Clean Up Our Neighborhoods Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3949 To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to States for use to eliminate blight and assist in neighborhood revitalization, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 16, 2021 Mr. RYAN (for himself and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- ment to make grants to States for use to eliminate blight and assist in neighborhood revitalization, 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 ‘‘Clean Up Our Neigh- 4 borhoods Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3949 IH SEC. 2. BLIGHT ELIMINATION AND NEIGHBORHOOD REVI- 1 TALIZATION GRANTS. 2 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Housing and 3 Urban Development may make grants under this section, 4 on a competitive basis, to States for use for eligible activi- 5 ties under subsection (c)(1) designed to eliminate blight 6 and promote neighborhood revitalization. 7 (b) USE IN NEW MARKET TAX CREDIT AREAS.— 8 Amounts from a grant under this section may be used only 9 to carry out eligible activities under subsection (c)(1) with- 10 in low-income communities, as such term if defined in sub- 11 section (g). 12 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts from a grant 14 under this section may be used only for the following 15 activities: 16 (A) Demolition, clearance, and removal of 17 blighted structures. 18 (B) Boarding of vacant properties and 19 blighted structures. 20 (C) Deconstruction of structures. 21 (D) Removal of waste and site clearance 22 and vacant land management. 23 (E) Stabilization activities in connection 24 with providing vacant, open green space for the 25 purpose of public access and redevelopment, in- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3949 IH cluding greening projects, and associated main- 1 tenance activities, including mowing. 2 (F) Renovation of existing structures, ex- 3 cept that not more than 30 percent of any 4 grant under this section may be used for such 5 activities. 6 (2) USE OF AMOUNTS BY LOCAL GOVERN- 7 MENTS.—A grantee State may use amounts from a 8 grant under this Act to carry out eligible activities 9 under paragraph (1) or may provide such amounts 10 to land banks or units of general local government 11 within the State whose jurisdictions include low-in- 12 come communities for use to carry out such eligible 13 activities within such low-income communities. 14 (3) PRIORITY FOR LAND BANKS.—In areas 15 where land banks exist, a grantee State shall give 16 priority, in the use of amounts from a grant under 17 this Act, to eligible activities that will be carried out 18 by land banks, in accordance with such requirements 19 as the Secretary shall establish. 20 (4) PROHIBITION.—Amounts from a grant 21 under this section may not be used to acquire any 22 occupied residential dwelling unit. 23 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3949 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require 1 each State that receives a grant under this section 2 to contribute, toward carrying out the plan for the 3 State under subsection (e)(2), an amount of match- 4 ing funds from non-Federal sources that is equal to 5 or greater than 15 percent of the amount of the 6 grant. 7 (2) USE OF SALE PROCEEDS.—Any proceeds 8 from sales of properties renovated pursuant to sub- 9 section (c)(1)(F) may be counted toward compliance 10 with the requirement under paragraph (1). 11 (e) APPLICATION AND PLAN.— 12 (1) APPLICATION.—A grant under this section 13 may only be provided to a State that submits to the 14 Secretary an application for such a grant that con- 15 tains a plan for use of grant funds in accordance 16 with paragraph (2) and such other information, cer- 17 tifications, and assurances as the Secretary con- 18 siders necessary to provide for selection of States in 19 accordance with the process and criteria under sub- 20 section (f). 21 (2) PLAN.—A plan under this paragraph shall 22 be a detailed 5-year plan for the use of grant 23 amounts under this section and matching amounts 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3949 IH contributed pursuant to subsection (d) that in- 1 cludes— 2 (A) identification of the low-income com- 3 munities in which eligible activities under sub- 4 section (c)(1) will be carried out using grant 5 and matching amounts; 6 (B) a description of the eligible activities 7 under subsection (c)(1) to be carried out using 8 grant and matching amounts; 9 (C) a timetable for carrying out such eligi- 10 ble activities, which shall provide for the ex- 11 penditure of grant and matching amounts with- 12 in 5 years after receipt; and 13 (D) identification of the sources of match- 14 ing amounts to be provided in accordance with 15 subsection (d) and assurances of the availability 16 of such matching amounts. 17 (f) SELECTION; CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall se- 18 lect applications to receive grants under this section pur- 19 suant to a competition and based on criteria as established 20 by the Secretary for such selection. 21 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 22 following definitions shall apply: 23 (1) LAND BANK.—The term ‘‘land bank’’ 24 means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3949 IH (A) a land bank, as such term is defined 1 under State law; and 2 (B) with respect to any State for which the 3 laws of such State do not explicitly define such 4 term, any publicly or community-owned entity 5 established for the purpose of reducing or pre- 6 venting blight by acquiring, managing, main- 7 taining, and re-purposing vacant, abandoned, 8 and foreclosed properties, including abandoned 9 houses and buildings and empty lots. 10 (2) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘low- 11 income community’’ has the meaning given such 12 term in section 45D of the Internal Revenue Code 13 of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 45D) and includes any census 14 tract or other area that is treated as a low-income 15 community for purposes of such section. 16 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 18 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 19 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 20 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 21 Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Is- 22 lands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and 23 any other territory or possession of the United 24 States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3949 IH (5) STRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘structure’’ in- 1 cludes residential structures and commercial struc- 2 tures. 3 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue any 4 regulations necessary to carry out this section. 5 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 6 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 7 necessary for grants under this section for each of fiscal 8 years 2022 through 2027. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3949.IH H3949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS