
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 13, 1994                   TAG: 9405130121
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

APPALACHIAN `REGION' EXPANDS

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that adds Roanoke, Rockbridge and Montgomery counties and the cities of Roanoke, Salem, Buena Vista, Lexington and Radford to the area served by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

If the measure passes the Senate and is signed into law by the president, the localties will become eligible for grant funding to help with economic development projects. They originally were eligible to be included in the ARC but chose not to participate when the agency was formed in 1965.

The legislation was introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, and co-sponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon. The measure, which was introduced over a year ago, is the first piece of legislation by Goodlatte, a freshman congressman, to pass the House.

Goodlatte said the bill does not increase government spending but simply allows the counties and cities to compete for funds that already are available.

The bill "will promote economic development and job creation in these counties and cities," he said.

"While these communities are blessed with an abundance of natural and human resources, inclusion in the Appalachian Region will provide them with tools necessary for greater economic development," Boucher said.

The ARC serves 399 counties with more than 21 million people.

In other congressional action Thursday pushed by Boucher and important to economic development in Southwest Virginia, the House surface transportation subcommittee approved $5 million in preliminary planning and engineering funding for an extension of the Coalfields Expressway into Virginia from West Virginia.

by CNB