II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2778 

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 

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. 

MERKLEY, and Mr. VITTER) 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 Revitalization Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS. 

7 Section 2(b) of the Public Works and Economic De8 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121(b)) is amended 

9 by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) whether suffering from long-term distress 

2 or a sudden economic dislocation, distressed commu3 nities should be encouraged to promote innovation 

4 and entrepreneurship, including, as appropriate, the 

5 support of the formation of business incubators in 

6 economically distressed areas, so as to help regions 

7 to create higher-skill, higher-wage jobs and foster 

8 the participation of those regions in the global mar9 ketplace; and’’. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 Section 3(8) of the Public Works and Economic De12 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3122(8)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

14 the end; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

16 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(E) the Southeast Crescent Regional 

19 Commission, Northern Border Regional Com20 mission, and Southwest Border Regional Com21 mission established by section 15301(a) of title 

22 40, United States Code.’’. 

23 SEC. 4. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS. 

24 Section 101 of the Public Works and Economic De25 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3131) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

3 by inserting ‘‘economic development districts, 

4 university centers,’’ after ‘‘multi-State regional 

5 organizations,’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, inno7 vation, entrepreneurship, sustainable develop8 ment,’’ after ‘‘infrastructure’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘(including 

10 economic development districts)’’ after ‘‘local govern11 ment agencies’’. 

12 SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR PLANNING AND GRANTS FOR ADMIN13 ISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

14 Section 203 of the Public Works and Economic De15 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3143) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (b)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe20 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(5) fostering regional collaboration among 

23 local jurisdictions and organizations.’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (d)(5), by striking ‘‘subsection 

25 shall’’ and all that follows through the end of the 


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1 paragraph and inserting the following: ‘‘subsection 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) submit to the Secretary an annual re4 port on the planning process assisted under this 

5 subsection; and 

6 ‘‘(B) provide a copy of each annual report 

7 to each economic development district within 

8 the State.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. COST SHARING. 

10 (a) FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 204(a) of the Public 

11 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

12 U.S.C. 3144(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall not ex13 ceed—’’ and all that follows through the end of the sub14 section and inserting ‘‘shall not exceed 50 percent, except 

15 as otherwise expressly provided in this Act.’’. 

16 (b) INCREASE IN FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 204(c) 

17 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 

18 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3144(c)) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

20 (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively; 

21 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redes22 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) RELATIVE NEEDS OF AN AREA.— 

24 ‘‘(A) 150-PERCENT HIGHER UNEMPLOY25 MENT RATE.—In the case of a grant made in 


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1 an area for which the 24-month unemployment 

2 rate is at least 150 percent of the national aver3 age or the per capita income is not more than 

4 70 percent of the national average, the Sec5 retary may increase the Federal share above the 

6 percentage specified in subsection (a) up to 60 

7 percent of the cost of the project. 

8 ‘‘(B) 175-PERCENT HIGHER UNEMPLOY9 MENT RATE.—In the case of a grant made in 

10 an area for which the 24-month unemployment 

11 rate is at least 175 percent of the national aver12 age or the per capita income is not more than 

13 60 percent of the national average, the Sec14 retary may increase the Federal share above the 

15 percentage specified in subsection (a) up to 70 

16 percent of the cost of the project. 

17 ‘‘(C) 200-PERCENT HIGHER UNEMPLOY18 MENT RATE.—In the case of a grant made in 

19 an area for which the 24-month unemployment 

20 rate is at least 200 percent of the national aver21 age or the per capita income is not more than 

22 50 percent of the national average, the Sec23 retary may increase the Federal share above the 

24 percentage specified in subsection (a) up to 80 

25 percent of the cost of the project. 


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1 ‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Sec2 retary may establish eligibility criteria in addi3 tion to the criteria described in this paragraph 

4 to address areas impacted by severe outmigra5 tion, sudden and severe economic dislocations, 

6 and other economic circumstances, on the con7 dition that a Federal share established for such 

8 eligibility criteria shall not exceed 80 percent.’’; 

9 (3) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated by para10 graph (1))— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘shall’’; and 

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘to 75 percent of the cost 

14 of the project, and may increase’’ after ‘‘sub15 section (a)’’; and 

16 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(5) FEDERALLY DECLARED DISASTER

18 AREAS.—In the case of a grant for an area with re19 spect to which a major disaster or emergency has 

20 been declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

21 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 5121 et seq.) during the 18-month period ending on 

23 the date on which the Federal share is determined, 

24 the Secretary may increase the Federal share above 


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1 the percentage specified in subsection (a) up to 100 

2 percent of the cost of the project.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. GRANTS FOR TRAINING, RESEARCH, AND TECH4 NICAL ASSISTANCE. 

5 Section 207(a) of the Public Works and Economic 

6 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3147(a)) is amend7 ed— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, outmigra9 tion,’’ after ‘‘unemployment’’; and 

10 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

12 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

13 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as 

14 subparagraph (J); and 

15 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(I) a peer exchange program to promote 

18 industry-leading practices and innovations relat19 ing to the organizational development, program 

20 delivery, and regional initiatives of economic de21 velopment districts; and’’. 

22 SEC. 8. ENHANCEMENT OF RECIPIENT FLEXIBILITY TO 

23 DEAL WITH PROJECT ASSETS. 

24 (a) PARTICULAR COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE.—Section 

25 209(c)(5) of the Public Works and Economic Development 


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1 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3149(c)(5)) is amended by insert2 ing ‘‘, natural resource-based, agricultural, or service sec3 tor’’ after ‘‘manufacturing’’. 

4 (b) REVOLVING LOAN FUND PROGRAM FLEXI5 BILITY.—Section 209(d) of the Public Works and Eco6 nomic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3149(d)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

9 (4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively; 

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(2) COMMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

14 periodically solicit from the individuals and en15 tities described in subparagraph (B)— 

16 ‘‘(i) comments regarding the guide17 lines and performance requirements for the 

18 revolving loan fund program; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) recommendations for improving 

20 the performance of the program and grant21 ees under the program. 

22 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF INDIVIDUALS AND

23 ENTITIES.—The individuals and entities re24 ferred to in subparagraph (A) are— 

25 ‘‘(i) the public; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in particular, revolving loan fund 

2 grantees, national experts, and employees 

3 of Federal agencies with knowledge of 

4 international, national, regional, and state5 wide trends, innovations, and noteworthy 

6 practices relating to business development 

7 finance, including public and private lend8 ing and technical assistance inter9 mediaries.’’; 

10 (3) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (5) (as 

11 redesignated by paragraph (1)), by striking ‘‘para12 graph (2)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (3)(C)’’; 

13 and 

14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(6) CONVERSION OF PROJECT ASSETS.— 

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

17 that a revolving loan fund established using as18 sistance provided under this section is no longer 

19 needed, or that the recipient could make better 

20 use of the assistance in light of the current eco21 nomic development needs of the recipient if the 

22 assistance was made available to carry out any 

23 other project that meets the requirements of 

24 this Act, the recipient may submit to the SecVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:13 Nov 17, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2778.IS S2778

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1 retary a request to approve the conversion of 

2 the assistance. 

3 ‘‘(B) METHODS OF CONVERSION.—A re4 cipient the request to convert assistance of 

5 which is approved under subparagraph (A) may 

6 accomplish the conversion by— 

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

8 of the applicable revolving loan fund; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) retaining repayments of principal 

10 and interest amounts on loans provided 

11 through the applicable revolving loan fund. 

12 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) SALE.— 

14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

15 subclause (II), a recipient shall use 

16 the net proceeds from a sale of assets 

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

18 portion of the costs of 1 or more 

19 projects that meet the requirements of 

20 this Act. 

21 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT.—For pur22 poses of subclause (I), a project de23 scribed in that subclause shall be con24 sidered to be eligible under section 

25 301. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) RETENTION OF REPAYMENTS.— 

2 Retention by a recipient of any repayment 

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

4 out in accordance with a strategic reuse 

5 plan approved by the Secretary that pro6 vides for the increase of capital over time 

7 until sufficient amounts (including interest 

8 earned on the amounts) are accumulated 

9 to fund other projects that meet the re10 quirements of this Act. 

11 ‘‘(D) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Sec12 retary may require such terms and conditions 

13 regarding a proposed conversion of the use of 

14 assistance under this paragraph as the Sec15 retary determines to be appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(E) EXPEDIENCY REQUIREMENT.—The 

17 Secretary shall ensure that any assistance in18 tended to be converted for use pursuant to this 

19 paragraph is used in an expeditious manner. 

20 ‘‘(7) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—The Sec21 retary may allocate not more than 2 percent of the 

22 amounts made available for grants under this sec23 tion for the development and maintenance of an 

24 automated tracking and monitoring system to ensure 

25 the proper operation and financial integrity of the 


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1 revolving loan program established under this sec2 tion.’’. 

3 SEC. 9. BRIGHTFIELDS DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 

4 Section 218(d) of the Public Works and Economic 

5 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3154d(d)) is amend6 ed by striking ‘‘2004 through 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2009 

7 through 2013’’. 

8 SEC. 10. DESIGNATION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIS9 TRICTS. 

10 Section 401 of the Public Works and Economic De11 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3171) is amended by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(c) OPERATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each economic develop15 ment district shall engage in the full range of eco16 nomic development activities included in the list con17 tained in the comprehensive economic development 

18 strategy of the economic development district that 

19 has been approved by the Economic Development 

20 Administration, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) coordinating and implementing eco22 nomic development activities in the economic 

23 development district; 

24 ‘‘(B) carrying out economic development 

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1 sory functions identified in the comprehensive 

2 economic development strategy; and 

3 ‘‘(C) coordinating the development and im4 plementation of the comprehensive economic de5 velopment strategy with other Federal, State, 

6 local, and private organizations. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTS.—An economic development 

8 district may elect to enter into contracts for services 

9 to accomplish the activities described in paragraph 

10 (1).’’. 

11 SEC. 11. CONSULTATION WITH OTHER PERSONS AND AGEN12 CIES. 

13 Section 503(a) of the Public Works and Economic 

14 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3193(a)) is amended 

15 by inserting ‘‘, outmigration,’’ after ‘‘regional unemploy16 ment’’. 

17 SEC. 12. NOTIFICATION OF REORGANIZATION. 

18 Section 507 of the Public Works and Economic De19 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3197) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘Not later than’’ and inserting 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) STATE OF MONTANA.—The State of Montana 

2 shall be served by the Seattle office of the Economic De3 velopment Administration.’’. 

4 SEC. 13. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT. 

5 Title VI of the Public Works and Economic Develop6 ment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3211 et seq.) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 613. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT. 

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

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To carry out the pur11 poses of this Act, before providing investment assist12 ance for a construction project under this Act, the 

13 Secretary shall establish the expected period during 

14 which the recipient of the assistance shall make best 

15 efforts to achieve the economic development objec16 tives of the assistance. 

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

18 the best efforts of a recipient during the period es19 tablished under paragraph (1), during that period— 

20 ‘‘(A) any property that is acquired or im21 proved, in whole or in part, using investment 

22 assistance under this Act shall be held in trust 

23 by the recipient for the benefit of the project; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Secretary shall retain an undi2 vided equitable reversionary interest in the 

3 property. 

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

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

6 on which the Secretary determines that a recipi7 ent has fulfilled the obligations of the recipient 

8 for the applicable period under paragraph (1), 

9 taking into consideration the economic condi10 tions existing during that period, the Secretary 

11 may terminate the reversionary interest of the 

12 Secretary in any applicable property under 

13 paragraph (2)(B). 

