I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2442

To reauthorize appropriations under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended, to revise administrative provisions of

the Act to improve the authority of the Secretary of Commerce to

administer grant programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 16, 1993

Mr. WISE (for himself, Mr. MINETA, Mr. SHUSTER, and Ms. MOLINARI) (all

by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To reauthorize appropriations under the Public Works and

Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended, to

revise administrative provisions of the Act to improve

the authority of the Secretary of Commerce to administer

grant programs, 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 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION.

2 The Public Works and Economic Development Act of

3 1965, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.), is revised to

4 provide authorization of appropriations for programs

5 under that Act as follows:

6 (1) GRANTS FOR PUBLIC WORKS FACILITIES

7 UNDER TITLE I.—Section 105 of the Act (42 U.S.C.

8 3135) is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated not to exceed

11 $135,385,000 for purposes of this title for fiscal year

12 1994. The Secretary shall expend not less than 15 percent

13 nor more than 35 percent of all appropriations made avail14 able for these purposes in redevelopment areas designated

15 under section 401(a)(6) of this Act (42 U.S.C. 3161).’’.

16 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, RESEARCH AND

17 INFORMATION UNDER TITLE III.—Section 303 of the

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 3152) is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘SEC. 303. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

20 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated not to exceed

21 $35,690,000 for purposes of this title for fiscal year

22 1994.’’.

23 (3) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT AU24 THORIZATION.—Section 403(g) of the Act (42

25 U.S.C. 3171(g)) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 403. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS.

2 ‘‘(g) Amounts otherwise authorized under this Act

3 shall be available for purposes of carrying out subsections

4 403(a)(3) and (a)(4) of this section.’’.

5 (4) SPECIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND

6 ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE UNDER TITLE IX.—Sec7 tion 905 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 3245) is amended to

8 read as follows:

9 ‘‘SEC. 905. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated not to exceed

11 $52,075,000 for purposes of this title for fiscal year 1994.

12 Of this amount, $33,000,000 shall be available for pur13 poses of assisting eligible recipients in activities related to

14 defense conversion.’’.

15 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE GRANT COLLECTION

16 PROCESS.

17 (a) USE OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REVOLV18 ING FUND FOR THE CARE AND PROTECTION OF PROP19 ERTY ACQUIRED IN CONNECTION WITH GRANT PRO20 GRAMS.—The first sentence of section 203 of the Public

21 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as

22 amended (42 U.S.C. 3143), is revised to read as follows:

23 ‘‘SEC. 203. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REVOLVING FUND.

24 ‘‘Funds obtained by the Secretary under section 201,

25 loan funds obtained under section 403, and collections and

26 repayments received under this Act, shall be deposited in
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1 an economic development revolving fund (hereunder re2 ferred to as the ‘fund’), which is hereby established in the

3 Treasury of the United States, and which shall be avail4 able to the Secretary for the purpose of extending financial

5 assistance under sections 201, 202, and 403, and for the

6 payment of all obligations and expenditures arising in con7 nection with assistance extended under this Act.’’.

8 (b) POWERS OF THE SECRETARY TO DEAL WITH

9 GRANT PROPERTY.—Section 701 of the Public Works and

10 Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended (42

11 U.S.C. 3211) is revised by amending paragraphs (4) and

12 (6) through (9) as follows:

13 (1) Paragraph (4) is amended to read as fol14 lows:

15 ‘‘(4) under regulations prescribed by him, as16 sign or sell at public or private sale, or otherwise

17 dispose of for cash or credit, in his discretion and

18 upon such terms and conditions and for such consid19 eration as he shall determine to be reasonable, any

20 evidence of debt, contract, claim, personal property,

21 or security assigned to or held by him in connection

22 with loans and grants made or evidences of indebt23 edness purchased under this Act, and collect or com24 promise all obligations assigned to or held by him in

25 connection with such loans and grants or evidences
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1 of indebtedness until such time as such obligations

2 may be referred to the Attorney General for suit or

3 collection;’’;

4 (2) Paragraphs (6) through (9) are amended to

5 read:

6 ‘‘(6) deal with, complete, renovate, improve,

7 modernize, insure, rent, or sell for cash or credit,

8 upon such terms and conditions and for such consid9 eration as he shall determine to be reasonable, any

10 real or personal property conveyed to, or otherwise

11 acquired by him in connection with loans and grants

12 made or evidences of indebtedness purchased under

13 this Act;

14 ‘‘(7) pursue to final collection by way of com15 promise or other administrative action prior to ref16 erence to the Attorney General, all claims against

17 third parties assigned to him in connection with

18 loans and grants made and evidences of indebted19 ness purchased under this Act. This shall include

20 authority to obtain deficiency judgments or other21 wise in the case of mortgages assigned to the Sec22 retary. Section 3709 of the Revised Statutes, as

23 amended (41 U.S.C. 5) shall not apply to any con24 tract of hazard insurance or to any purchase or con25 tract for services or supplies on account of property
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1 obtained by the Secretary as a result of loans and

2 grants made or evidences of indebtedness purchased

3 under this Act if the premium therefor or the

4 amount thereof does not exceed $1,000. The power

5 to convey and to execute, in the name of the Sec6 retary, deeds of conveyance, deeds of release, assign7 ments and satisfactions of mortgages and any other

8 written instrument relating to real or personal prop9 erty or any interest therein acquired by the Sec10 retary pursuant to the provisions of this Act may be

11 exercised by the Secretary or by any officer or agent

12 appointed by him for that purpose without the exe13 cution of any express delegation of power or power

14 of attorney;

15 ‘‘(8) acquire, in any lawful manner, any prop16 erty (real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangi17 ble), whenever deemed necessary or appropriate to

18 the conduct of activities authorized in sections 101,

19 201, 202, 301, 302, 403, 503 and 903 of this Act;

20 ‘‘(9) in addition to any powers, functions, privi21 leges, and immunities otherwise vested in him, take

22 any and all actions, including the procurement of the

23 services of attorneys by contract, determined by him

24 to be necessary or desirable in making, purchasing,

25 servicing, compromising, modifying, liquidating, or
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1 otherwise administratively dealing with or realizing

2 on loans and grants made or evidences of indebted3 ness purchased under this Act;’’.

4 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF OTHER FUNDS.

5 Section 708 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 3218) is amended

6 by adding a new subsection (d) at the end thereof to read

7 as follows:

8 ‘‘(d) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to ac9 cept the transfer of funds from other departments and

10 agencies of the Federal Government as he or she may

11 deem appropriate to carry out the objectives of this Act:

12 Provided, That such funds are used for the purposes and

13 under the terms for which they are specifically appro14 priated.’’.

15 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

16 This Act shall be effective on the date of enactment.

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