I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2373
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make 
grants to nonprofit community organizations for the development of 
open space on municipally owned vacant lots in urban areas. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 5, 2003
Mrs. MALONEY (for herself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. LEWIS of 
Georgia, and Mrs. CHRISTENSEN) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment to make grants to nonprofit community organiza-
tions for the development of open space on municipally 
owned vacant lots in urban areas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Revitalizing Cities 
Through Parks Enhancement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that—
(1) open spaces and community parks are a 
critically important portion of urban infrastructure; 
(2) many inner-city areas suffer from a lack of 
public open space for community residents to use for 
recreation, social interaction, and relief from dense 
urban conditions; 
(3) vacant lots, many in public ownership as a 
result of tax foreclosures, are common in inner-city 
areas; 
(4) the recent economic recession substantially 
increased the number of such vacant lots; 
(5) such lots often become drug trafficking 
areas, thereby decreasing the value of surrounding 
property and leading to higher crime rates in inner-
city areas; and 
(6) the refurbishment of such lots, by removing 
garbage and rubble and creating well-lighted and 
maintained open spaces and community parks, 
would establish positive assets for surrounding com-
munities, provide positive outlets for community 
youth, increase property values, make other types of 
investment in the communities more attractive, and 
generally improve the quality of life for residents of 
the affected communities.
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development shall, to the extent amounts are pro-
vided in appropriation Acts pursuant to section 13, make 
grants under this Act to qualified community organiza-
tions for establishment of community open space in urban 
areas. 
(b) AMOUNT.—The aggregate amount of any grants 
made under this Act to any single qualified community 
organization in any single fiscal year may not exceed 
$250,000. 
SEC. 4. QUALIFIED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. 
A grant under this Act may be made only to a non-
profit organization that—
(1) has among its purposes significant activities 
related to the improvement of the neighborhood, 
community, or city in which any property that is to 
be assisted with the grant under this Act is located; 
(2) has a history of serving such neighborhood, 
community, or city; 
(3) maintains, through significant representa-
tion on the organization’s governing board and oth-
erwise, accountability to residents of such neighbor-
hood, community, or city; and 
(4) complies with such standards of financial 
accountability as the Secretary may require.
SEC. 5. USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS. 
(a) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts from a grant 
made under this Act may be used by the recipient of the 
grant only for costs relating to the establishment of com-
munity open space, as follows: 
(1) To develop eligible municipal real property 
for use as community open space, which shall in-
clude design, clearance, demolition, removal, beau-
tification, site improvements, and construction or in-
stallation of facilities and improvements for such 
property. 
(2) To lease or otherwise obtain the use of eligi-
ble municipal real property for establishment of 
community open space. 
(3) To maintain community open space. 
(4) To cover other administrative costs related 
to the establishment, development, maintenance, ad-
ministration, or management of the community open 
space, except that not more than 10 percent of any 
single grant made under this Act may be used for 
costs under this paragraph. 
(b) DEVELOPMENT PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Amounts 
from a grant made under this Act may be used by the 
recipient of a grant only to carry out activities under sub-
section (a) that are described in the development plan of 
the recipient approved by the Secretary under section 7
or that are described in an amendment to the development 
plan approved by the Secretary under section 9. 
(c) COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT REQUIREMENTS.—A 
qualified community organization that applies for a grant 
under this Act shall provide for involvement by interested 
residents and organizations of the neighborhood, commu-
nity, or city in which the property to be assisted under 
the plan is located in—
(1) establishing the development plan under 
section 7(b), which shall include—
(A) making the proposed development plan 
available in a manner that, in the determination 
of the Secretary, provides interested parties a 
reasonable opportunity to examine its content 
and to submit comments on the proposed plan; 
and 
(B) holding one or more public hearings to 
obtain the views of interested parties regarding 
the proposed plan; and 
(2) carrying out activities under the develop-
ment plan, if the qualified community organization 
is a recipient.
SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE MUNICIPAL REAL PROPERTY. 
Amounts from a grant under this Act may be used 
for costs under section 5(a) relating to the establishment 
of community open space only on real property that—
(1) is owned in fee simple by the unit of general 
local government in which the property is located; 
(2) is located in an urban area; 
(3) is free of structures; and 
(4) is subject to a binding commitment, entered 
into by the unit of general local government that 
owns the property and the eligible community orga-
nization receiving the grant, that makes the property 
available for use and improvement under this Act as 
community open space for a period of not less than 
7 years. 
