42 U.S.C. § 5305 : US Code - Section 5305: Activities eligible for assistance

Search 42 U.S.C. § 5305 : US Code - Section 5305: Activities eligible for assistance

(a) Enumeration of eligible activities
Activities assisted under this chapter may include only -
(1) the acquisition of real property (including air rights,
water rights, and other interests therein) which is (A) blighted,
deteriorated, deteriorating, undeveloped, or inappropriately
developed from the standpoint of sound community development and
growth; (B) appropriate for rehabilitation or conservation
activities; (C) appropriate for the preservation or restoration
of historic sites, the beautification of urban land, the
conservation of open spaces, natural resources, and scenic areas,
the provision of recreational opportunities, or the guidance of
urban development; (D) to be used for the provision of public
works, facilities, and improvements eligible for assistance under
this chapter; or (E) to be used for other public purposes;
(2) the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, or
installation (including design features and improvements with
respect to such construction, reconstruction, or installation
that promote energy efficiency) of public works, facilities
(except for buildings for the general conduct of government), and
site or other improvements;
(3) code enforcement in deteriorated or deteriorating areas in
which such enforcement, together with public or private
improvements or services to be provided, may be expected to
arrest the decline of the area;
(4) clearance, demolition, removal, reconstruction, and
rehabilitation (including rehabilitation which promotes energy
efficiency) of buildings and improvements (including interim
assistance, and financing public or private acquisition for
reconstruction or rehabilitation, and reconstruction or
rehabilitation, of privately owned properties, and including the
renovation of closed school buildings);
(5) special projects directed to the removal of material and
architectural barriers which restrict the mobility and
accessibility of elderly and handicapped persons;
(6) payments to housing owners for losses of rental income
incurred in holding for temporary periods housing units to be
utilized for the relocation of individuals and families displaced
by activities under this chapter;
(7) disposition (through sale, lease, donation, or otherwise)
of any real property acquired pursuant to this chapter or its
retention for public purposes;
(8) provision of public services, including but not limited to
those concerned with employment, crime prevention, child care,
health, drug abuse, education, energy conservation, welfare or
recreation needs, if such services have not been provided by the
unit of general local government (through funds raised by such
unit, or received by such unit from the State in which it is
located) during any part of the twelve-month period immediately
preceding the date of submission of the statement with respect to
which funds are to be made available under this chapter, and
which are to be used for such services, unless the Secretary
finds that the discontinuation of such services was the result of
events not within the control of the unit of general local
government, except that not more than 15 per centum of the amount
of any assistance to a unit of general local government (or in
the case of nonentitled communities not more than 15 per centum
statewide) under this chapter including program income may be
used for activities under this paragraph unless such unit of
general local government used more than 15 percent of the
assistance received under this chapter for fiscal year 1982 or
fiscal year 1983 for such activities (excluding any assistance
received pursuant to Public Law 98-8), in which case such unit of
general local government may use not more than the percentage or
amount of such assistance used for such activities for such
fiscal year, whichever method of calculation yields the higher
amount, except that of any amount of assistance under this
chapter (including program income) in each of fiscal years 1993
through 2003 to the City of Los Angeles and County of Los
Angeles, each such unit of general government may use not more
than 25 percent in each such fiscal year for activities under
this paragraph, and except that of any amount of assistance under
this chapter (including program income) in each of fiscal years
1999, 2000, and 2001, to the City of Miami, such city may use not
more than 25 percent in each fiscal year for activities under
this paragraph;
(9) payment of the non-Federal share required in connection
with a Federal grant-in-aid program undertaken as part of
activities assisted under this chapter;
(10) payment of the cost of completing a project funded under
title I of the Housing Act of 1949 [42 U.S.C. 1450 et seq.];
(11) relocation payments and assistance for displaced
individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and farm
operations, when determined by the grantee to be appropriate;
(12) activities necessary (A) to develop a comprehensive
community development plan, and (B) to develop a policy-planning-
management capacity so that the recipient of assistance under
this chapter may more rationally and effectively (i) determine
its needs, (ii) set long-term goals and short-term objectives,
(iii) devise programs and activities to meet these goals and
objectives, (iv) evaluate the progress of such programs in
accomplishing these goals and objectives, and (v) carry out
management, coordination, and monitoring of activities necessary
for effective planning implementation;
(13) payment of reasonable administrative costs related to
establishing and administering federally approved enterprise
zones and payment of reasonable administrative costs and carrying
