II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3264 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to 

reauthorize that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2008 

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

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

Act of 1965 to reauthorize that Act, 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 ‘‘Economic Development 

5 Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS. 

7 Section 101 of the Public Works and Economic De8 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3131) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) EXCELLENCE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

2 AWARDS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—To rec4 ognize innovative economic development strategies of 

5 national significance, the Secretary may establish 

6 and carry out a program, to be known as the ‘Excel7 lence in Economic Development Award Program’ 

8 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘program’). 

9 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible for 

10 recognition under the program, an entity shall be an 

11 eligible recipient that is not a for-profit organization 

12 or institution. 

13 ‘‘(3) NOMINATIONS.—Before making an award 

14 under the program, the Secretary shall solicit nomi15 nations publicly, in accordance with such selection 

16 and evaluation procedures as the Secretary may es17 tablish in the solicitation. 

18 ‘‘(4) CATEGORIES.—The categories of awards 

19 under the program shall include awards for— 

20 ‘‘(A) urban or suburban economic develop21 ment; 

22 ‘‘(B) rural economic development; 

23 ‘‘(C) environmental or energy economic de24 velopment; 


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1 ‘‘(D) economic diversification strategies 

2 that respond to economic dislocations, including 

3 economic dislocations caused by natural disas4 ters and military base realignment and closure 

5 actions; 

6 ‘‘(E) university-led strategies to enhance 

7 economic development; 

8 ‘‘(F) community- and faith-based social en9 trepreneurship; 

10 ‘‘(G) historic preservation-led strategies to 

11 enhance economic development; and 

12 ‘‘(H) such other categories as the Sec13 retary determines to be appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(5) PROVISION OF AWARDS.—The Secretary 

15 may provide to each entity selected to receive an 

16 award under this subsection a plaque, bowl, or simi17 lar article to commemorate the accomplishments of 

18 the entity. 

19 ‘‘(6) FUNDING.—Of amounts made available to 

20 carry out this Act, the Secretary may use not more 

21 than $2,000 for each fiscal year to carry out this 

22 subsection.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF RECIPIENT FLEXIBILITY TO 

2 DEAL WITH PROJECT ASSETS. 

3 (a) REVOLVING LOAN FUND PROGRAM FLEXI4 BILITY.—Section 209(d) of the Public Works and Eco5 nomic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3149(d)) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(5) CONVERSION OF PROJECT ASSETS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) REQUEST.—If a recipient determines 

9 that a revolving loan fund established using as10 sistance provided under this section is no longer 

11 needed, or that the recipient could make better 

12 use of the assistance in light of the current eco13 nomic development needs of the recipient if the 

14 assistance was made available to carry out any 

15 other project that meets the requirements of 

16 this Act, the recipient may submit to the Sec17 retary a request to approve the conversion of 

18 the assistance. 

19 ‘‘(B) METHODS OF CONVERSION.—A re20 cipient the request to convert assistance of 

21 which is approved under subparagraph (A) may 

22 accomplish the conversion by— 

23 ‘‘(i) selling to a third party any assets 

24 of the applicable revolving loan fund; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) retaining repayments of principal 

2 and interest amounts on loans provided 

3 through the applicable revolving loan fund. 

4 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) SALE.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

7 subclause (II), a recipient shall use 

8 the net proceeds from a sale of assets 

9 under subparagraph (B)(i) to pay any 

10 portion of the costs of 1 or more 

11 projects that meet the requirements of 

12 this Act. 

13 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT.—For pur14 poses of subclause (I), a project de15 scribed in that subclause shall be con16 sidered to be eligible under section 

17 301. 

18 ‘‘(ii) RETENTION OF REPAYMENTS.— 

19 Retention by a recipient of any repayment 

20 under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall be carried 

21 out in accordance with a strategic reuse 

22 plan approved by the Secretary that pro23 vides for the increase of capital over time 

24 until sufficient amounts (including interest 

25 earned on the amounts) are accumulated 


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1 to fund other projects that meet the re2 quirements of this Act. 

3 ‘‘(D) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Sec4 retary may require such terms and conditions 

5 regarding a proposed conversion of the use of 

6 assistance under this paragraph as the Sec7 retary determines to be appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(E) EXPEDIENCY REQUIREMENT.—The 

9 Secretary shall ensure that any assistance in10 tended to be converted for use pursuant to this 

11 paragraph is used in an expeditious manner. 

12 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—The Sec13 retary may allocate not more than 2 percent of the 

14 amounts made available for grants under this sec15 tion for the development and maintenance of an 

16 automated tracking and monitoring system to ensure 

17 the proper operation and financial integrity of the 

18 revolving loan program established under this sec19 tion.’’. 

20 (b) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Title VI of the 

21 Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

22 U.S.C. 3211 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 613. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT. 

25 ‘‘(a) EXPECTED PERIOD OF BEST EFFORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To carry out the pur2 poses of this Act, before providing investment assist3 ance for a construction project under this Act, the 

4 Secretary shall establish the expected period during 

5 which the recipient of the assistance shall make best 

6 efforts to achieve the economic development objec7 tives of the assistance. 

8 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF PROPERTY.—To obtain 

9 the best efforts of a recipient during the period es10 tablished under paragraph (1), during that period— 

11 ‘‘(A) any property that is acquired or im12 proved, in whole or in part, using investment 

13 assistance under this Act shall be held in trust 

14 by the recipient for the benefit of the project; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) the Secretary shall retain an undi17 vided equitable reversionary interest in the 

18 property. 

19 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF FEDERAL INTEREST.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date 

21 on which the Secretary determines that a recipi22 ent has fulfilled the obligations of the recipient 

23 for the applicable period under paragraph (1), 

24 taking into consideration the economic condi25 tions existing during that period, the Secretary 


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1 may terminate the reversionary interest of the 

2 Secretary in any applicable property under 

3 paragraph (2)(B). 

4 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF TERMI5 NATION.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On a determina7 tion by a recipient that the economic devel8 opment needs of the recipient have 

9 changed during the period beginning on 

10 the date on which investment assistance 

11 for a construction project is provided 

12 under this Act and ending on the expira13 tion of the expected period established for 

14 the project under paragraph (1), the re15 cipient may submit to the Secretary a re16 quest to terminate the reversionary inter17 est of the Secretary in property of the 

18 project under paragraph (2)(B) before the 

19 date described in subparagraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 

21 approve a request of a recipient under 

22 clause (i) if— 

23 ‘‘(I) in any case in which the re24 quest is submitted during the 10-year 

25 period beginning on the date on which 


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1 assistance is initially provided under 

2 this Act for the applicable project, the 

3 recipient repays to the Secretary an 

4 amount equal to 100 percent of the 

5 fair market value of the pro rata Fed6 eral share of the project; or 

7 ‘‘(II) in any case in which the re8 quest is submitted after the expiration 

9 of the 10-year period described in sub10 clause (I), the recipient repays to the 

11 Secretary an amount equal to the fair 

12 market value of the pro rata Federal 

13 share of the project as if that value 

14 had been amortized over the period 

15 established under paragraph (1), 

16 based on a straight-line depreciation 

17 of the project throughout the esti18 mated useful life of the project. 

19 ‘‘(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may 

20 establish such terms and conditions under this section as 

21 the Secretary determines to be appropriate, including by 

22 extending the period of a reversionary interest of the Sec23 retary under subsection (a)(2)(B) in any case in which the 

24 Secretary determines that the performance of a recipient 

25 is unsatisfactory. 


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1 ‘‘(c) PREVIOUSLY EXTENDED ASSISTANCE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to any recipi3 ent to which the term of provision of assistance was 

4 extended under this Act before the date of enact5 ment of this section, the Secretary may approve a 

6 request of the recipient under subsection (a) in ac7 cordance with the requirements of this section to en8 sure uniform administration of this Act, notwith9 standing any estimated useful life period that other10 wise relates to the assistance. 

11 ‘‘(2) CONVERSION OF USE.—If a recipient de12 scribed in paragraph (1) demonstrates to the Sec13 retary that the intended use of the project for which 

14 assistance was provided under this Act no longer 

15 represents the best use of the property used for the 

16 project, the Secretary may approve a request by the 

17 recipient to convert the property to a different use 

18 for the remainder of the term of the Federal interest 

19 in the property, subject to the condition that the 

20 new use shall be consistent with the purposes of this 

21 Act. 

22 ‘‘(d) STATUS OF AUTHORITY.—The authority of the 

23 Secretary under this section is in addition to any authority 

24 of the Secretary pursuant to any law or grant agreement 

25 in effect on the date of enactment of this section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA2 TIONS. 

3 Section 701(a) of the Public Works and Economic 

4 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3231(a)) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2004’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘2009’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2005’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘2010’’; 

10 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘2006’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘2011’’; 

12 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘2007’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘2012’’; and 

14 (5) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘2008’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘2013’’. 

16 SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR GRANTS FOR PLANNING AND 

17 GRANTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

18 Section 704 of the Public Works and Economic De19 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3234) is amended to 

20 read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 704. FUNDING FOR GRANTS FOR PLANNING AND 

22 GRANTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), of the 

24 amounts made available under section 701 for each fiscal 

25 year, not less than $27,000,000 shall be made available 

26 to provide grants under section 203. 


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1 ‘‘(b) SUBJECT TO TOTAL APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

2 any fiscal year, the amount made available pursuant to 

3 subsection (a) shall be increased to— 

4 ‘‘(1) $28,000,000, if the total amount made 

5 available under subsection 701(a) for the fiscal year 

6 is equal to or greater than $300,000,000; 

7 ‘‘(2) $29,500,000, if the total amount made 

8 available under subsection 701(a) for the fiscal year 

9 is equal to or greater than $340,000,000; 

10 ‘‘(3) $31,000,000, if the total amount made 

11 available under subsection 701(a) for the fiscal year 

12 is equal to or greater than $380,000,000; 

13 ‘‘(4) $32,500,000, if the total amount made 

14 available under subsection 701(a) for the fiscal year 

15 is equal to or greater than $420,000,000; and 

16 ‘‘(5) $34,500,000, if the total amount made 

17 available under subsection 701(a) for the fiscal year 

18 is equal to or greater than $460,000,000.’’. 

Æ 


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