CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 7277 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 19, 1973 M. WIDNALL (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. J. WILLIAM STANTON, Mr. BLackburn, Mr. Brown of Michigan, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. WYLE, Mrs. HECKLER of Massachusetts, Mr. CRANE, Mr. ROUSSELOT, Mr. MCKINNEY, Mr. FRENZEL, Mr. CONLAN, Mr. RONCALLO of New York, Mr. BURGENER, and Mr. RINALDO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency A BILL To provide Federal revenues to State and local governments and afford them broad discretion in carrying out community development activities. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That this Act may be cited as the "Better Communities 4 Act". 5 6 7 STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND PURPOSE SEC. 2. (a) The Congress finds and declares that (1) States and units of general local government are 8 the most appropriate levels of government to develop and to 9 carry out community development programs and activities. 2 1 (2) Federal assistance for community development is 2 presently so excessively fragmented and controlled at the 3 Federal level, channeled through so many separate over4 lapping and independent grant programs, and to so many 5 different special purpose bodies and agencies that it has 6 become an ineffective use of the Federal funds devoted to 7 assistance for community development. 10 8 (3) The effectiveness of Federal assistance for com9 munity development would be improved by making Federal resources allocated for such purposes available to States and 11 units of general local government to use with broad discretion 12 in light of their evaluation of their own community develop13 ment needs and the resources available to them to meet 14 those needs. 15 (b) It is therefore the purpose of this Act to help States 16 and units of general local government to deal more effec17 tively with the broad range of community development 18 concerns by replacing inflexible and fragmented categorical 19 programs of Federal assistance with a simpler, more certain, 20 and more expeditious system of Federal revenue sharing 21 assistance which will encourage the exercise of State and 22 local responsibility. 23 24 25 26 DEFINITIONS SEC. 3. (a) As used in this Act (1) the term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; 1 2 3 (2) the term "unit of general local government" means any city, municipality, county, town, township, 3 parish, village, or other general purpose political sub 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 division of a State; a combination of such political subdivisions recognized by the Secretary; the District of Columbia; and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; (3) the term "State" means any State of the United States; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Guam; Samoa; and the Virgin Islands. (4) the term "metropolitan area" means a standard metropolitan statistical area as established by the Office of Management and Budget; (5) the term "metropolitan city" means a city having a population of fifty thousand or more or a central city in a metropolitan area; (6) the term "urban county" means any county which is within a metropolitan area and which has a population of two hundred thousand or more, excluding the population of metropolitan cities therein; (7) the term "population" means total resident 21 population based on data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and referable to the same point or period in time; (8) the term "extent of poverty" means the num ber of persons whose incomes are below the poverty level, as determined by the Secretary pursuant to the 4 or period in time; (9) the term "extent of housing overcrowding" means the number of housing units with 1.01 or more 1 2 definition provided by the Office of Management and Budget, and based on data referable to the same point 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 persons per room based on data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and referable to the same point or period in time; and (10) the term "fiscal year" means that period of time extending from July 1 of any calendar year through June 30 of the subsequent calendar year and receiving the numerical designation of the calendar year in which the period ends. (b) To the extent practicable, the definitions in sub15 section (a) shall be based upon the most recent data com16 piled by the United States Bureau of the Census and the 17 latest published circulars of the Office of Management and 18 Budget. The Secretary may by regulation make technical 19 modifications in the terms defined in subsection (a) where 20 necessary to reflect modifications in Bureau of the Census. 21 data categories made subsequent to enactment of this Act. 222 23 24 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR ASSISTANCE SEC. 4. Community development activities for which a 25 recipient may utilize shared Federal revenues provided under 26 this Act may include 5 (1) acquisition of real property (including air rights, water rights, and other interests therein) which is (i) blighted, deteriorated, deteriorating, undeveloped, or inappropriately developed from the standpoint of sound community development and growth, (ii) necessary for the preservation or restoration of historic sites, the beautification of urban land, the conservation of open spaces, natural resources, and scenic areas, the provision of recreational opportunities, or the guidance of urban development, (iii) determined to be appropriate for rehabilitation or conservation activities, (iv) to be used for the provision of public works, facilities, and improvements eligible for assistance under this Act, or (v) for other public purposes; (2) relocation payments and assistance for individuals, families, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and farm operations displaced by community development activities; (3) clearance, demolition, removal, and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements (including financing rehabilitation of privately owned properties when incidental to other activities); (4) acquisition, construction, reconstruction, or installation of public works, facilities, and site or other improvements-including water and sewer facilities, community and neighborhood facilities, historic proper |