charges related to (A) administering the HOME program under title
II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act [42
U.S.C. 12721 et seq.]; and (B) the planning and execution of
community development and housing activities, including the
provision of information and resources to residents of areas in
which community development and housing activities are to be
concentrated with respect to the planning and execution of such
activities, and including the carrying out of activities as
described in section 701(e) of the Housing Act of 1954 (!1) on
August 12, 1981;
(14) provision of assistance including loans (both interim and
long-term) and grants for activities which are carried out by
public or private nonprofit entities, including (A) acquisition
of real property; (B) acquisition, construction, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, or installation of (i) public facilities (except
for buildings for the general conduct of government), site
improvements, and utilities, and (ii) commercial or industrial
buildings or structures and other commercial or industrial real
property improvements; and (C) planning;
(15) assistance to neighborhood-based nonprofit organizations,
local development corporations, nonprofit organizations serving
the development needs of the communities in nonentitlement areas,
or entities organized under section 681(d) (!1) of title 15 to
carry out a neighborhood revitalization or community economic
development or energy conservation project in furtherance of the
objectives of section 5301(c) of this title, and assistance to
neighborhood-based nonprofit organizations, or other private or
public nonprofit organizations, for the purpose of assisting, as
part of neighborhood revitalization or other community
development, the development of shared housing opportunities
(other than by construction of new facilities) in which elderly
families (as defined in section 1437a(b)(3) of this title)
benefit as a result of living in a dwelling in which the
facilities are shared with others in a manner that effectively
and efficiently meets the housing needs of the residents and
thereby reduces their cost of housing;
(16) activities necessary to the development of energy use
strategies related to a recipient's development goals, to assure
that those goals are achieved with maximum energy efficiency,
including items such as -
(A) an analysis of the manner in, and the extent to, which
energy conservation objectives will be integrated into local
government operations, purchasing and service delivery, capital
improvements budgeting, waste management, district heating and
cooling, land use planning and zoning, and traffic control,
parking, and public transportation functions; and
(B) a statement of the actions the recipient will take to
foster energy conservation and the use of renewable energy
resources in the private sector, including the enactment and
enforcement of local codes and ordinances to encourage or
mandate energy conservation or use of renewable energy
resources, financial and other assistance to be provided
(principally for the benefit of low- and moderate-income
persons) to make energy conserving improvements to residential
structures, and any other proposed energy conservation
activities;
(17) provision of assistance to private, for-profit entities,
when the assistance is appropriate to carry out an economic
development project (that shall minimize, to the extent
practicable, displacement of existing businesses and jobs in
neighborhoods) that -
(A) creates or retains jobs for low- and moderate-income
persons;
(B) prevents or eliminates slums and blight;
(C) meets urgent needs;
(D) creates or retains businesses owned by community
residents;
(E) assists businesses that provide goods or services needed
by, and affordable to, low- and moderate-income residents; or
(F) provides technical assistance to promote any of the
activities under subparagraphs (A) through (E);
(18) the rehabilitation or development of housing assisted
under section 1437o (!2) of this title;
(19) provision of technical assistance to public or nonprofit
entities to increase the capacity of such entities to carry out
eligible neighborhood revitalization or economic development
activities, which assistance shall not be considered a planning
cost as defined in paragraph (12) or administrative cost as
defined in paragraph (13);
(20) housing services, such as housing counseling in connection
with tenant-based rental assistance and affordable housing
projects assisted under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez
National Affordable Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.], energy
auditing, preparation of work specifications, loan processing,
inspections, tenant selection, management of tenant-based rental
assistance, and other services related to assisting owners,
tenants, contractors, and other entities, participating or
seeking to participate in housing activities assisted under title
II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act;
(21) provision of assistance by recipients under this chapter
to institutions of higher education having a demonstrated
capacity to carry out eligible activities under this subsection
for carrying out such activities;
(22) provision of assistance to public and private
organizations, agencies, and other entities (including nonprofit
and for-profit entities) to enable such entities to facilitate
economic development by -
(A) providing credit (including providing direct loans and
loan guarantees, establishing revolving loan funds, and
facilitating peer lending programs) for the establishment,
stabilization, and expansion of microenterprises;
(B) providing technical assistance, advice, and business
support services (including assistance, advice, and support
