With support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Cooperating Technical Partners program, APA created a story map to summarize key themes that emerged from the 2022 survey of state planning laws.

2017 Survey of State Land-Use and Natural Hazard Planning Laws

Cover of the report Survey of State Land-Use and Natural Hazards Planning Laws

Findings Report

Supported by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through its Cooperating Technical Partners (CTP) program, the American Planning Association (APA) built upon previous efforts to survey state land-use and natural hazard planning laws in all 50 states.

This report details the findings from APA's 2017 review of these state laws.