14 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF TERMI15 NATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On a determina17 tion by a recipient that the economic devel18 opment needs of the recipient have 

19 changed during the period beginning on 

20 the date on which investment assistance 

21 for a construction project is provided 

22 under this Act and ending on the expira23 tion of the expected period established for 

24 the project under paragraph (1), the re25 cipient may submit to the Secretary a reVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:13 Nov 17, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2778.IS S2778

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1 quest to terminate the reversionary inter2 est of the Secretary in property of the 

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

4 date described in subparagraph (A). 

5 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 

6 approve a request of a recipient under 

7 clause (i) if— 

8 ‘‘(I) in any case in which the re9 quest is submitted during the 10-year 

10 period beginning on the date on which 

11 assistance is initially provided under 

12 this Act for the applicable project, the 

13 recipient repays to the Secretary an 

14 amount equal to 100 percent of the 

15 fair market value of the pro rata Fed16 eral share of the project; or 

17 ‘‘(II) in any case in which the re18 quest is submitted after the expiration 

19 of the 10-year period described in sub20 clause (I), the recipient repays to the 

21 Secretary an amount equal to the fair 

22 market value of the pro rata Federal 

23 share of the project as if that value 

24 had been amortized over the period 

25 established under paragraph (1), 


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1 based on a straight-line depreciation 

2 of the project throughout the esti3 mated useful life of the project. 

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

5 establish such terms and conditions under this section as 

6 the Secretary determines to be appropriate, including by 

7 extending the period of a reversionary interest of the Sec8 retary under subsection (a)(2)(B) in any case in which the 

9 Secretary determines that the performance of a recipient 

10 is unsatisfactory. 

11 ‘‘(c) PREVIOUSLY EXTENDED ASSISTANCE.—With 

12 respect to any recipient to which the term of provision of 

13 assistance was extended under this Act before the date 

14 of enactment of this section, the Secretary may approve 

15 a request of the recipient under subsection (a) in accord16 ance with the requirements of this section to ensure uni17 form administration of this Act, notwithstanding any esti18 mated useful life period that otherwise relates to the as19 sistance. 

20 ‘‘(d) CONVERSION OF USE.—If a recipient of assist21 ance under this Act demonstrates to the Secretary that 

22 the intended use of the project for which assistance was 

23 provided under this Act no longer represents the best use 

24 of the property used for the project, the Secretary may 

25 approve a request by the recipient to convert the property 


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1 to a different use for the remainder of the term of the 

2 Federal interest in the property, subject to the condition 

3 that the new use shall be consistent with the purposes of 

4 this Act. 

5 ‘‘(e) STATUS OF AUTHORITY.—The authority of the 

6 Secretary under this section is in addition to any authority 

7 of the Secretary pursuant to any law or grant agreement 

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

9 SEC. 14. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA10 TIONS. 

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

12 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3231(a)) is amended 

13 by striking ‘‘expended—’’ and all that follows through 

14 paragraph (5) and inserting ‘‘expended, $500,000,000 for 

15 each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013.’’. 

16 SEC. 15. 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 


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

2 to provide grants under section 203. 

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

4 any fiscal year, the amount made available pursuant to 

5 subsection (a) shall be increased to— 

6 ‘‘(1) $28,000,000, if the total amount made 

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

8 is equal to or greater than $280,000,000; 

9 ‘‘(2) $29,500,000, if the total amount made 

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

11 is equal to or greater than $320,000,000; 

12 ‘‘(3) $31,000,000, if the total amount made 

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

14 is equal to or greater than $350,000,000; 

15 ‘‘(4) $32,500,000, if the total amount made 

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

17 is equal to or greater than $380,000,000; and 

18 ‘‘(5) $34,500,000, if the total amount made 

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

20 is equal to or greater than $420,000,000.’’. 

Æ 


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