There is no federal policy which spells out how the territories should be treated when formulating and extending laws and programs. Some laws and programs apply to some territories but Territory officials identified a number of laws not to others. which they believe constrained local development efforts and caused plained loss of significant about unequal the potential treatment revenues. received and application of certain federal programs. in They the also com- extension In the past 5 years, the Congress and federal agencies have increasingly recognized these problems and have taken several actions to remedy them. For the most part, the initiatives focus on either a single territory, such as the Northern Mari- ana Law Commission, or on single issues, such as the National Marine Fisheries Service study on fishing laws and the temporary exemption on the Clean Air Act provided to Guam and NMI in the 1983 Omnibus Territory Act. Thus, some individual laws and programs are being tailored to meet local needs. It appears that economic and social development in the ter- ritories revolve around two central issues: (1) whether an economic development strategy can be developed to overcome or ameliorate indigenous and federal constraints and (2) whether the United States and territories can find common ground on how the territories should be treated in the formulation, extension, and application of federal policies, laws, and programs. While territory recent ‘and officials years concerns, made agree progress many that believe in the federal recognizing U.S. policy government many does has territory not in needs adequately address these two issues. As the territories strive for greater autonomy and self-reliance, U.S. policymakers in Congress and the executive branch are likely to face greater pressure to establish a policy framework which addresses these issues. 39 2000z4hb