IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4351 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Yes In My Backyard 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

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

6 discriminatory land use policies and remove barriers to 

7 making housing more affordable in order to further the 

8 original intent of the Community Development Block 

9 Grant program. 

10 SEC. 3. LAND USE PLAN. 

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

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

13 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

15 POLICIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to receipt in any fis17 cal year of a grant from the Secretary under sub18 section (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106, each 

19 recipient shall have prepared and submitted, not less 

20 frequently than once during the preceding 5-year pe21 riod, in accordance with this subsection and in such 

22 standardized form as the Secretary shall, by regula23 tion, prescribe, with respect to each land use policy 

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

25 jurisdiction served by the recipient, a description 

26 of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) whether the recipient has already 

2 adopted the policy in the jurisdiction served by 

3 the recipient; 

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

5 the policy in that jurisdiction; or 

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

7 will benefit the jurisdiction. 

8 ‘‘(2) LAND USE POLICIES.—The policies de9 scribed in this paragraph are as follows: 

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

11 and multifamily zoning. 

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

13 areas. 

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

15 fourplexes in areas zoned primarily for single16 family residential homes. 

17 ‘‘(D) Allowing manufactured homes in 

18 areas zoned primarily for single-family residen19 tial homes. 

20 ‘‘(E) Allowing multifamily development in 

21 retail, office, and light manufacturing zones. 

22 ‘‘(F) Allowing single-room occupancy de23 velopment wherever multifamily housing is al24 lowed. 

25 ‘‘(G) Reducing minimum lot size. 


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1 ‘‘(H) Ensuring historic preservation re2 quirements and other land use policies or re3 quirements are coordinated to encourage cre4 ation of housing in historic buildings and his5 toric districts. 

6 ‘‘(I) Increasing the allowable floor area 

7 ratio in multifamily housing areas. 

8 ‘‘(J) Creating transit-oriented development 

9 zones. 

10 ‘‘(K) Streamlining or shortening permit11 ting processes and timelines, including through 

12 one-stop and parallel-process permitting. 

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

14 parking requirements. 

15 ‘‘(M) Ensuring impact and utility invest16 ment fees accurately reflect required infrastruc17 ture needs and related impacts on housing af18 fordability are otherwise mitigated. 

19 ‘‘(N) Allowing prefabricated construction. 

20 ‘‘(O) Reducing or eliminating minimum 

21 unit square footage requirements. 

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

23 to apartments. 

24 ‘‘(Q) Allowing the subdivision of single25 family homes into duplexes. 


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1 ‘‘(R) Allowing accessory dwelling units, in2 cluding detached accessory dwelling units, on all 

3 lots with single-family homes. 

4 ‘‘(S) Establishing density bonuses. 

5 ‘‘(T) Eliminating or relaxing residential 

6 property height limitations. 

7 ‘‘(U) Using property tax abatements to en8 able higher density and mixed-income commu9 nities. 

10 ‘‘(V) Donating vacant land for affordable 

11 housing development. 

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

13 under this subsection shall not be binding with re14 spect to the use or distribution of amounts received 

15 under section 106. 

16 ‘‘(4) ACCEPTANCE OR NONACCEPTANCE OF

17 PLAN.—The acceptance or nonacceptance of any 

18 plan submitted under this subsection in which the 

19 information required under this subsection is pro20 vided is not an endorsement or approval of the plan, 

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

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements under 

23 subsection (n) of section 104 of the Housing and Commu24 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304), as added 

25 by subsection (a), shall— 


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

2 the date of enactment of this Act; and 

3 (2) apply to recipients of a grant under sub4 section (b), (d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106 of the 

5 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 

6 (42 U.S.C. 5306) before, on, and after such date. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 2, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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