I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4432

To provide relief from regulatory requirements inhibiting the effectiveness

and productivity of public housing agencies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 17, 1994

Mr. BEREUTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To provide relief from regulatory requirements inhibiting the

effectiveness and productivity of public housing agencies.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Housing

5 Regulatory Relief Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO WAIVE PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAM

7 REQUIREMENTS.

8 Title I of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42

9 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

10 the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 27. WAIVER OF PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAM RE2 QUIREMENTS.

3 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Upon the written request of a

4 public housing agency or resident management corpora5 tion, the Secretary may authorize the agency or corpora6 tion to establish policies for the operation, maintenance,

7 management, and development (including modernization)

8 of one or more public housing projects and, in connection

9 with granting such authority and except as provided in

10 subsection (b), may waive or modify (with respect to the

11 project or projects)—

12 ‘‘(1) the requirements of this Act applicable to

13 public housing; and

14 ‘‘(2) any requirements applicable to the project

15 or projects under other provisions of law that the

16 Secretary determines are not consistent with the

17 policies proposed for the project or projects.

18 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not waive or

19 modify—

20 ‘‘(1) any provision of this Act or any other pro21 vision of law that limits occupancy of public housing

22 dwelling units to low-income families;

23 ‘‘(2) under section 18 of this Act that requires

24 replacement of dwelling units in the case of demoli25 tion or disposition of public housing (except that the

26 limitation on the use of tenant-based assistance to
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1 applications proposing demolition or disposition of

2 200 or more units may be waived);

3 ‘‘(3) any provision of the Uniform Relocation

4 Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies

5 Act of 1970;

6 ‘‘(4) any provision of law that relates to equal

7 opportunity, nondiscrimination, or the environment;

8 or

9 ‘‘(5) any provision of this Act or any other pro10 vision of law that relates to labor standards.

11 ‘‘(c) REQUEST FOR WAIVER.—A request under sub12 section (a) shall—

13 ‘‘(1) specify the provision or provisions of law

14 to be waived or modified and the waivers or modi15 fications proposed;

16 ‘‘(2) identify the public housing projects for

17 which the waivers or modifications are requested;

18 ‘‘(3) describe the policies to be effective for the

19 projects for which the waivers or modifications are

20 requested; and

21 ‘‘(4) describe the costs to the public housing

22 agency or resident management corporation, and to

23 the Federal Government, of the waivers or modifica24 tions requested and the change of policies proposed.
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1 ‘‘(d) MINIMUM CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Sec2 retary may approve a request under subsection (a) only

3 if the Secretary determines that the request—

4 ‘‘(1) would not, over the term of such authority,

5 result in the Federal Government incurring more

6 costs than the Government would otherwise incur if

7 the request were not approved;

8 ‘‘(2) is consistent with the overall purposes of

9 the public housing program;

10 ‘‘(3) is consistent with the Fair Housing Act,

11 title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, section 504

12 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimi13 nation Act of 1975, and the National Environmental

14 Policy Act of 1969; and

15 ‘‘(4) such other requirements as the Secretary

16 may establish to carry out the purposes of this

17 section.

18 ‘‘(e) TIMING.—Any authority granted to a public

19 housing agency pursuant to subsection (a), including any

20 waiver or modification pursuant to this section of any re21 quirement, shall be effective only for the period established

22 by the Secretary in granting the waiver or modification,

23 which may not exceed 4 years. Upon such expiration and

24 pursuant to a written request, the Secretary may renew

25 such authority for a public housing agency or resident
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1 management corporation, subject to the requirements of

2 this section.

3 ‘‘(f) APPLICABILITY OF STATE AND LOCAL LAWS.—

4 The provisions of any applicable State and local laws shall

5 apply to any public housing agency, resident management

6 corporation, and public housing project with respect to

7 which authority is granted under subsection (a).

8 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall require each

9 public housing agency and resident management corpora10 tion for which a request under subsection (a) is approved

11 to submit a report to the Secretary annually for each year

12 during the term for which the authority granted under

13 subsection (a) is effective. The report shall describe the

14 activities, operations, and policies of the agency or cor15 poration during the year for which the report is submitted.

