[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 932 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 932
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make
grants and offer technical assistance to local governments and others
to design and implement innovative policies, programs, and projects
that address widespread property vacancy and abandonment, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 10, 2009
Mr. Ryan of Ohio (for himself and Mr. Higgins) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make
grants and offer technical assistance to local governments and others
to design and implement innovative policies, programs, and projects
that address widespread property vacancy and abandonment, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Community Regeneration,
Sustainability, and Innovation Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) many older industrial cities have experienced
significant population loss due to large-scale employment
losses--especially well-paying jobs in basic industry and
manufacturing;
(2) beginning in the 1940s, Federal policies established by
the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of
Transportation promoted suburban flight, which also caused
population and income loss in many older cities;
(3) by 1970, these trends were clearly evident in decennial
data produced by the United States Census Bureau;
(4) population loss and economic decline in such cities has
caused widespread housing vacancy and abandonment, resulting in
a landscape of gap-toothed streets where many homes have been
demolished, vast numbers of unattractive, dilapidated
properties that pose a threat to public safety, and underused,
crumbling public infrastructure, that cities cannot afford to
maintain;
(5) by 2000, such conditions had spread beyond the central
cities to adjacent suburbs in many metropolitan areas;
(6) as these trends continued after 2000, conditions were
exacerbated by the subprime lending crisis, which led to
unprecedented rates of mortgage foreclosures resulting in even
more abandonments in many of the most vulnerable neighborhoods
in the most distressed cities and suburbs;
(7) unmanaged vacant property and land causes community
abandonment, crime, further depopulation, and despair;
(8) unmanaged vacant property and land can also have a
detrimental impact on adjacent residential property values,
while the creation of green space and infrastructure on vacant
land, even on an interim basis, can increase property values;
(9) experience has demonstrated that land banking,
undertaken by public entities and accompanied by other
innovative strategies, is a rationale and efficient way for
local governments to assert public control and management over
vacant and abandoned property in order to stabilize
neighborhoods and real estate markets, rationalize land use,
provide new public amenities, including open space and green
infrastructure, and renew, strengthen, and reposition for the
future communities that have experienced significant population
loss;
(10) beginning in 1999, the State of Michigan reformed its
property tax foreclosure processes and enacted new land banking
legislation which opened the door for communities to reclaim,
reinvest in, and rebuild their neighborhoods by creating a
highly successful land banking model that has proven effective
in removing dilapidated structures, redeveloping abandoned
properties, creating new open space, and increasing property
values in communities hard-hit by employment and population
losses such as the City of Flint and Genesee County, where
thousands of parcels have been returned to productive use or
set aside as green, open space; and
(11) the Federal Government can assist State and local
governments by providing financial support to establish and
maintain land banks, including, where appropriate, multi-
jurisdictional land banks, and to develop innovative strategies
to convert such land to productive use or for long-term
strategic public purposes.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to provide Federal assistance, through grants and the
provision of technical assistance, to establish land banks in
communities and metropolitan areas that have experienced
significant population loss due to large-scale employment
losses which have resulted in widespread abandonment of real
property;
(2) to encourage innovation, experimentation, and
environmentally sustainable practices through collaborative
efforts to reuse and rehabilitate land bank property in ways
that will provide long-term benefits to the public;
(3) to encourage the creation of green infrastructure;
(4) to encourage the creation of new employment
opportunities, especially in areas related to environmental
sustainability and green infrastructure directly related to the
implementation of regeneration plans assisted under this Act;
and
(5) to encourage the strategic use of other Federal, State,
local, private, and nonprofit resources not provided under this
Act to stabilize and improve neighborhoods not presently
experiencing widespread vacancy and abandonment, but whose
stability is or may be threatened if current demographic or
employment trends continue.
SEC. 3. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FOR INNOVATIVE VACANT PROPERTY
RECLAMATION AND URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE RENEWAL STRATEGIES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall carry out a demonstration program under this section to encourage
and test innovative vacant property reclamation and urban
infrastructure renewal strategies in older industrial cities, suburbs
of such cities, and metropolitan areas having a history of severe
population and employment loss, blight, and decay caused by vacant
properties.
(b) Eligibility of Units of General Local Government.--A unit of
general local government, or a consortia of such units, shall be
eligible for selection for participation in the demonstration program
under this section only if the unit or consortium meets one of the
following two requirements:
(1) Substantial population loss.--The applicant unit of
general local government, or the most populous unit of general
local government of the applicant consortium, has experienced
at least 20 percent population loss since 1970, as measured by
data from the 2000 decennial census.
(2) Concentrated housing vacancy and abandonment.--The
applicant unit of general local government, or the most
populous unit of general local government of applicant
consortium--
(A) has experienced prolonged population, income,
and employment loss resulting in substantial levels of
housing vacancy and abandonment; and
(B) such housing vacancies and abandonments are
concentrated in more than one neighborhood or
geographic area within a jurisdiction or jurisdictions.
(c) Multiyear Cooperative Agreements.--
(1) Authority.--In carrying out the demonstration program
under this section, the Secretary shall enter into multiyear
cooperative agreements with units of general local government,
or consortia consisting of units of general local government,
selected for participation pursuant to subsection (h) in the
demonstration program under this section, to design and
implement regeneration plans to address problems associated
with vacant and abandoned properties.
(2) Terms.--A cooperative agreement entered into under this
subsection--
(A) shall have a term of not less than 3 years;
(B) shall provide for the Secretary to make grants
under subsection (d) to the unit of general local
government or consortium;
(C) shall provide for interaction between the
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the
unit of general local government or consortium to
implement a regeneration plan; and
(D) may reference the responsibilities of third
parties, such as State governments, universities, and
non-profit organizations, and in such instances, each
such entity shall enter into a memorandum of
understanding with the unit of general local government
or consortium.
(3) Determination of effect on historic properties.--
Notwithstanding that a unit of general local government, or
consortium of such units, has been selected for participation
in the demonstration program under this section, the Secretary
may not enter into a cooperative agreement under this
subsection until the Secretary has complied with the
requirements under section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f) and the regulations issued
under such section (36 C.F.R. Part 800) to take into account
the effects, on historic properties, of the regeneration plan
of the participant approved by the Secretary under subsection
(h) of this section.
(d) Grants.--To the extent amounts for grants under this section
are made available in advance in appropriation Acts, the Secretary
shall make a grant under this section to each unit of general local
government, or consortia of such units, selected to participate in the
demonstration program under this section, for each fiscal year covered
by the multiyear cooperative agreement entered into by the unit or
consortium pursuant to subsection (c).
(e) Eligible Uses.--Amounts from grants provided under this section
may be used for any of the following purposes:
(1) Vacant property and program capacity activities.--For
the following vacant property and program capacity activities:
(A) Establishment or expansion of local or regional
land banks.
(B) Establishment of recovered building materials
reuse and recycling infrastructure, facilities, and
technical support.
(C) Establishment of local government purchasing
requirements for deconstruction to make use of existing
building materials stock in new and rehabilitation
construction.
(D) Expansion and improvement of code enforcement
capabilities.
(E) Development of data and information systems
such as comprehensive real property systems, early
warning systems, and vacant property inventory and
tracking systems.
(F) Establishment or strengthening of the ability
of State courts, local courts, and administrative
agencies to address problems caused by vacant and
abandoned properties, and to facilitating, where
feasible, such properties' transfer to public control
under a local or regional land bank.
(G) Amendment or reform of State and local property
tax foreclosure procedures.
(2) Stabilization activities.--For the following
stabilization activities:
(A) Deconstruction and demolition of vacant and
abandoned properties.
(B) Demolition and removal of public
infrastructure.
(C) Relocation of structures.
(D) Reconfiguration of existing infrastructure.
(E) Protection and limited maintenance of vacant or
abandoned properties for the purposes of stemming the
spread of blight.
(F) Assessment and remediation of property.
(G) Relocation under the Uniform Relocation and
Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (42
U.S.C. 4601 et seq.) or applicable State and local
relocation statutes and policies.
(3) Design, development, and reuse activities.--For the
following design, development, and reuse activities:
(A) Creation of open space and networks of green
infrastructure.
(B) Establishing and maintaining urban agriculture
and farm markets.
(C) Adaptive reuse, rehabilitation, or improvement
of architecturally, historically, or culturally
significant structures, or other structures of
community significance, in areas targeted for
conservation under a regeneration plan.
(D) Development of infrastructure to produce
renewable energy on vacant land, including solar
energy, wind power, and geothermal power.
(4) Planning and policy innovation activities.--For the
following planning and policy innovation activities:
(A) Strategic planning, neighborhood planning,
brownfield plans, vacant property plans, city and
neighborhood typologies, and collaborative vacant
property assessment processes that identify and target
Federal, State, local, and nonprofit resources for
neighborhoods and communities.
(B) Reforms of existing State and local codes,
policies, and processes to promote vacant property
reclamation and reuse through flexible, performance
based standards, regulations, and development
processes.
(5) Other uses.--For such other uses in accordance with the
purposes of this Act as the Secretary may designate.
(f) Ineligible Uses.--Amounts from grants provided under this
section shall not be used--
(1) to demolish public housing, as such term is defined in
section 3 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437a);
(2) to demolish any property listed, or eligible to be
listed, in the National Register of Historic Places under the
National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.), or
designated as historic under State or local law;
(3) to alter or modify any property listed or eligible for
listing in the National Register of Historic Places, unless the
proposed alteration or modification is determined to be
consistent with the Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties of the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f)
and the regulations issued under such section (36 C.F.R. Part
800);
(4) to clean-up any brownfield site, except for planning
activities related to the clean-up of a brownfield site; or
(5) to redevelop any brownfield site, except for planning
activities related to the redevelopment of a brownfield site.
(g) Limitation on Use for Administrative Costs.--Of any amounts
received from a grant under this section in any fiscal year, a
participant in the demonstration program under this section may use not
more than 20 percent for any administrative costs of the jurisdiction
in carrying out the regeneration plan of such participant and in
carrying out the responsibilities of the participant in connection such
program.
(h) Selection of Participant Regeneration Communities.--
(1) Application.--To be eligible to participate in the
demonstration program established under this section, a unit of
general local government or consortium of such units shall
submit an application for assistance under this section in such
form and in accordance with such requirements as the Secretary
shall establish, together with a regeneration plan under
paragraph (2) for the community or region of the unit of
general local government or consortium.
(2) Regeneration plan.--A regeneration plan under this
paragraph for a community or region shall meet the following
requirements:
(A) Mandatory elements.--The plan shall include,
for such community or region, the following elements:
(i) A comprehensive land use plan that
reflects the population loss the community or
region has experienced, reflects future
population trends, including any anticipated
further losses, using the most current data
available, and provides for the efficient and
sustainable use of land, structures,
neighborhoods, and resources within the
community or region.
(ii) A plan for creation of green
infrastructure to be set aside in the community
or region for recreation, open space,
agriculture, park use, educational use, or
purposes related to future economic or
residential development.
(iii) A detailed implementation strategy
for the plan, including modifications to a
comprehensive or master land use plan,
neighborhood plans, and zoning and building
codes.
(iv) A plan for integrating related
programs and strategies funded through other
sources, including Federal, State, local, and
private sources, into the implementation
strategy pursuant to clause (iii).
(v) Any other elements, as determined by
the Secretary.
(B) Other included elements.--The plan shall
include as many of the following elements as may be
appropriate or feasible:
(i) Good urban design principles.
(ii) Sustainability principles.
(iii) Integration and targeting of funding
provided under the community development block
grant program under title I of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.
5301 et seq.).
(iv) Use of other funds and resources,
Federal, State, local, private, financial, or
otherwise.
(v) Brownfields remediation and
redevelopment funded through other sources.
(vi) Smart growth principles, including,
complete streets, new urbanism, affordable
housing, mixed uses, infill development, public
infrastructure improvements, and form based
codes.
(vii) Deconstruction activities with
measurable outcomes.
(viii) To the extent necessary, improvement
of real property data and information systems
with respect to property conditions, and
streamlining and improvement of code
enforcement procedures to expedite the process
of asserting public control over vacant and
abandoned properties.
(ix) Promotion of energy-use efficiency,
green collar jobs, natural systems storm water
management, and other ecological services.
(x) Neighborhood plans developed through a
community-based process for component
communities within the applicant's jurisdiction
or jurisdictions.
(xi) The potential to create new employment
opportunities, especially in areas directly
related to the implementation of the
regeneration plan, including building
deconstruction, removal of buildings and
infrastructure, creation of green
infrastructure, environmental remediation, and
long-term employment in environmentally
sustainable activities, including urban
agriculture, open space maintenance, and
renewable energy production.
(xii) Adaptive reuse, rehabilitation, or
improvement of architecturally, historically,
or culturally significant structures, or other
structures of community significance, in areas
targeted for conservation.
(xiii) Any other elements as the Secretary
may prescribe.
(C) Citizen participation requirements.--The
Secretary shall, by regulations issued under section 7,
provide for citizen participation requirements relating
to the development and implementation of regeneration
plans as necessary to ensure, to the extent
practicable, that affected citizens and community
groups, including environmental organizations, and any
others who would be impacted by the adoption of a
regeneration plan, have notice of, and the opportunity
to effectively participate in, the development of such
a plan through public hearings, community workshops,
charrettes, town hall meetings, or other means.
(D) Implementation of regeneration plans.--To the
extent practicable, the Secretary shall, by regulations
issued under section 7, ensure that processes are
established and maintained providing for the continued
implementation and periodic updating of regeneration
plans for a reasonable amount of time following the
full expenditure of assistance received under this Act.
(3) Competition.--The Secretary shall select applicants for
participation in the demonstration program under this section
on a competitive basis using the evaluation and selection
criteria established pursuant to paragraph (5) and in
accordance with section 102 of the Department of Housing and
Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545).
(4) Selection.--
(A) Number and categories of participants.--During
each of the first three fiscal years for which amounts
are first made available for grants under this section,
the Secretary shall select units of general local
government, or consortia consisting of units of general
local government, to be new participants in the
demonstration program under this section, from each of
the following categories as follows:
(i) Smaller units of general local
government.--During each such fiscal year, the
Secretary shall select not more than five units
of general local government having a population
of 150,000 or less, as measured by decennial
census data, or in the case of consortia of
units of general local government, consortia in
which the largest unit of general local
government has such a population, except that
at no time may there be more than a total of 15
participants in the demonstration program
pursuant to this clause.
(ii) Larger units of general local
government.--During each such fiscal year, the
Secretary shall select not more than five units
of general local government having a population
of exceeding 150,000, as measured by decennial
census data, or in the case of consortia of
units of general local government, consortia in
which the largest unit of general local
government has such a population, except that
at no time may there be more than a total of 15
participants in the demonstration program
pursuant to this clause.
(B) Substantial population loss.--The Secretary
shall ensure that at least five applicants selected
pursuant to subparagraph (A) in each fiscal year in
which new applicants are selected for participation
meet the eligibility standard set forth in subsection
(b)(1).
(5) Evaluation of applications and selection criteria.--The
Secretary shall establish evaluation and selection criteria for
participation in the demonstration program under this section,
which shall include the following criteria:
(A) Regional collaboration.--If feasible or
appropriate, the extent to which an applicant proposes
to foster regional collaboration among and across
governments, and with private and non-profit
organizations, in addressing vacant and abandoned
properties, such as the establishment of one or more--
(i) regional vacant property reclamation
strategies;
(ii) regional land banks to gain public
control of such properties;
(iii) regional real property data systems;
and
(iv) regional vacant property action plans
that target and coordinate other Federal,
State, local and nonprofit funds and resources
to identified communities and neighborhoods.
(B) Targeting for sustainable urban neighborhoods
and green infrastructure.--The extent to which an
applicant proposes to reposition for the future its
jurisdiction or the jurisdictions within a consortium,
by targeting resources and investment in clusters of
sustainable urban neighborhoods and by establishing
networks of green infrastructure.
(C) Partnering to implement regeneration plan.--The
extent to which an applicant proposes to partner with
institutions such as universities, museums, historic
preservation organizations, neighborhood and community
organizations, Federal, State, and local governments,
and other organizations or entities whose participation
would promote the successful implementation of a
regeneration plan.
(D) Vacant property reclamation.--The extent to
which an applicant proposes to design and develop
policy and programmatic innovations that foster vacant
property reclamation, such as code reforms and
performance-based regulatory approaches.
(E) Severity of vacant and abandoned property
problems.--The severity of the problem of vacant and
abandoned property within an applicant's or applicants'
jurisdiction or jurisdictions.
(F) Capacity to implement.--The capacity of an
applicant or applicants to implement a regeneration
plan, including its ability to demonstrate quantifiable
outcomes such as the potential to enhance property
values, improve ecosystems, and benefit public health.
(G) Commitment.--The level of commitment of an
applicant or applicants, and any organizational
partners, to the implementation of a regeneration plan.
(H) Potential for livability.--The potential for a
regeneration plan to promote the overall livability of
a jurisdiction or jurisdictions for current residents.
(i) Accountability and Reporting.--
(1) Required performance plan.--A unit of general local
government, or consortium of such units, selected for
participation in the demonstration program under this section
may not enter into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary
or receive any grant under this section unless the unit or
consortium has prepared, submitted to the Secretary, and had
approved by the Secretary, a performance plan for implementing
its regeneration plan, which shall include provisions for
public participation and such other elements as the Secretary
may prescribe.
(2) Annual performance and evaluation reports.--
(A) Requirement.--Each participant in the
demonstration program under this Section that receives
grant amounts under this section shall submit to the
Secretary, in such form and by such deadlines as the
Secretary may require, an annual performance and
evaluation report concerning the use of funds made
available under this Act, which shall include financial
disclosure information and any other information as the
Secretary may prescribe.
(B) Public availability.--Before submitting an
annual performance and evaluation report to the
Secretary, a participant shall be make the report
publicly available in the participant's jurisdiction or
jurisdictions in sufficient time to permit citizens of
such jurisdiction to comment on such report before its
submission, and in such manner and at such times as the
participant may determine.
(3) Reviews.--The Secretary shall periodically make such
reviews as may be necessary or appropriate to determine the
progress of demonstration program participants in meeting their
performance objectives identified in their performance plan
pursuant to paragraph (1) and identified in their reports
pursuant to paragraph (2).
(4) Sanctions.--
(A) In general.--With respect to assistance made
available under this section and subject to paragraph
(3), if the Secretary determines that a participant in
the demonstration program under this section grantee
has substantially failed to meet its performance
objectives and outcomes, the Secretary may determine
that the grantee is no longer in good standing and may
reduce or limit the assistance under this section to
the participant, or take other action as appropriate in
accordance with the Secretary's review and as provided
in regulations issued by the Secretary to carry out
this Act, except that any grant amounts already
expended on eligible activities under this section
shall not be recaptured or deducted from future
assistance to such participant.
(B) Remedial plans.--In cases where the Secretary
takes action against a grantee pursuant to paragraph
(1), the grantee shall submit a remedial plan for
approval by the Secretary that outlines the actions the
grantee will take to ensure it meets its performance
objectives in the future.
SEC. 4. PLANNING GRANTS AND SUSTAINABILITY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
GRANTS.
(a) Authority.--To the extent that amounts are made available in
advance in appropriation Acts, the Secretary may make grants to units
of general local government and consortia of units of general local
government as follows:
(1) Planning grants.--Grants under subsection (c) for
development of regeneration plans.
(2) Sustainability demonstration project grants.--Grants
under subsection (d) for carrying out sustainability
demonstration projects.
(b) Terms.--
(1) Amount.--A grant made under this section in any fiscal
year to any one unit of general local government or consortium
of units of general local government shall not exceed $250,000.
(2) Ineligibility.--A participant in the demonstration
program under section 3 shall not be eligible to receive a
grant under this section.
(c) Regeneration Communities Planning Grants.--A grant under this
subsection shall be used to develop a regeneration plan in accordance
with the requirements of section 3(h)(2), except that such amounts may
be used for the purposes listed in section 3(e)(1)(E) and for providing
technical assistance.
(d) Sustainability Demonstration Grants.--
(1) Competition.--Grants under this subsection shall be
made on a competitive basis.
(2) Eligibility.--Grants under this subsection shall not be
made to units of general local government and consortia of such
units that are participants in the demonstration program under
section 3.
(3) Eligible uses.--Amounts from a grant made under this
subsection shall be used for carrying out specific short-term
demonstration projects that are in accordance with the
sustainability goals of this Act, which may include one or more
of the following projects:
(A) Design and creation of interim and permanent
open space and networks of green infrastructure, low
impact development, and storm water management
activities.
(B) Establishment of recovered building materials,
reuse and recycling infrastructure, facilities,
creation of incentives, and technical support.
(C) Development or expansion of urban agriculture
initiatives, including community supported agriculture
and farmers markets.
(D) Development of infrastructure to produce
renewable energy on vacant land, including solar
energy, wind power, and geothermal power.
(E) Creation of workshops and training for green
collar jobs to support sustainability demonstration
projects.
(F) Development of any other innovative,
sustainability projects that would further the purposes
of this Act, as determined by the Secretary.
(4) Matching requirement.--A grant under this subsection
may not exceed 4 times the amount that the grantee certifies to
the Secretary are committed for use for the eligible uses under
paragraph (3) to be carried out by the grantee using grant
amounts.
SEC. 5. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY REGENERATION COMMUNITIES COORDINATING
COUNCIL.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall convene a Federal
Interagency Regeneration Communities Coordinating Council whose members
shall include--
(1) representatives of Federal agencies, including
designees of the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of
Commerce, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and
(2) representatives of non-Federal entities, such as
academic institution, nonprofit organizations, and lending
institutions.
(b) Duties.--
(1) Federal agency support plans.--The Council shall
develop Federal agency support plans for communities receiving
grants under this Act that shall include--
(A) offering technical assistance to grantees under
this Act through a network of local and national vacant
property assistance providers;
(B) assigning staff through intergovernmental
personnel agreements;
(C) offering guidance and technical assistance to
program applicants on leveraging and coordinating
funding from other Federal sources in regeneration
plans, especially assistance provided by the Economic
Development Administration, the Environmental
Protection Agency, and the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, particularly the community
development block grant program under title I of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42
U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); and
(D) to the extent feasible, instituting alternative
performance-based regulatory approaches and standards.
(2) Alternative regulatory approaches.--To the extent
feasible and appropriate, the designee of the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development shall work with the designees of
the other Federal agencies to institute alternative regulatory
approaches and standards by such other Federal agencies in
order to better facilitate the implementation of regeneration
plans.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Complete streets principles.--The term ``complete
streets principles'' means transportation laws, policies, or
principles that ensure--
(A) all users of the transportation system,
including pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users as
well as children, older people, motorists, and those
with disabilities, are adequately accommodated in all
phases of project planning and development; and
(B) that the safety and convenience of all users
are considered in all phases of project planning and
development.
(2) Deconstruction.--The term ``deconstruction'' means the
selective dismantlement of building components for reuse and
recycling.
(3) Green infrastructure.--The term ``green
infrastructure'' means the interim and permanent reuse of
vacant properties for an interconnected network of open spaces,
trails, and natural areas, such as greenways, wetlands, parks,
forest preserves, and native plant vegetation that can
naturally manage stormwater, reduce flooding risks, improve
water quality, and reduce urban heat islands.
(4) Land bank.--The term ``land bank'' means a
governmental, quasi-governmental, or non-profit entity
established, at least in part, to assemble and manage surplus
property for eventual conversion to productive use, or for
holding for other strategic long-term purposes.
(5) New urbanism.--The term ``new urbanism'' means
neighborhood design that incorporates concepts that promote
community function, environmental balance, social integration,
pedestrian-friendly streets, and dense development, among other
things, in order to encourage a sense of community among
neighborhood residents.
(6) Participant.--The term ``participant'' means a unit of
general local government, or a consortium of units of general
local government, that has--
(A) been selected for participation in the
demonstration program under section 3; and
(B) entered into a cooperative agreement with the
Secretary pursuant to section 3(c).
(7) Performance-based regulation.--The term ``performance-
based regulation'' means regulation focused on results or
outcomes of performance, rather than a prescriptive process,
technique, or procedure.
(8) Regional land bank.--The term ``regional land bank''
means a land bank controlled by an entity comprising of, or
representing more than, one unit of general local government.
(9) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development.
(10) Smart growth.--The term ``smart growth'' means
concentrating resources and new development in areas in or near
existing urban and neighborhood centers served by public
transportation and other existing infrastructure.
(11) Sustainability project.--The term ``sustainability
project'' means a program or project that integrates innovative
ways to conserve resources, reduce harmful emissions, protect
public health, enhance the natural and built environments, and
facilitate social equity.
(12) Unit of general local government.--The term ``unit of
general local government'' has the meaning given such term in
section 102 of the Housing and Community Development Act of
1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302).
(13) Vacant and abandoned property.--The term ``vacant and
abandoned property'' means any residential, commercial, or
industrial property (including structures, the underlying site,
and vacant lots) that has not been legally occupied for six
months or longer, and exhibits one or both of the following
conditions or circumstances:
(A) The site presents a threat to public safety or
constitutes a public nuisance, as defined by State and
local law.
(B) The owners, managers, or any other responsible
party, have neglected the fundamental duties of
property ownership including failure to pay taxes or
utility bills, or have defaulted on mortgages.
SEC. 7. REGULATIONS, IMPLEMENTATION, AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION.
(a) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations necessary
to carry out this Act.
(b) Notice of Funding Availability.--Not later than 30 days after
publishing a final regulation to implement this Act, the Secretary
shall publish a notice of funding availability in the Federal Register
stating that funds are available to units of general local government
and consortia of units of general local government in accordance with
the provisions of this Act.
(c) Use of Performance-Based Regulatory Concepts.--To the extent
feasible, the Secretary shall employ performance-based regulatory
concepts in promulgating regulations under this section.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Regeneration Communities Implementation Grants.--For grants
under section 3(d), there is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012.
(b) Planning Grants and Sustainability Demonstration Project
Grants.--There is authorized to be appropriated for planning grants
under section 4(c) and for sustainability demonstration project grants
under section 4(d)--
(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and
(2) $12,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 and 2012.
(c) Federal Interagency Regeneration Communities Coordinating
Council.--For costs associated with the establishment and operation of
the Federal Interagency Regeneration Communities Coordinating Council
under section 5, and technical and staff assistance under section 5(b),
there is authorized to be appropriated $24,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2010, 2011, and 2012.
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