II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1340

To establish a National Community Garden Grant Program to promote the

prevention and elimination of urban blight and to meet community developmental needs, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 2 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To establish a National Community Garden Grant Program

to promote the prevention and elimination of urban

blight and to meet community developmental needs, and

for other purposes.

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 ‘‘National Community

5 Garden Grant Program Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) in communities across the United States

2 there are thousands of acres of vacant lots, the num3 ber of which is rapidly increasing;

4 (2) these vacant lots contribute to the deterio5 ration of neighborhoods and engender feelings of

6 hopelessness among residents and community lead7 ers; and

8 (3) a National Community Garden Grant Pro9 gram will aid in the prevention and elimination of

10 urban blight by beautifying neighborhoods, develop11 ing communities and community leadership, and in12 creasing nutritional awareness and gardening skills.

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to create

14 a National Community Garden Grant Program, which will

15 be a national partnership of the Secretary of Agriculture,

16 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the

17 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Adminis18 trator of General Services, citizens, private organizations,

19 and representatives of State and local agencies from all

20 parts of the United States, for the promotion of commu21 nity gardens.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 As used in this Act (unless the context otherwise re24 quires):
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1 (1) COMMUNITY GARDEN PROGRAM.—The term

2 ‘‘community garden program’’ means a gardening

3 program that incorporates 1 or more of the following

4 elements:

5 (A) Methods of gardening that promote

6 improved nutrition and nutrition education.

7 (B) Gardening education.

8 (C) Community beautification.

9 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

10 the Secretary of Agriculture.

11 SEC. 4. NATIONAL COMMUNITY GARDEN GRANT PROGRAM.

12 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award

14 grants to eligible applicants to conduct community

15 garden programs in accordance with this Act.

16 (2) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—For purposes of

17 paragraph (1), an eligible applicant for a grant

18 under this Act is a unit of general local government

19 or a nonprofit organization that is, or is capable of,

20 carrying out a community garden program in ac21 cordance with this Act.

22 (3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT AND NUMBER.—The

23 Secretary shall award up to 100 grants, each of

24 which may not exceed $20,000.
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1 (4) FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL CONTRIBU2 TIONS.—

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share at4 tributable to this section of the cost of carrying

5 out a program for which a grant is made under

6 this section shall be 25 percent.

7 (B) CALCULATION.—In providing for the

8 remaining share of the cost of carrying out such

9 a program, each grantee under this section—

10 (i) shall provide for such share

11 through a payment in cash or in kind, fair12 ly evaluated, including facilities, equip13 ment, or services; and

14 (ii) may provide for such share

15 through State sources, local sources, or

16 Federal sources (other than funds made

17 available under this section).

18 (5) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall award

19 grants in a manner that reflects the geographical di20 versity of the United States, to the maximum extent

21 practicable.

22 (6) SET-ASIDE.—The Secretary shall allocate at

23 least 20 percent of the grant funds made available

24 under this section to grantees located in commu-
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1 nities with populations not exceeding 50,000 inhab2 itants.

3 (b) APPLICATIONS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in conjunc5 tion with the Secretary of the Department of Health

6 and Human Services and the Secretary of Housing

7 and Urban Development, shall develop selection cri8 teria and application procedures consistent with the

9 purposes of this Act.

10 (2) FACTORS.—In selecting grantees, at a mini11 mum, the Secretary shall consider the following cri12 teria:

13 (A) The extent to which the applicant will

14 maximize the use of public-private partnerships

15 and available surplus property.

16 (B) The extent to which the applicant will

17 target minority, underserved, and high-risk pop18 ulations.

19 (C) The likelihood of the applicant develop20 ing a sustainable community gardening pro21 gram.

22 (3) CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—The Sec23 retary shall certify the eligibility of each grantee.

24 (4) OTHER FUNDS.—Funds from other sources

25 may be used by a grantee in conjunction with funds
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1 made available under this Act. This Act shall not af2 fect any guidelines governing the use of other funds.

3 SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

5 database to compile information submitted under sub6 section (b) and information related to the effectiveness of

7 the National Community Garden Grant Program in each

8 participating community.

9 (b) FEDERAL FUNDS.—Grantees shall furnish the

10 Secretary with information regarding the amount of Fed11 eral funds received by each grantee, including funds from

12 the Secretary, the Administrator of General Services, and

13 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

14 SEC. 6. DONATION OF PROPERTY.

15 A grantee under this Act may use surplus property

16 obtained from the Administrator of General Services and

17 the Secretary of Defense to carry out a community garden

18 program.

19 SEC. 7. PROFITS FROM COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECTS.

20 If a grantee derives a profit from the sale of a prod21 uct produced by a community garden program that re22 ceives funds under this Act, the grantee shall use the prof23 its only to further carry out such program.
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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

3 this Act, $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and $2,000,000

4 for each of fiscal years 1996, 1997, and 1998.

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