Sustainable Communities Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 927 To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in conjunc- tion with the Secretary of Transportation, to carry out a Sustainable Communities Initiative, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mrs. TORRES of California (for herself and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- ment, in conjunction with the Secretary of Transpor- tation, to carry out a Sustainable Communities Initiative, 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 ‘‘Sustainable Commu- 4 nities Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H927.IH H927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 927 IH SEC. 2. SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE. 1 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Housing and 2 Urban Development (in this section referred to as the 3 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, in coordination with the Secretary of 4 Transportation, carry out a Sustainable Communities Ini- 5 tiative to improve regional planning efforts that integrate 6 housing and transportation decisions, and increase the ca- 7 pacity to improve land use and zoning. 8 (b) REGIONAL INTEGRATED PLANNING GRANTS.— 9 (1) AUTHORITY.—Under the Sustainable Com- 10 munities Initiative under this section the Secretary 11 shall, to the extent amounts are made available for 12 grants under this subsection pursuant to subsection 13 (f), provide Regional Integrated Planning Grants to 14 support improvements in and coordination of metro- 15 politan-wide housing, transportation, energy, and 16 land use planning activities. 17 (2) COMPETITION; GRANTEES.—Grants under 18 this subsection shall be awarded on a competitive 19 basis to regional, multijurisdictional organizations 20 and consortia in metropolitan areas. The Secretary 21 shall consult with the Secretary of Transportation in 22 evaluating applications for such grants. 23 (c) COMMUNITY CHALLENGE PLANNING GRANTS.— 24 (1) AUTHORITY.—Under the Sustainable Com- 25 munities Initiative under this section the Secretary 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H927.IH H927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 927 IH shall, to the extent amounts are made available for 1 grants under this subsection pursuant to subsection 2 (f), provide Community Challenge Planning Grants 3 to foster reform and reduce barriers, including 4 through the reform of existing building codes and 5 zoning ordinances, to achieve affordable, economi- 6 cally vital, and sustainable communities and discour- 7 age inefficient land use patterns. 8 (2) COMPETITION; GRANTEES.—Grants under 9 this subsection shall be awarded on a competitive 10 basis to units of general local government. The Sec- 11 retary shall consult with the Secretary of Transpor- 12 tation in evaluating applications for such grants. 13 (d) PLAN.—The Secretary may not award any grant 14 under subsection (b) or (c) before the Secretary, in coordi- 15 nation with the Secretary of Transportation, submits to 16 the Congress a plan establishing grant criteria and per- 17 formance measures by which to measure the success of 18 grantees in achieving the goals of the grants, which plan 19 shall be based on the requirements under the Department 20 of Housing and Urban Development Notice of Funding 21 Availability (NOFA) for Fiscal Year 2010 Sustainable 22 Communities Regional Planning Grant Program [Docket 23 No. FR–5396–03]. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H927.IH H927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 927 IH (e) RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.—The Secretary 1 and the Secretary of Transportation shall conduct a joint 2 research effort to evaluate the grant programs under sub- 3 sections (b) and (c) to quantify the benefits and costs of 4 such programs. Amounts made available for activities 5 under this subsection may be used to improve the technical 6 capacities of regional organizations, local jurisdictions, 7 community-based organizations, developers, and private 8 sector lenders to carry out eligible activities under the 9 grant programs under subsections (b) and (c). 10 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 11 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 12 $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 and 2021, of 13 which for each such fiscal year— 14 (1) $100,000,000 shall be for Regional Inte- 15 grated Planning Grants under subsection (b) and of 16 which not less than $25,000,000 for each such fiscal 17 year shall be only for such grants for metropolitan 18 areas having populations of fewer than 500,000 per- 19 sons; 20 (2) $40,000,000 shall be for Community Chal- 21 lenge Planning Grants under subsection (c); and 22 (3) up to $10,000,000 shall be for carrying out 23 activities under subsection (e). 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H927.IH H927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS