To improve the ability of small communities to coordinate with universities and design professionals in developing a vision to address their local needs.

Summary: Small Community Visioning Improvement Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to eligible recipients for small community visioning processes to: (1) help small communities address pressing local needs; (2) facilitate coordination between small communities, land-grant and other universities, and design professionals; (3) encourage public-private partnerships; and (4) develop design projects that integrate physical planning and design techniques with sustainable community action.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Community Visioning 
Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Small communities are vital components of the nation's 
        economic, social, agricultural, historic, and cultural fabric.
            (2) Our national character has been shaped by and is 
        forever tied to the landscape in and surrounding small 
        communities.
            (3) A growing number of small communities are facing 
        significant challenges that place their long-term viability at 
        risk, including economic hardship, declining population, 
        eroding tax bases, and environmental pressures.
            (4) Revitalizing and strengthening small communities begins 
        by helping residents of those communities to articulate and 
        formalize their vision for the future and to develop an action 
        plan to achieve that vision, including in the areas of economic 
        development, agriculture, tourism, transportation, land use, 
        education, recreation, and culture, and by understanding the 
        amenity characteristics of landscapes.
            (5) In many cases, a community's vision for the future is 
        rooted in and inseparable from the landscape, including the 
        natural and built environments.
            (6) Landscape architects have the education, training, and 
        skills, including in the areas of community involvement and 
        public participation, land use planning, design, project 
        visualization techniques, scenic resource assessment, mapping 
        and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), environmental 
        analysis, and environmental psychology, that ideally qualify 
        them to lead community visioning efforts.
            (7) Expanding Federal support for small community visioning 
        is an investment in the future of small communities and will 
        leverage additional public and private sector participation in 
        such efforts.
            (8) Successful community visioning efforts have yielded 
        tangible results with regard to the enhancement of 
        transportation corridors, economic development initiatives, 
        land use policies, conservation of natural and community 
        resources, community master plans, and park and recreation 
        plans.

SEC. 3. COMMUNITY VISIONING PILOT INITIATIVE.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are to--
            (1) develop and facilitate innovative visions that help 
        small communities to address pressing local needs;
            (2) facilitate coordination between small communities, 
        land-grant and other universities, and design professionals;
            (3) encourage public-private partnerships; and
            (4) translate the small community's vision into images of 
        design projects that integrate physical planning and design 
        techniques, with sustainable community action, at the 
        appropriate geographic scale.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``small community visioning process'' means 
        the process described in subsection (c)(2).
            (2) The term ``small community'' means a political 
        subdivision of a State with a population less than 25,000 
        individuals, an Indian tribe (as defined by section 2(7) of the 
        Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), a 
        native Hawaiian organization (as defined by paragraph (11) of 
        such section), or an Alaskan native village (as defined by 
        section 3(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act).
            (3) The term ``design professional'' means a landscape 
        architect licensed pursuant to State law or other individual 
        with demonstrated skills, training, and education in community 
        involvement and public participation, land use planning, 
        design, project visualization techniques, scenic resource 
        management, mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), 
        environmental analysis, and environmental psychology.
            (4) The term ``eligible grant recipient'' means a small 
        community, a land grant university or college established 
        pursuant to the Morrill Act, an institution of higher education 
        (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 
        1965), or an economic or community development entity 
        authorized by a State or political subdivision of a State.
            (5) The term ``construction documents'' means technical 
        documents, drawings, and designs which contain dimensions, 
        measurements, material specifications, and other technical 
        information necessary to complete design plans.
            (6) The term ``Department'' means the Department of 
        Agriculture.
            (7) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture.
    (c) Grant Authority.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall make grants to 
        eligible grant recipients for the purposes of carrying out 
        small community visioning processes.
            (2) Small community visioning process.--In order to be 
        eligible for a grant under this section, the applicant must use 
        a small community visioning process that includes the 
        following:
                    (A) Soliciting and organizing public 
                participation.--The broadest segment of the public is 
                invited to participate, and the process is structured 
                to maximize participation and maintain efficiency.
                    (B) Needs determination.--The small community 
                determines whether the community requires assistance 
                through this process with a broad-based needs 
                assessment or whether it has identified a specific need 
                through a prior community-based process that the 
                community wants to address through the small community 
                visioning process. Needs may include the areas of 
                economic development, transportation, land use, 
                agriculture, and the natural, cultural, and aesthetic 
                values of the community.
                    (C) Developing design options.--Members of the 
                community engage in a series of discussions to 
                articulate their vision for addressing the identified 
                need. Design professionals facilitate the discussions, 
                help members of the community identify areas of 
                consensus, and begin translating the vision into 
                images, including sketches, maps, digital images, 
                computer simulations, and design concepts. The vision 
                and design options are refined in an ongoing dialogue 
                until community consensus is reached and physical 
                designs for 1 or more projects are finalized.
                    (D) Implementation planning.--Design professionals, 
                members of the public, and others develop and finalize 
                a plan that describes the specific steps the community 
                would take to achieve its vision. At a minimum, the 
                plan should identify--
                            (i) projects relating to that vision, 
                        including projects the community can undertake 
                        and complete with existing resources, 
                        personnel, and funding, and projects which the 
                        community could undertake and complete only 
                        with the infusion of additional resources, 
                        personnel, and funding;
                            (ii) government agencies, nongovernmental 
                        entities, and other potential partners that 
                        could participate in implementation; and
                            (iii) possible sources of public and 
                        private funding to achieve the vision.
    (d) Application Processes.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the Secretary 
        issues final regulations under subsection (h), the Secretary 
        shall solicit applications for grants from eligible grant 
        recipients. The application shall include the following:
                    (A) A statement of the needs that the small 
                community would address through the small community 
                visioning process, or a statement that the small 
                community requires assistance to identify such a need.
                    (B) A brief description of process the small 
                community used or will use to involve a diverse cross-
                section of residents of the community in determining 
                the need.
                    (C) A description of how the applicant will use the 
                services of design professionals or university programs 
                with demonstrated expertise in small community 
                visioning processes in providing assistance to the 
                small community.
                    (D) A description of how the applicant will involve 
                a diverse cross-section of residents of the small 
                community in the visioning process.
                    (E) A description of the phases of the visioning 
                process, the anticipated outcomes of each phase, and of 
                the visioning initiative as a whole.
                    (F) A detailed budget for the visioning process, 
                including the contribution to be provided by the 
                applicant pursuant to subsection (h) or a request for 
                waiver of such a contribution.
                    (G) A description of the steps the applicant will 
                take to--
                            (i) assess the effectiveness of the 
                        visioning process in addressing the community's 
                        need; and
                            (ii) integrate the findings of the needs 
                        determination into ongoing efforts to implement 
                        the vision developed pursuant to this section.
            (2) Alternative application process.--The Secretary may 
        establish an alternative application process through which 
        eligible grant recipients may apply for funding sufficient to 
        facilitate small community visioning processes in 2 or more 
        small communities without having to apply separately for a 
        grant for each community. The alternative application shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) A description of the applicant's capabilities 
                to achieve the purposes of this section, including a 
                description of experience providing the assistance 
                described in this section.
                    (B) If the applicant is an institution of higher 
                education or land grant university or college and has 
                an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program 
                in landscape architecture, a description of the 
                substantive role that the landscape architecture 
                program will play in carrying out the purposes of this 
                section.
                    (C) A description of how the applicant will use the 
                services of design professionals and university 
                programs with demonstrated expertise in small community 
                visioning processes, in carrying out the purposes of 
                this section.
                    (D) A description of the phases of the small 
                community visioning process, and the anticipated 
                outcomes of each phase.
                    (E) A projection of the number of small communities 
                that the applicant could assist with the grant amount 
                requested during the fiscal year in which the grant 
                would be received, and with a proposed schedule for 
                providing the assistance.
                    (F) A detailed budget for the activities to be 
                carried out by the applicant with the grant.
                    (G) A description of the steps the applicant will 
                take to--
                            (i) assess the effectiveness of the 
                        visioning process in addressing each 
                        community's need; and
                            (ii) support community-based efforts to 
                        integrate the findings of the assessments into 
                        ongoing efforts to implement the vision 
                        developed pursuant to this section.
    (e) Grant Award Considerations.--In making grants under this 
section, the Secretary shall consider--
            (1) the value of making grants to communities of various 
        population sizes;
            (2) the geographic distribution of the grants; and
            (3) the value of giving priority to applicants with well-
        defined community, private sector, and university 
        participation.
    (f) Grant Amounts and Administrative Expenses.--
            (1) Amounts.--A grant under this section shall not exceed--
                    (A) $25,000, if the application for the grant was 
                submitted pursuant to subsection (d)(1); or
                    (B) $250,000, if the application for the grant was 
                submitted pursuant to subsection (d)(2).
            (2) Administrative expenses.--The Secretary may use not 
        more than 10 percent of the total amount appropriated under 
        this section for each fiscal year to administer this section. A 
        recipient of a grant under this section may use not more than 
        25 percent of the grant for administration.
            (3) Limitation.--A grant under this section shall not be 
        used to develop or produce construction documents.
    (g) Recipient Contribution Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--As a condition of receiving a grant under 
        this section, the grantee shall contribute, from non-Federal 
        sources, to the activities for which the grant is made an 
        amount equal to 20 percent of total costs of the activities.
            (2) Use of in-kind contributions.--The Secretary shall 
        allow a grantee to meet the requirement of paragraph (1) by 
        making qualifying in-kind contributions of such type as the 
        Secretary may allow in regulations.
            (3) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the requirement of 
        paragraph (1) in the case of a recipient who demonstrates to 
        the Secretary's satisfaction that the recipient is incapable of 
        meeting the requirement.
    (h) Regulations.--Within 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this section and after opportunity for public comment, the Secretary 
shall issue such regulations as the Secretary deems appropriate to 
carry out this section.
    (i) Report to the Congress.--Not later than 3 years after the date 
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a 
report that describes, at a minimum--
            (1) the most effective practices and procedures used to 
        assist communities in the small community visioning process;
            (2) examples of the public-private partnerships developed 
        to identify and implement community goals;
            (3) examples of the tangible, physical outcomes of small 
        community visioning processes funded under this section;
            (4) recommendations for improving, strengthening, and 
        expanding the program carried out under this section; and
            (5) a list of all grantees under this section, the city and 
        State in which the grantees are located, and grant amounts 
        received by each grantee.
    (j) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--For grants under this section, there are 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than 
        $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012.
            (2) Reservation of funds for applications to assist 
        multiple small communities.--Not less than 40 percent of the 
        amounts made available to carry out this section for each 
        fiscal year shall be made available for grants for applications 
        submitted pursuant to subsection (d)(2).
            (3) Availability of appropriations.--Funds made available 
        to carry out this section are authorized to remain available 
        until expended.