Yes In My Backyard Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3198 To require certain grantees under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to submit a plan to track discriminatory land use policies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. HOLLINGSWORTH, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. CASE, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. TAYLOR, Ms. HER- RERA BEUTLER, Ms. FOXX, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require certain grantees under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to submit a plan to track discriminatory land use policies, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Yes In My Backyard 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3198.IH H3198 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3198 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to discourage the use of 2 discriminatory land use policies and remove barriers to 3 making housing more affordable in order to further the 4 original intent of the Community Development Block 5 Grant program. 6 SEC. 3. LAND USE PLAN. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Housing and 8 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304) 9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(n) PLAN TO TRACK DISCRIMINATORY LAND USE 11 POLICIES.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to receipt in any fis- 13 cal year of a grant from the Secretary under sub- 14 section (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106, each 15 recipient shall have prepared and submitted, not less 16 frequently than once during the preceding 5-year pe- 17 riod, in accordance with this subsection and in such 18 standardized form as the Secretary shall, by regula- 19 tion, prescribe, with respect to each land use policy 20 described in paragraph (2) that is applicable to the 21 jurisdiction served by the recipient, a description 22 of— 23 ‘‘(A) whether the recipient has already 24 adopted the policy in the jurisdiction served by 25 the recipient; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3198.IH H3198 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3198 IH ‘‘(B) the plan of the recipient to implement 1 the policy in that jurisdiction; or 2 ‘‘(C) the ways in which adopting the policy 3 will benefit the jurisdiction. 4 ‘‘(2) LAND USE POLICIES.—The policies de- 5 scribed in this paragraph are as follows: 6 ‘‘(A) Enacting high-density single-family 7 and multifamily zoning. 8 ‘‘(B) Expanding by-right multifamily zoned 9 areas. 10 ‘‘(C) Allowing duplexes, triplexes, or 11 fourplexes in areas zoned primarily for single- 12 family residential homes. 13 ‘‘(D) Allowing manufactured homes in 14 areas zoned primarily for single-family residen- 15 tial homes. 16 ‘‘(E) Allowing multifamily development in 17 retail, office, and light manufacturing zones. 18 ‘‘(F) Allowing single-room occupancy de- 19 velopment wherever multifamily housing is al- 20 lowed. 21 ‘‘(G) Reducing minimum lot size. 22 ‘‘(H) Ensuring historic preservation re- 23 quirements and other land use policies or re- 24 quirements are coordinated to encourage cre- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3198.IH H3198 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3198 IH ation of housing in historic buildings and his- 1 toric districts. 2 ‘‘(I) Increasing the allowable floor area 3 ratio in multifamily housing areas. 4 ‘‘(J) Creating transit-oriented development 5 zones. 6 ‘‘(K) Streamlining or shortening permit- 7 ting processes and timelines, including through 8 one-stop and parallel-process permitting. 9 ‘‘(L) Eliminating or reducing off-street 10 parking requirements. 11 ‘‘(M) Ensuring impact and utility invest- 12 ment fees accurately reflect required infrastruc- 13 ture needs and related impacts on housing af- 14 fordability are otherwise mitigated. 15 ‘‘(N) Allowing prefabricated construction. 16 ‘‘(O) Reducing or eliminating minimum 17 unit square footage requirements. 18 ‘‘(P) Allowing the conversion of office units 19 to apartments. 20 ‘‘(Q) Allowing the subdivision of single- 21 family homes into duplexes. 22 ‘‘(R) Allowing accessory dwelling units, in- 23 cluding detached accessory dwelling units, on all 24 lots with single-family homes. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3198.IH H3198 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3198 IH ‘‘(S) Establishing density bonuses. 1 ‘‘(T) Eliminating or relaxing residential 2 property height limitations. 3 ‘‘(U) Using property tax abatements to en- 4 able higher density and mixed-income commu- 5 nities. 6 ‘‘(V) Donating vacant land for affordable 7 housing development. 8 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF SUBMISSION.—A submission 9 under this subsection shall not be binding with re- 10 spect to the use or distribution of amounts received 11 under section 106. 12 ‘‘(4) ACCEPTANCE OR NONACCEPTANCE OF 13 PLAN.—The acceptance or nonacceptance of any 14 plan submitted under this subsection in which the 15 information required under this subsection is pro- 16 vided is not an endorsement or approval of the plan, 17 policies, or methodologies, or lack thereof.’’. 18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements under 19 subsection (n) of section 104 of the Housing and Commu- 20 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304), as added 21 by subsection (a), shall— 22 (1) take effect on the date that is 1 year after 23 the date of enactment of this Act; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3198.IH H3198 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3198 IH (2) apply to recipients of a grant under sub- 1 section (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106 of the 2 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 3 (42 U.S.C. 5306) before, on, and after such date. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3198.IH H3198 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS