Yes In My Backyard Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4351 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 3, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs AN ACT 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4351.RFS H4351 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 4351 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Yes In My Backyard 2 Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 4 The purpose of this Act is to discourage the use of 5 discriminatory land use policies and remove barriers to 6 making housing more affordable in order to further the 7 original intent of the Community Development Block 8 Grant program. 9 SEC. 3. LAND USE PLAN. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Housing and 11 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304) 12 is amended by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(n) PLAN TO TRACK DISCRIMINATORY LAND USE 14 POLICIES.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to receipt in any fis- 16 cal year of a grant from the Secretary under sub- 17 section (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106, each 18 recipient shall have prepared and submitted, not less 19 frequently than once during the preceding 5-year pe- 20 riod, in accordance with this subsection and in such 21 standardized form as the Secretary shall, by regula- 22 tion, prescribe, with respect to each land use policy 23 described in paragraph (2) that is applicable to the 24 jurisdiction served by the recipient, a description 25 of— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4351.RFS H4351 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 4351 RFS ‘‘(A) whether the recipient has already 1 adopted the policy in the jurisdiction served by 2 the recipient; 3 ‘‘(B) the plan of the recipient to implement 4 the policy in that jurisdiction; or 5 ‘‘(C) the ways in which adopting the policy 6 will benefit the jurisdiction. 7 ‘‘(2) LAND USE POLICIES.—The policies de- 8 scribed in this paragraph are as follows: 9 ‘‘(A) Enacting high-density single-family 10 and multifamily zoning. 11 ‘‘(B) Expanding by-right multifamily zoned 12 areas. 13 ‘‘(C) Allowing duplexes, triplexes, or 14 fourplexes in areas zoned primarily for single- 15 family residential homes. 16 ‘‘(D) Allowing manufactured homes in 17 areas zoned primarily for single-family residen- 18 tial homes. 19 ‘‘(E) Allowing multifamily development in 20 retail, office, and light manufacturing zones. 21 ‘‘(F) Allowing single-room occupancy de- 22 velopment wherever multifamily housing is al- 23 lowed. 24 ‘‘(G) Reducing minimum lot size. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4351.RFS H4351 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 4351 RFS ‘‘(H) Ensuring historic preservation re- 1 quirements and other land use policies or re- 2 quirements are coordinated to encourage cre- 3 ation of housing in historic buildings and his- 4 toric districts. 5 ‘‘(I) Increasing the allowable floor area 6 ratio in multifamily housing areas. 7 ‘‘(J) Creating transit-oriented development 8 zones. 9 ‘‘(K) Streamlining or shortening permit- 10 ting processes and timelines, including through 11 one-stop and parallel-process permitting. 12 ‘‘(L) Eliminating or reducing off-street 13 parking requirements. 14 ‘‘(M) Ensuring impact and utility invest- 15 ment fees accurately reflect required infrastruc- 16 ture needs and related impacts on housing af- 17 fordability are otherwise mitigated. 18 ‘‘(N) Allowing prefabricated construction. 19 ‘‘(O) Reducing or eliminating minimum 20 unit square footage requirements. 21 ‘‘(P) Allowing the conversion of office units 22 to apartments. 23 ‘‘(Q) Allowing the subdivision of single- 24 family homes into duplexes. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4351.RFS H4351 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 4351 RFS ‘‘(R) Allowing accessory dwelling units, in- 1 cluding detached accessory dwelling units, on all 2 lots with single-family homes. 3 ‘‘(S) Establishing density bonuses. 4 ‘‘(T) Eliminating or relaxing residential 5 property height limitations. 6 ‘‘(U) Using property tax abatements to en- 7 able higher density and mixed-income commu- 8 nities. 9 ‘‘(V) Donating vacant land for affordable 10 housing development. 11 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF SUBMISSION.—A submission 12 under this subsection shall not be binding with re- 13 spect to the use or distribution of amounts received 14 under section 106. 15 ‘‘(4) ACCEPTANCE OR NONACCEPTANCE OF 16 PLAN.—The acceptance or nonacceptance of any 17 plan submitted under this subsection in which the 18 information required under this subsection is pro- 19 vided is not an endorsement or approval of the plan, 20 policies, or methodologies, or lack thereof.’’. 21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements under 22 subsection (n) of section 104 of the Housing and Commu- 23 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304), as added 24 by subsection (a), shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4351.RFS H4351 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 4351 RFS (1) take effect on the date that is 1 year after 1 the date of enactment of this Act; and 2 (2) apply to recipients of a grant under sub- 3 section (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106 of the 4 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 5 (42 U.S.C. 5306) before, on, and after such date. 6 Passed the House of Representatives March 2, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4351.RFS H4351 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS