Coalition of National Groups Organizes to Fight Threat to Community Control Over Billboard Blight

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 14, 2006 - Tucked inside the U.S. Senate's version of the FY '07 energy and water appropriation bill (H.R. 5427) is a provision that has nothing to do with energy or water, but which has everything to do with providing special favors to one of the most pampered industries in America and which threatens the ability of local governments to protect their quality of life.

As Congress comes back to the post-election lame-duck session to finish its work on a variety of appropriations bills, the energy and water appropriation will contain a completely non-germane provision that undermines a key part of the Highway Beautification Act (HBA), the law that regulates billboards along federal-aid highways. At the urging of the outdoor advertising industry, the Senate Appropriations Committee, without public notice or hearings, included language that allows states to opt out of the part of the law that says that when nonconforming billboards in commercial or industrial areas are destroyed by natural disasters they cannot be rebuilt.

Scenic America and a coalition of 11 other national organizations have called for the provision to be stripped in its entirety from the final version of the energy and water appropriation. This would occur after the full Senate approves its version of the bill and it is sent to a conference committee to resolve differences between the House and Senate bills. Only the Senate version will contain the offending provision.

A nonconforming sign is one that no longer complies with federal or state law or regulations or local ordinances. Many of these signs are over 30 years old; some much older. They are billboards that could not be legally built today due to land-use regulations (such as prohibitions in rural areas), spacing or height issues, or other factors defined in the federal-state compacts that implement the law. One of the main goals of the HBA was the eventual removal of these signs which are, by definition, undesirable and inappropriately located, including those in the commercial and industrial areas covered by this provision.

Because of changes to the HBA over time, there are today very few ways for communities to rid themselves of the blight created by these old signs.
Other than outright purchase, which is very rare, the only recourse is to wait for these nonconforming signs to be destroyed by storms or other "acts of God." Because the signs are in nonconforming locations, they currently can't be replaced when they are destroyed and the process of removal by attrition that the law envisioned can occur. (Legal, conforming signs can be rebuilt if they are damaged or destroyed, of course; this provision only applies to nonconforming signs that meet state definitions of "destroyed.")

But the powerful and highly profitable billboard industry is refusing to let nature take its course and is fighting to retain and rebuild these old signs in spite of the fact that many communities have been patiently waiting for their removal for decades. Ignoring public opinion and local government prerogatives, it is using a completely unrelated appropriations bill to do the dirty work outside of the normal legislative process.

Kevin E. Fry, president of Scenic America, believes that there is more at stake than just some old wooden signs knocked over by recent storms. "The billboard industry has a clear agenda with this legislation," Fry explained.
"This is part of an ongoing campaign to undermine the whole idea of nonconforming signs and to make sure they remain a permanent blight on the landscapes and cityscapes of this country. The fact that citizens and local governments have said through their actions that they don't want these signs in their community is immaterial. This is an industry that thrives on special treatment and refuses to believe that rules should apply to them.
The industry says nonconforming signs 'are here to stay.' We say it's time for them to go, and apparently Mother Nature agrees with us."

A diverse coalition of groups concerned with both the direct consequences and indirect implications of the measure sent a letter to key members of Congress urging that the provision be removed from the final bill. The letter was signed by Scenic America, the National League of Cities, the U.S.
Conference of Mayors, the American Planning Association, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Association of Towns and Townships, the International City/County Management Association, the American Institute of Architects, the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, the League of American Bicyclists, and the National Center for Bicycling and Walking.

As the letter stated, "The continued weakening of the enforcement provisions of the HBA will render the nonconforming designation meaningless. The crippling of the storm-destruction provision effectively removes any hope that the thousands of old, nonconforming billboards littering our highways will ever be removed."

The letter also pointed out that the billboard industry is embroiled in legal and administrative disputes in several states over the improper rebuilding of nonconforming signs in the wake of the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, and that this legislation may short-circuit efforts to rein in egregious examples of corporate misbehavior.


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For a copy of the coalition letter or a full background report on the issue, contact Kevin E. Fry at Scenic America, at 202.638.055, ext. 11, or at fry@scenic.org.  Details are also available at the Scenic America website at www.scenic.org. 

Scenic America
1634 I Street NW Suite 510
Washington, DC 20006

Scenic America is the only national nonprofit organization dedicated solely to preserving and enhancing the scenic character and visual quality of America's communities and countryside. Through national advocacy efforts and technical assistance services, local and national projects, and the support of its 11 state affiliates, Scenic America fights to reduce billboard blight and visual pollution; preserve the scenic character of the nation's highways and byways; promote context-sensitive transportation solutions; ensure the mitigation of telecommunications towers and other intrusions in the landscape; and promote scenic easements and other strategies to protect open space and preserve irreplaceable scenic resources.