Revitalizing Cities Through Parks Enhancement Act
This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to award grants for qualified community organizations to establish community open spaces, such as parks or playgrounds, in urban areas.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6496 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6496
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make
grants to nonprofit community organizations for the development of open
space on municipally owned vacant lots in urban areas.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 25, 2022
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make
grants to nonprofit community organizations for the development of open
space on municipally owned vacant lots in urban areas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Revitalizing Cities Through Parks
Enhancement Act''.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) open spaces and community parks are a critically
important portion of urban infrastructure;
(2) many inner-city areas suffer from a lack of public open
space for community residents to use for recreation, social
interaction, and relief from dense urban conditions;
(3) vacant lots, many in public ownership as a result of
tax foreclosures, are common in inner-city areas;
(4) the recent economic recession substantially increased
the number of such vacant lots;
(5) such lots often become drug trafficking areas, thereby
decreasing the value of surrounding property and leading to
higher crime rates in inner-city areas; and
(6) the refurbishment of such lots, by removing garbage and
rubble and creating well-lighted and maintained open spaces and
community parks, would establish positive assets for
surrounding communities, provide positive outlets for community
youth, increase property values, make other types of investment
in the communities more attractive, and generally improve the
quality of life for residents of the affected communities.
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall, to the extent amounts are provided in appropriation Acts
pursuant to section 13, make grants under this Act to qualified
community organizations for establishment of community open space in
urban areas.
(b) Amount.--The aggregate amount of any grants made under this Act
to any single qualified community organization in any single fiscal
year may not exceed $250,000.
SEC. 4. QUALIFIED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS.
A grant under this Act may be made only to a nonprofit organization
that--
(1) has among its purposes significant activities related
to the improvement of the neighborhood, community, or city in
which any property that is to be assisted with the grant under
this Act is located;
(2) has a history of serving such neighborhood, community,
or city;
(3) maintains, through significant representation on the
organization's governing board and otherwise, accountability to
residents of such neighborhood, community, or city; and
(4) complies with such standards of financial
accountability as the Secretary may require.
SEC. 5. USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.
(a) Eligible Activities.--Amounts from a grant made under this Act
may be used by the recipient of the grant only for costs relating to
the establishment of community open space, as follows:
(1) To develop eligible municipal real property for use as
community open space, which shall include design, clearance,
demolition, removal, beautification, site improvements, and
construction or installation of facilities and improvements for
such property.
(2) To lease or otherwise obtain the use of eligible
municipal real property for establishment of community open
space.
(3) To maintain community open space.
(4) To cover other administrative costs related to the
establishment, development, maintenance, administration,
insurance, or management of the community open space, except
that not more than 10 percent of any single grant made under
this Act may be used for costs under this paragraph.
(b) Development Plan Requirement.--Amounts from a grant made under
this Act may be used by the recipient of a grant only to carry out
activities under subsection (a) that are described in the development
plan of the recipient approved by the Secretary under section 7 or that
are described in an amendment to the development plan approved by the
Secretary under section 9.
(c) Community Involvement Requirements.--A qualified community
organization that applies for a grant under this Act shall provide for
involvement by interested residents and organizations of the
neighborhood, community, or city in which the property to be assisted
under the plan is located in--
(1) establishing the development plan under section 7(b),
which shall include--
(A) making the proposed development plan available
in a manner that, in the determination of the
Secretary, provides interested parties a reasonable
opportunity to examine its content and to submit
comments on the proposed plan; and
(B) holding one or more public hearings to obtain
the views of interested parties regarding the proposed
plan; and
(2) carrying out activities under the development plan, if
the qualified community organization is a recipient.
SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE MUNICIPAL REAL PROPERTY.
Amounts from a grant under this Act may be used for costs under
section 5(a) relating to the establishment of community open space only
on real property that--
(1) is owned in fee simple by the unit of general local
government in which the property is located;
(2) is located in an urban area;
(3) is free of structures, other than toilet or maintenance
facilities for the community open space; and
(4) is subject to a binding commitment, entered into by the
unit of general local government that owns the property and the
eligible community organization receiving the grant, that makes
the property available for use and improvement under this Act
as community open space for a period of not less than 7 years.
SEC. 7. APPLICATION AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide for nonprofit
organizations to submit applications to the Secretary for grants under
this Act in such form and manner as the Secretary may require to carry
out the purposes of this Act.
(b) Development Plan.--The Secretary shall require each application
to include a detailed plan for the use of any amounts received from a
grant under this Act, which shall include--
(1) a description of any eligible municipal property that
is to be established as community open space using such grant
amounts;
(2) evidence of the ownership of the eligible municipal
property and the binding commitment required under section 6(4)
for the property;
(3) a description of the nonprofit organization applying
for the grant that is sufficient to allow the Secretary to
determine whether such organization is a qualified community
organization;
(4) a description of the activities under section 5(a) to
be conducted with amounts from the grant;
(5) evidence of any commitments to make assistance (other
than assistance under this Act) available for use in developing
or maintaining the community open space;
(6) a description of the need for community open space in
the neighborhood or community in which the eligible municipal
property is located;
(7) a description of how the nonprofit organization will
provide for the maintenance of the community open space;
(8) a description of the community participation involved
(pursuant to section 5(c)) in establishing the plan, and the
provisions made (pursuant to such section) for community
participation in developing, maintaining, administering, and
managing the community open space;
(9) a budget specifying all of the estimated costs relating
to the project to establish and maintain the community open
space; and
(10) any other information the Secretary considers
appropriate to carry out this Act.
SEC. 8. SELECTION AND GRANT AGREEMENTS.
(a) Selection.--From among the applications submitted under section
7, the Secretary shall select qualified community organizations to
receive grants under this Act pursuant to a competitive selection
process. The Secretary shall review all applications received and may
select only applications containing development plans that the
Secretary approves as feasible and cost-effective pursuant to the
competitive selection process.
(b) Selection Criteria.--The competitive selection process referred
to in subsection (a) shall be based upon selection criteria, which
shall include--
(1) the extent of community involvement in the
establishment, development, maintenance, administration, or
management of the community open space;
(2) the extent of need for community open space in the
neighborhood or community in which the eligible municipal
property is located;
(3) the extent to which the development plan for the
community open space limits administrative and management costs
relating to the community open space; and
(4) the extent to which commitments have been made
providing assistance (other than assistance under this Act) for
use in establishing, developing, maintaining, administering, or
managing the community open space.
(c) Grant Agreements.--The Secretary shall enter into agreements
with each qualified community organization selected to receive a grant
under this section as the Secretary considers necessary to ensure that
amounts provided under the grant are used in accordance with the
requirements of this Act to carry out the development plan approved
under section 7 and any amendments to such plan approved under section
9.
SEC. 9. AMENDMENTS TO DEVELOPMENT PLANS.
The Secretary shall provide for recipients to submit amendments to
development plans to the Secretary and for the Secretary to review, and
approve or disapprove, such amendments.
SEC. 10. REPORTS.
(a) Recipients.--The Secretary may require each recipient to submit
to the Secretary such reports as the Secretary considers appropriate to
determine whether the recipient is carrying out the development plan
for any community open space for which the grant was made and is
complying with the provisions of this Act and any agreements entered
into under section 8(c).
(b) Secretary.--The Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress
not less than annually describing the grants made under this Act, the
recipients of the grants, and the community open space provided with
such grant amounts.
SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Community open space.--The term ``community open
space'' means a parcel of real property that is used for open
space, park, playground, garden, or other recreational or other
similar purposes and is generally open to and available for use
by the public.
(2) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit
organization'' means a private organization that--
(A) is organized under State or local laws; and
(B) has no part of its net earnings inuring to the
benefit of any member, shareholder, founder,
contributor, or individual.
(3) Qualified community organization.--The term ``qualified
community organization'' means a nonprofit organization that
complies with the requirements under section 4 to be eligible
to receive a grant under this Act.
(4) Recipient.--The term ``recipient'' means a qualified
community organization that receives a grant under this Act.
(5) Urban area.--The term ``urban area'' means--
(A) a city within a standard metropolitan
statistical area (as established by the Office of
Management and Budget) which is the central city of
such area (as defined and used by such Office); or
(B) a city within such a standard metropolitan
statistical area which has a population of 50,000 or
more.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development.
(7) Unit of general local government.--The term ``unit of
general local government'' means any city, town, township,
county, parish, village, or other general purpose political
subdivision of a State.
(8) State.--The term ``State'' means the States of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other
territory or possession of the United States.
SEC. 12. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary shall issue any regulations necessary to carry out
this Act.
SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated for grants under this Act
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
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