COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

§ 101

EXCERPTS FROM HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACT

OF 1974

[Public Law 93-383, 88 Stat. 633]

AN ACT To establish a program of community development block grants, to amend and extend laws relating to housing and urban development, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Housing and Community Development Act of 1974”.

TITLE I-COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

FINDINGS AND PURPOSE

SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds and declares that the Nation's cities, towns, and smaller urban communities face critical social, economic, and environmental problems arising in significant measure from

(1) the growth of population in metropolitan and other urban areas, and the concentration of persons of lower income in central cities; and

(2) inadequate public and private investment and reinvestment in housing and other physical facilities, and related public and social services, resulting in the growth and persistence of urban slums and blight and the marked deterioration of the quality of the urban environment.

(b) The Congress further finds and declares that the future welfare of the Nation and the well-being of its citizens depend on the establishment and maintenance of viable urban communities as social, economic, and political entities, and require

(1) systematic and sustained action by Federal, State, and local governments to eliminate blight, to conserve and renew older urban areas, to improve the living environment of low- and moderate-income families, and to develop new centers of population growth and economic activity;

(2) substantial expansion of and greater continuity in the scope and level of Federal assistance, together with increased private investment in support of community development activities; and

(3) continuing effort at all levels of government to streamline programs and improve the functioning of agencies responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating community development efforts.

(c) The primary objective of this title is the development of viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income. Consistent with this primary objective, the Federal assistance provided in this title is for the support of community development activities which are directed toward the following specific objectives

(1) the elimination of slums and blight and the prevention of blighting influences and the deterioration of property and neighborhood and community facilities of importance to the welfare of the community, principally persons of low and moderate income; (2) the elimination of conditions which are detrimental to health, safety, and public welfare, through code enforcement, demolition, interim rehabilitation assistance, and related activities;

(3) the conservation and expansion of the Nation's housing stock in order to provide a decent home and a suitable living environment for all persons, but principally those of low and moderate income;

(4) the expansion and improvement of the quantity and quality of community services, principally for persons of low and moderate income, which are essential for sound community development and for the development of viable urban communities;

(5) a more rational utilization of land and other natural resources and the better arrangement of residential, commercial, industrial, recreational, and other needed activity centers;

(6) the reduction of the isolation of income groups within communities and geographical areas and the promotion of an increase in the diversity and vitality of neighborhoods through the spatial deconcentration of housing opportunities for persons of lower income and the revitalization of deteriorating or deteriorated neighborhoods to attract persons of higher income; and

(7) the restoration and preservation of properties of special value for historic, architectural, or esthetic reasons.

It is the intent of Congress that the Federal assistance made available under this title not be utilized to reduce substantially the amount of local financial support for community development activities below the level of such support prior to the availability of such assistance.

(d) It is also the purpose of this title to further the development of a national urban growth policy by consolidating a number of complex and overlapping programs of financial assistance to communities of varying sizes and needs into a consistent system of Federal aid which

(1) provides assistance on an annual basis, with maximum certainty and minimum delay, upon which communities can rely in their planning;

(2) encourages community development activities which are consistent with comprehensive local and areawide development planning;

(3) further achievement of the national housing goal of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family; and

(4) fosters the undertaking of housing and community development activities in a coordinated and mutually supportive manner.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 102. (a) As used in this title

(1) The term "unit of general local government" means any city, county, town, township, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State; Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, or a general purpose political subdivision thereof; a combination of such political subdivisions recognized by the Secretary; the District of Columbia; the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; and Indian tribes, bands, groups, and nations, including Alaska Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos, of the United States. Such term also includes a State or a local public body or agency (as defined in section 711 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970), community association, or other entity, which is approved by the Secretary for the purpose of providing public facilities or services to a new community as part of a program meeting the eligibility standards of section 712 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 or title IV of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968.

(2) The term "State" means any State of the United States, or any instrumentality thereof approved by the Governor; and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(3) The term "metropolitan area" means a standard metropolitan statistical area as established by the Office of Management and Budget.

(4) The term "metropolitan city" means (A) a city within a metropolitan area which is the central city of such area, as defined and used by the Office of Management and Budget, or (B) any other city, within a metropolitan area, which has a population of fifty thousand or more.

(5) The term "city" means (A) any unit of general local government which is classified as a municipality by the United States Bureau of the Census or (B) any other unit of general local government which is a town or township and which, in the determination of the Secretary, (i) possesses powers and performs functions comparable to those associated with municipalities, (ii) is closely settled, and (iii) contains within its boundaries no incorporated places as defined by the United States Bureau of the Census.

(6) The term "urban county" means any county within a metropolitan area which (A) is authorized under State law to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities in its unincorporated areas, if any, which are not units of general local government, and (B) has a combined population of two hundred thousand or more (excluding the population of metropolitan cities therein) in such unincorporated areas and in its included units of general local government (i) in which it has authority to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities and which do not elect to have

their population excluded or (ii) with which it has entered into cooperation agreements to undertake or to assist in the undertaking of essential community development and housing assistance activities.

(7) The term "population" means total_resident population based on data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and referable to the same point or period in time.

(8) The term "extent of poverty" means the number of persons whose incomes are below the poverty level. Poverty levels shall be determined by the Secretary pursuant to criteria provided by the Office of Management and Budget, taking into account and making adjustments, if feasible and appropriate and in the sole discretion of the Secretary, for regional or area variations in income and cost of living, and shall be based on data referable to the same point or period in time.

(9) The term "extent of housing overcrowding" means the number of housing units with 1.01 or more persons per room based on data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and referable to the same point or period in time.

(10) The term "Federal grant-in-aid program" means a program of Federal financial assistance other than loans and other than the assistance provided by this title.

(11) The term "program period" means the period beginning January 1, 1975, and ending June 30, 1975, and the period covering each fiscal year 1 thereafter.

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(12) The term "Community Development Program" means a program described in section 104(a)(2).

(13) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

(b) Where appropriate, the definitions in subsection (a) shall be based, with respect to any fiscal year, on the most recent data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and the latest published reports of the Office of Management and Budget available ninety days prior to the beginning of such fiscal year. The Secretary may by regulation change or otherwise modify the meaning of the terms defined in subsection (a) in order to reflect any technical change or modification thereof made subsequent to such date by the United States Bureau of the Census or the Office of Management and Budget.

(c) One or more public agencies, including existing local public agencies, may be designated by the chief executive officer of a State or a unit of general local government to undertake a Community Development Program in whole or in part.

AUTHORIZATION TO MAKE GRANTS

SEC. 103. (a) (1) The Secretary is authorized to make grants to States and units of general local government to help finance Community Development Programs approved in accordance with the provisions of this title. The Secretary is authorized to incur obligations on behalf of the United States in the form of grant agreements or otherwise in amounts aggregating such sum, not to exceed $8,400,000,000, as may be approved in an appropriation Act. The

1 Sec. 201 (37) of the Fiscal Year Transition Act. Public Law 94-274, 90 Stat. 383, approved April 21, 1976, provides for treatment of the transition quarter period between July 1, 1976, through September 30, 1976, as a fiscal year.