relating to developing business plans, securing funding,
conducting marketing, and otherwise engaging in microenterprise
activities) to owners of microenterprises and persons
developing microenterprises; and
(C) providing general support (such as peer support programs
and counseling) to owners of microenterprises and persons
developing microenterprises;
(23) activities necessary to make essential repairs and to pay
operating expenses necessary to maintain the habitability of
housing units acquired through tax foreclosure proceedings in
order to prevent abandonment and deterioration of such housing in
primarily low- and moderate-income neighborhoods;
(24) (!3) the construction or improvement of tornado-safe
shelters for residents of manufactured housing, and the provision
of assistance (including loans and grants) to nonprofit and for-
profit entities (including owners of manufactured housing parks)
for such construction or improvement, except that -
(A) a shelter assisted with amounts provided pursuant to this
paragraph may be located only in a neighborhood (including a
manufactured housing park) that -
(i) contains not less than 20 manufactured housing units
that are within such proximity to the shelter that the
shelter is available to the residents of such units in the
event of a tornado;
(ii) consists predominantly of persons of low and moderate
income; and
(iii) is located within a State in which a tornado has
occurred during the fiscal year for which the amounts to be
used under this paragraph were made available or any of the 3
preceding fiscal years, as determined by the Secretary after
consultation with the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency;
(B) such a shelter shall comply with standards for
construction and safety as the Secretary, after consultation
with the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
shall provide to ensure protection from tornadoes;
(C) such a shelter shall be of a size sufficient to
accommodate, at a single time, all occupants of manufactured
housing units located within the neighborhood in which the
shelter is located; and
(D) amounts may not be used for a shelter as provided under
this paragraph unless there is located, within the neighborhood
in which the shelter is located (or, in the case of a shelter
located in a manufactured housing park, within 1,500 feet of
such park), a warning siren that is operated in accordance with
such local, regional, or national disaster warning programs or
systems as the Secretary, after consultation with the Director
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, considers
appropriate to ensure adequate notice of occupants of
manufactured housing located in such neighborhood or park of a
tornado; and
(24) (!3) provision of direct assistance to facilitate and
expand homeownership among persons of low and moderate income
(except that such assistance shall not be considered a public
service for purposes of paragraph (8)) by using such assistance
to -
(A) subsidize interest rates and mortgage principal amounts
for low- and moderate-income homebuyers;
(B) finance the acquisition by low- and moderate-income
homebuyers of housing that is occupied by the homebuyers;
(C) acquire guarantees for mortgage financing obtained by low-
and moderate-income homebuyers from private lenders (except
that amounts received under this chapter may not be used under
this subparagraph to directly guarantee such mortgage financing
and grantees under this chapter may not directly provide such
guarantees);
(D) provide up to 50 percent of any downpayment required from
low- or moderate-income homebuyer; or
(E) pay reasonable closing costs (normally associated with
the purchase of a home) incurred by a low- or moderate-income
homebuyer; and
(25) lead-based paint hazard evaluation and reduction, as
defined in section 4851b of this title.
(b) Reimbursement of Secretary for administrative services
connected with rehabilitation of properties
Upon the request of the recipient of assistance under this
chapter, the Secretary may agree to perform administrative services
on a reimbursable basis on behalf of such recipient in connection
with loans or grants for the rehabilitation of properties as
authorized under subsection (a)(4) of this section.
(c) Activities benefiting persons of low and moderate income
(1) In any case in which an assisted activity described in
paragraph (14) or (17) of subsection (a) of this section is
identified as principally benefiting persons of low and moderate
income, such activity shall -
(A) be carried out in a neighborhood consisting predominately
of persons of low and moderate income and provide services for
such persons; or
(B) involve facilities designed for use predominately by
persons of low and moderate income; or
(C) involve employment of persons, a majority of whom are
persons of low and moderate income.
(2)(A) In any case in which an assisted activity described in
subsection (a) of this section is designed to serve an area
generally and is clearly designed to meet identified needs of
persons of low and moderate income in such area, such activity
shall be considered to principally benefit persons of low and
moderate income if (i) not less than 51 percent of the residents of
such area are persons of low and moderate income; (ii) in any
metropolitan city or urban county, the area served by such activity
is within the highest quartile of all areas within the jurisdiction
of such city or county in terms of the degree of concentration of
persons of low and moderate income; or (iii) the assistance for
such activity is limited to paying assessments (including any
charge made as a condition of obtaining access) levied against
properties owned and occupied by persons of low and moderate income
to recover the capital cost for a public improvement.
(B) The requirements of subparagraph (A) do not prevent the use
of assistance under this chapter for the development,
establishment, and operation for not to exceed 2 years after its
establishment of a uniform emergency telephone number system if the
Secretary determines that -
(i) such system will contribute substantially to the safety of
the residents of the area served by such system;
(ii) not less than 51 percent of the use of the system will be
by persons of low and moderate income; and
(iii) other Federal funds received by the grantee are not
available for the development, establishment, and operation of
such system due to the insufficiency of the amount of such funds,
the restrictions on the use of such funds, or the prior
commitment of such funds for other purposes by the grantee.
The percentage of the cost of the development, establishment, and
operation of such a system that may be paid from assistance under
this chapter and that is considered to benefit low and moderate
income persons is the percentage of the population to be served
that is made up of persons of low and moderate income.
(3) Any assisted activity under this chapter that involves the
acquisition or rehabilitation of property to provide housing shall
be considered to benefit persons of low and moderate income only to
the extent such housing will, upon completion, be occupied by such
persons.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (c)(1)(C) of this section -
(A) if an employee resides in, or the assisted activity through
which he or she is employed, is located in a census tract that
meets the Federal enterprise zone eligibility criteria, the
employee shall be presumed to be a person of low- or moderate-
income; or
(B) if an employee resides in a census tract where not less
than 70 percent of the residents have incomes at or below 80
percent of the area median, the employee shall be presumed to be
a person of low or moderate income.
(d) Training program
The Secretary shall implement, using funds recaptured pursuant to
section 5318(o) of this title, an on-going education and training
program for officers and employees of the Department, especially
officers and employees of area and other field offices of the
Department, who are responsible for monitoring and administering
activities pursuant to paragraphs (14), (15), and (17) of
subsection (a) of this section for the purpose of ensuring that (A)
such personnel possess a thorough understanding of such activities;
and (B) regulations and guidelines are implemented in a consistent
fashion.
(e) Guidelines for evaluating and selecting economic development
projects
(1) Establishment
The Secretary shall establish, by regulation, guidelines to
assist grant recipients under this chapter to evaluate and select
activities described in subsection (a)(14), (15), and (17) of
this section for assistance with grant amounts. The Secretary
shall not base a determination of eligibility of the use of funds
under this chapter for such assistance solely on the basis that
the recipient fails to achieve one or more of the guidelines'
objectives as stated in paragraph (2).
(2) Project costs and financial requirements
The guidelines established under this subsection shall include
the following objectives:
(A) The project costs of such activities are reasonable.
(B) To the extent practicable, reasonable financial support
has been committed for such activities from non-Federal sources
prior to disbursement of Federal funds.
(C) To the extent practicable, any grant amounts to be
provided for such activities do not substantially reduce the
amount of non-Federal financial support for the activity.
(D) Such activities are financially feasible.
(E) To the extent practicable, such activities provide not
more than a reasonable return on investment to the owner.
(F) To the extent practicable, grant amounts used for the
costs of such activities are disbursed on a pro rata basis with
amounts from other sources.
(3) Public benefit
The guidelines established under this subsection shall provide
that the public benefit provided by the activity is appropriate
relative to the amount of assistance provided with grant amounts
under this chapter.
(f) Assistance to for-profit entities
In any case in which an activity described in paragraph (17) of
subsection (a) of this section is provided assistance such
assistance shall not be limited to activities for which no other
forms of assistance are available or could not be accomplished but
for that assistance.
(g) Microenterprise and small business program requirements
In developing program requirements and providing assistance
pursuant to paragraph (17) of subsection (a) of this section to a
microenterprise or small business, the Secretary shall -
(1) take into account the special needs and limitations arising
from the size of the entity; and
(2) not consider training, technical assistance, or other
support services costs provided to small businesses or
microenterprises or to grantees and subgrantees to develop the
capacity to provide such assistance, as a planning cost pursuant
to subsection (a)(12) of this section or an administrative cost
pursuant to subsection (a)(13) of this section.
(h) Prohibition on use of assistance for employment relocation
activities
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no amount from a
grant under section 5306 of this title made in fiscal year 1999 or
any succeeding fiscal year may be used to assist directly in the
relocation of any industrial or commercial plant, facility, or
operation, from 1 area to another area, if the relocation is likely
to result in a significant loss of employment in the labor market
area from which the relocation occurs.