(4) updates estimates of the housing needs of lower income families, analyzing these needs, insofar as possible, by type of household, housing need, including households with specialized needs, and general location, and in addition, reassesses the capacity of each Federal housing program to serve the needs identified;

(5) reviews the progress made in achieving goals of conserving and upgrading older housing and neighborhoods, expanding homeownership and equal housing opportunities, and assuring reasonable shelter costs;

(6) reports on progress made toward developing new methods for measuring and monitoring progress in achieving these goals; and

(7) identifies legislative and administrative actions which will or should be adopted or implemented during the current year and, as feasible, the next year to support achievement of the goals.

Approved August 1, 1968.

36-210 0-84--2

PART I-COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS

EXCERPTS FROM HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACT OF

1974

[Public Law 93-383; 88 Stat. 633; 42 U.S.C. 5301]

TITLE I-COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 1

FINDINGS AND PURPOSE

SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds and declares that the Nation's cities, towns, and smaller urban communities face critical social, economic, and environmental problems arising in significant measure from

(1) the growth of population in metropolitan and other urban areas, and the concentration of persons of lower income in central cities;

(2) inadequate public and private investment and reinvestment in housing and other physical facilities, and related public and social services, resulting in the growth and persistence of urban slums and blight and the marked deterioration of the quality of the urban environment; and

(3) increasing energy costs which have seriously undermined the quality and overall effectiveness of local community and housing development activities.

(b) The Congress further finds and declares that the future welfare of the Nation and the well-being of its citizens depend on the establishment and maintenance of viable urban communities as social, economic, and political entities, and require

(1) systematic and sustained action by Federal, State, and local governments to eliminate blight, to conserve and renew older urban areas, to improve the living environment of lowand moderate-income families, and to develop new centers of population growth and economic activity;

(2) substantial expansion of and greater continuity in the scope and level of Federal assistance, together with increased private investment in support of community development activities;

(3) continuing effort at all levels of government to streamline programs and improve the functioning of agencies responsible

1 Part A of title I of the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983, Pub. L. 98-181, approved November 30, 1983, extensively amended sections 101-108 and 116 of this title. Section 110(b) of such Act, as amended by section 101(b)(1) of the Housing and Community Development Technical Amendments Act of 1984, Pub. L. 98-479, approved October 17, 1984, provides as follows: "The amendments made by this part shall apply only to funds available for fiscal year 1984 and thereafter.".

for planning, implementing, and evaluating community development efforts; and

(4) concerted action by Federal, State, and local governments to address the economic and social hardships borne by communities as a consequence of scarce fuel supplies.

(c) The primary objective of this title and of the community development program of each grantee under this title is the development of viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income. Consistent with this primary objective, not less than 51 percent of the aggregate of the Federal assistance provided under section 106 and, if applicable, the funds received as a result of a guarantee under section 108, shall be used for the support of activities that benefit persons of low and moderate income, and the Federal assistance provided in this title is for the support of community development activities which are directed toward the following specific objectives

(1) the elimination of slums and blight and the prevention of blighting influences and the deterioration of property and neighborhood and community facilities of importance to the welfare of the community, principally persons of low and moderate income;

(2) the elimination of conditions which are detrimental to health, safety, and public welfare, through code enforcement, demolition, interim rehabilitation assistance, and related activities;

(3) the conservation and expansion of the Nation's housing stock in order to provide a decent home and a suitable living environment for all persons, but principally those of low and moderate income;

(4) the expansion and improvement of the quantity and quality of community services, principally for persons of low and moderate income, which are essential for sound community development and for the development of viable urban communities;

(5) a more rational utilization of land and other natural resources and the better arrangement of residential, commercial, industrial, recreational, and other needed activity centers;

(6) the reduction of the isolation of income groups within communities and geographical areas and the promotion of an increase in the diversity and vitality of neighborhoods through the spatial deconcentration of housing opportunities for persons of lower income and the revitalization of deteriorating or deteriorated neighborhoods to attract persons of higher income;

(7) the restoration and preservation of properties of special value for historic, architectural, or esthetic reasons;

(8) the alleviation of physical and economic distress through the stimulation of private investment and community revitalization in areas with population outmigration or a stagnating or declining tax base; and

(9) the conservation of the Nation's scarce energy resources, improvement of energy efficiency, and the provision of alternative and renewable energy sources of supply.

It is the intent of Congress that the Federal assistance made available under this title not be utilized to reduce substantially the amount of local financial support for community development activities below the level of such support prior to the availability of such assistance.

(d) It is also the purpose of this title to further the development of a national urban growth policy by consolidating a number of complex and overlaping programs of financial assistance to communities of varying sizes and needs into a consistent system of Federal aid which

(1) provides assistance on an annual basis, with maximum certainty and minimum delay, upon which communities can rely in their planning;

(2) encourages community development activities which are consistent with comprehensive local and areawide development planning;

(3) furthers achievement of the national housing goal of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family; and

(4) fosters the undertaking of housing and community development activities in a coordinated and mutually supportive manner by Federal agencies and programs, as well as by communities.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 102. (a) As used in this title

(1) The term "unit of general local government" means any city, county, town, township, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State; Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, or a general purpose political subdivision thereof; a combination of such political subdivisions recognized by the Secretary; the District of Columbia; and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Such term also includes a State or a local public body or agency (as defined in section 711 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970), community association, or other entity, which is approved by the Secretary for the purpose of providing public facilities or services to a new community as part of a program meeting the eligibility standards of section 712 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 or title IV of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968.

(2) The term "State" means any State of the United States, or any instrumentality_thereof approved by the Governor; and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(3) The term "metropolitan area" means a standard metropolitan statistical area as established by the Office of Management and Budget.

(4) The term "metropolitan city" means (A) a city within a metropolitan area which is the central city of such area, as defined and used by the Office of Management and Budget, or (B)