16 ‘‘(h) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

17 term ‘resident management corporation’ means a resident

18 management corporation established in accordance with

19 the requirements of the Secretary under section 20.’’.

20 SEC. 3. PHA RETENTION OF SAVINGS REALIZED THROUGH

21 EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT.

22 Section 6(e) of the United States Housing Act of

23 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(e)) is amended to read as follows:

24 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF SAVINGS.—Each contract for

25 contributions shall provide that whenever in any year the
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1 receipts of a public housing agency in connection with a

2 low-income housing project exceed its expenditures (in3 cluding debt service, operation, maintenance, establish4 ment of reserves, and other costs and charges) and the

5 Secretary determines that such excess resulted from in6 creased efficiency in the operation of the agency—

7 ‘‘(1) an amount equal to one-half of such excess

8 shall be applied, or set aside for application, to pur9 poses which, in the determination of the Secretary,

10 will effect a reduction in the amount of subsequent

11 annual contributions; and

12 ‘‘(2) an amount equal to one-half of such excess

13 shall be applied to operating reserve established for

14 the project and shall not be considered in subse15 quent years in calculating the operating subsidies

16 provided under section 9 to the public housing agen17 cy, except to the extent proposed by the agency in

18 its operating budget.’’.

19 SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC HOUSING MODERNIZA20 TION FUNDS DURING TERM OF PLAN.

21 Section 14 of the United States Housing Act of 1937

22 (42 U.S.C. 1437l) is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (d)(3)(A), by striking ‘‘within

24 each 12-month period covered by such plan’’;
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1 (2) in subsection (e)(1)(D), by striking ‘‘at

2 least a schedule’’ and inserting ‘‘a listing’’;

3 (3) in subsection (e)(3)(B), by adding at the

4 end the following new sentence: ‘‘This section may

5 not be construed to require a public housing agency

6 to amend its comprehensive plan under paragraph

7 (1) to be able to (A) use assistance amounts for pur8 poses consistent with the plan but not according to

9 the schedule of actions to be taken under the plan,

10 or (B) use assistance amounts provided to an agency

11 for a fiscal year in another fiscal year covered by the

12 plan for purposes consistent with the plan, notwith13 standing the annual statement of activities by the

14 agency under subparagraph (A).’’;

15 (4) in subsection (f)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘speci16 fied for such year in’’ and inserting ‘‘anticipated to

17 be conducted during such year under’’;

18 (5) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘to meet the

19 objectives for the preceding year’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘during the preceding year to meet the objectives’’;

21 and

22 (6) in subsection (o), by striking ‘‘for the pur23 poses’’ and all that follows through ‘‘appropriate’’

24 and inserting the following: ‘‘in any year covered by

25 the plan for the agency under subsection (d)(4) or
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1 (e)(1)(D), as appropriate, that was approved by the

2 Secretary and for any purpose specified under or

3 consistent with such plan, notwithstanding the

4 schedule included in such plan pursuant to sub5 section (d)(3)(A) or (e)(1)(D), as appropriate’’.

6 SEC. 5. RECAPTURE OF PUBLIC HOUSING MODERNIZATION

7 FUNDS.

8 Section 14(g) of the United States Housing Act of

9 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437(l)(g)) is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(g)’’; and

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new

12 paragraph:

13 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may establish a system for recap14 turing and redistributing amounts provided to public

15 housing agencies under this subsection, which shall—

16 ‘‘(A) provide for the recapture of such amounts

17 only from an agency that, in the determination of

18 the Secretary pursuant to a review under subsection

19 (e)(4)(B) or an audit under subsection (e)(4)(C),

20 has not made reasonable progress in carrying out

21 modernization projects approved by the Secretary

22 under the comprehensive plan for the agency under

23 subsection (d)(4) or (e);

24 ‘‘(B) provide for the redistribution of such re25 captured amounts for use by other public housing
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1 agencies that, in the determination of the Secretary,

2 need such amounts to carry out the comprehensive

3 plans for such agencies and are capable of using

4 such amounts in a timely manner;

5 ‘‘(C) provide for redistribution to the agencies

6 referred to in subparagraph (B) based on an alloca7 tion system that takes into consideration the for8 mula established pursuant to subsection (k)(2)(A);

9 and

10 ‘‘(D) establish an annual schedule for redis11 tribution of amounts recaptured.’’.

12 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY FOR PHA’S TO BORROW AGAINST FU13 TURE PUBLIC HOUSING MODERNIZATION

14 FUNDS.

15 Section 14 of the United States Housing Act of 1937

16 (42 U.S.C. 1437l) is amended by adding at the end the

17 following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(q) AUTHORITY TO BORROW AGAINST FUTURE AS19 SISTANCE.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A public housing agency

21 may, with the approval of the Secretary, enter into

22 an agreement to pay any assistance for which the

23 agency may become eligible under this section to en24 sure the repayment of notes or other obligations is25 sued by the agency for the purpose of financing de-
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1 velopment, rehabilitation, or modernization of public

2 housing.

3 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—Notes or other obligations for

4 which assistance under this section is pledged shall

5 be in such form and denominations, have such matu6 rities not exceeding 30 years, and be subject to such

7 other conditions as the Secretary may prescribe. The

8 Secretary may not deny a guarantee under this sub9 section on the basis of the proposed repayment pe10 riod for the obligation, unless the period exceeds 30

11 years or the Secretary determines that the period

12 causes the obligation to constitute an unacceptable

13 financial risk.

14 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF OUTSTANDING

15 OBLIGATIONS.—Assistance under this section may

16 not be pledged for the repayment of any obligation

17 if the total outstanding principal of all obligations

18 for which such assistance is pledged would thereby

19 exceed an amount equal to 5 times the amount of

20 assistance provided under this section during the

21 most recently completed fiscal year to the agency is22 suing the obligation.

23 ‘‘(4) REPAYMENT.—Notwithstanding any other

24 provision of this section, assistance provided to an

25 agency under this section may be used in the pay-
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1 ment of principal and interest due (including such

2 servicing, underwriting, and other costs as the Sec3 retary may prescribe) on the notes or other obliga4 tions issued by the public housing agency pursuant

5 to this subsection.’’.

6 SEC. 7. STUDY OF ACQUISITION AND LABOR REQUIRE7 MENTS FOR PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.

8 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban

9 Development shall conduct a study to determine the effi10 ciency of the procedures and requirements applicable to

11 procurement by public housing agencies of materials, sup12 plies, systems, appliances, labor, and services used in

13 maintaining, operating, and modernizing public housing

14 projects. Under the study, the Secretary shall—

15 (1) compare the existing procurement system

16 for public housing agencies to—

17 (A) a system of procurement under which

18 public housing agencies procure materials, sup19 plies, systems, appliances, labor, and services

20 for use in maintaining, operating, and mod21 ernizing public housing projects without being

22 subject to any requirements established by the

23 Secretary or any other Federal laws or regula24 tions regarding procurement; and
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1 (B) a system of procurement that operates

2 in the manner described under subparagraph

3 (A), except that under such system the Sec4 retary would annually review the procurement

5 policies and actions of each public housing

6 agency for the preceding year and would have

7 the authority to establish limitations on pro8 curement policies and activities determined by

9 the Secretary to have instituted inappropriate

10 procurement policies or engaged in inappropri11 ate procurement activities;

12 (2) determine the advantages and disadvan13 tages of procurement pursuant to the existing pro14 curement system for public housing agencies and the

15 systems referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of

16 paragraph (1); and

17 (3) determine the effect of the requirements

18 under section 12 of the United States Housing Act

19 of 1937 (relating to labor standards) on the afford20 ability of dwelling units in public housing.

21 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban

22 Development shall submit a report to the Congress de23 scribing the study, the findings of the study, and any rec24 ommendations resulting from the study, not later than the
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1 expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the date of

2 the enactment of this Act.

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