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Transfer of development rights (TDR) programs shift development intensity between land parcels. Jurisdictions, most commonly local municipal or county governments, employ TDR to protect resources such as farmland or historical properties and to encourage infill and redevelopment where deemed appropriate. However, while championed by economists and others seeking to reduce conflicts between land development and preservation, TDR program adoption has varied widely across the US. What demographic, economic, or environmental factors are associated with TDR program establishment? This paper describes a census of 375 TDR programs in the United States, documenting primary program attributes and adoption year and categorizing their functions and typology. Using logistic regression, we analyze program spatial patterns and factors predicting program implementation. We find that areas that are coastal, more liberal, have higher home values, in home-rule states, and in states with state-wide growth management programs, are all significantly more likely to implement TDR programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing evidence shows that pollution released to environmental media, such as waterways and land, has increased while air pollution has declined due to stringent regulation in the United States. Such pollution substitution may disproportionately occur in disadvantaged communities, but little research has investigated the extent to which pollution substitution is correlated with communities' characteristics. Using spatial panel data of toxic release during 1990–2010 and the ethnic diversity index to measure a community's social cohesion and the ability for collective action, we found that pollution substitution is positively associated with greater ethnic diversity, regardless of population size. Moreover, lower ethnic diversity (higher potential of collective action) in adjacent communities increases pollution substitution from air to land in the home community. Our findings suggest that the degree of environmental inequity should be assessed by considering pollution released to all environmental media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]