I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4351 

To require certain grantees under title I of the Housing and Community 

Development Act of 1974 to submit a plan to track discriminatory 

land use policies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 

Mr. HECK (for himself, Mr. HOLLINGSWORTH, Mr. CLAY, Ms. FOXX of North 

Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require certain grantees under title I of the Housing 

and Community Development Act of 1974 to submit 

a plan to track discriminatory land use policies, 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 ‘‘Yes In My Backyard 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to discourage the use of 

8 discriminatory land use policies and remove barriers to 


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1 making housing more affordable in order to further the 

2 original intent of the Community Development Block 

3 Grant program. 

4 SEC. 3. LAND USE PLAN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Housing and 

6 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304) 

7 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(n) PLAN TO TRACK DISCRIMINATORY LAND USE

9 POLICIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to receipt in any fis11 cal year of a grant from the Secretary under sub12 section (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106, each 

13 recipient shall have prepared and submitted, not less 

14 frequently than once during the preceding 5-year pe15 riod, in accordance with this subsection and in such 

16 standardized form as the Secretary shall, by regula17 tion, prescribe, with respect to each land use policy 

18 described in paragraph (2) that is applicable to the 

19 jurisdiction served by the recipient, a description 

20 of— 

21 ‘‘(A) whether the recipient has already 

22 adopted the policy in the jurisdiction served by 

23 the recipient; 

24 ‘‘(B) the plan of the recipient to implement 

25 the policy in that jurisdiction; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) the ways in which adopting the policy 

2 will benefit the jurisdiction. 

3 ‘‘(2) LAND USE POLICIES.—The policies de4 scribed in this paragraph are as follows: 

5 ‘‘(A) Enacting high-density single-family 

6 and multifamily zoning. 

7 ‘‘(B) Expanding by-right multifamily zoned 

8 areas. 

9 ‘‘(C) Allowing duplexes, triplexes, or 

10 fourplexes in areas zoned primarily for single11 family residential homes. 

12 ‘‘(D) Allowing manufactured homes in 

13 areas zoned primarily for single-family residen14 tial homes. 

15 ‘‘(E) Allowing multifamily development in 

16 retail, office, and light manufacturing zones. 

17 ‘‘(F) Allowing single-room occupancy de18 velopment wherever multifamily housing is al19 lowed. 

20 ‘‘(G) Reducing minimum lot size. 

21 ‘‘(H) Reducing the impact of historic pres22 ervation on housing production and afford23 ability. 

24 ‘‘(I) Increasing the allowable floor area 

25 ratio in multifamily housing areas. 


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1 ‘‘(J) Creating transit-oriented development 

2 zones. 

3 ‘‘(K) Streamlining or shortening permit4 ting processes and timelines, including through 

5 one-stop and parallel-process permitting. 

6 ‘‘(L) Eliminating or reducing off-street 

7 parking requirements. 

8 ‘‘(M) Ensuring impact and utility invest9 ment fees accurately reflect required infrastruc10 ture needs and related impacts on housing af11 fordability are otherwise mitigated. 

12 ‘‘(N) Allowing prefabricated construction. 

13 ‘‘(O) Reducing or eliminating minimum 

14 unit square footage requirements. 

15 ‘‘(P) Allowing the conversion of office units 

16 to apartments. 

17 ‘‘(Q) Allowing the subdivision of single18 family homes into duplexes. 

19 ‘‘(R) Allowing accessory dwelling units, in20 cluding detached accessory dwelling units, on all 

21 lots with single-family homes. 

22 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF SUBMISSION.—A submission 

23 under this subsection shall not be binding with re24 spect to the use or distribution of amounts received 

25 under section 106. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ACCEPTANCE OR NONACCEPTANCE OF

2 PLAN.—The acceptance or nonacceptance of any 

3 plan submitted under this subsection in which the 

4 information required under this subsection is pro5 vided is not an endorsement or approval of the plan, 

6 policies, or methodologies, or lack thereof.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements under 

8 subsection (n) of section 104 of the Housing and Commu9 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304), as added 

10 by subsection (a), shall— 

11 (1) take effect on the date that is 1 year after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act; and 

13 (2) apply to recipients of a grant under sub14 section (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106 of the 

15 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 

16 (42 U.S.C. 5306) before, on, and after such date. 

Æ 


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