SEC. 7. APPLICATION AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide for 
nonprofit organizations to submit applications to the Sec-
retary for grants under this Act in such form and manner 
as the Secretary may require to carry out the purposes 
of this Act. 
(b) DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—The Secretary shall re-
quire each application to include a detailed plan for the 
use of any amounts received from a grant under this Act, 
which shall include—
(1) a description of any eligible municipal prop-
erty that is to be established as community open 
space using such grant amounts; 
(2) evidence of the ownership of the eligible mu-
nicipal property and the binding commitment re-
quired under section 6(4) for the property; 
(3) a description of the nonprofit organization 
applying for the grant that is sufficient to allow the 
Secretary to determine whether such organization is 
a qualified community organization; 
(4) a description of the activities under section 
5(a) to be conducted with amounts from the grant; 
(5) evidence of any commitments to make as-
sistance (other than assistance under this Act) avail-
able for use in developing or maintaining the com-
munity open space; 
(6) a description of the need for community 
open space in the neighborhood or community in 
which the eligible municipal property is located; 
(7) a description of how the nonprofit organiza-
tion will provide for the maintenance of the commu-
nity open space; 
(8) a description of the community participation 
involved (pursuant to section 5(c)) in establishing 
the plan, and the provisions made (pursuant to such
section) for community participation in developing, 
maintaining, administering, and managing the com-
munity open space; 
(9) a budget specifying all of the estimated 
costs relating to the project to establish and main-
tain the community open space; and 
(10) any other information the Secretary con-
siders appropriate to carry out this Act. 
SEC. 8. SELECTION AND GRANT AGREEMENTS. 
(a) SELECTION.—From among the applications sub-
mitted under section 7, the Secretary shall select qualified 
community organizations to receive grants under this Act 
pursuant to a competitive selection process. The Secretary 
shall review all applications received and may select only 
applications containing development plans that the Sec-
retary approves as feasible and cost-effective pursuant to 
the competitive selection process. 
(b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The competitive selection 
process referred to in subsection (a) shall be based upon 
selection criteria, which shall include—
(1) the extent of community involvement in the 
establishment, development, maintenance, adminis-
tration, or management of the community open 
space;
(2) the extent of need for community open 
space in the neighborhood or community in which 
the eligible municipal property is located; 
(3) the extent to which the development plan 
for the community open space limits administrative 
and management costs relating to the community 
open space; and 
(4) the extent to which commitments have been 
made providing assistance (other than assistance 
under this Act) for use in establishing, developing, 
maintaining, administering, or managing the com-
munity open space. 
(c) GRANT AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary shall enter 
into agreements with each qualified community organiza-
tion selected to receive a grant under this section as the 
Secretary considers necessary to ensure that amounts pro-
vided under the grant are used in accordance with the re-
quirements of this Act to carry out the development plan 
approved under section 7 and any amendments to such 
plan approved under section 9. 
SEC. 9. AMENDMENTS TO DEVELOPMENT PLANS. 
The Secretary shall provide for recipients to submit 
amendments to development plans to the Secretary and 
for the Secretary to review, and approve or disapprove, 
such amendments.
SEC. 10. REPORTS. 
(a) RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary may require each 
recipient to submit to the Secretary such reports as the 
Secretary considers appropriate to determine whether the 
recipient is carrying out the development plan for any 
community open space for which the grant was made and 
is complying with the provisions of this Act and any agree-
ments entered into under section 8(c). 
(b) SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall submit a re-
port to the Congress not less than annually describing the 
grants made under this Act, the recipients of the grants, 
and the community open space provided with such grant 
amounts. 
SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 
shall apply: 
(1) COMMUNITY
OPEN
SPACE.—The term 
‘‘community open space’’ means a parcel of real 
property that is used for open space, park, play-
ground, garden, or other recreational or other simi-
lar purposes and is generally open to and available 
for use by the public. 
(2) NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means a private organiza-
tion that—
(A) is organized under State or local laws; 
and 
(B) has no part of its net earnings inuring 
to the benefit of any member, shareholder, 
founder, contributor, or individual. 
(3) QUALIFIED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION.—
The term ‘‘qualified community organization’’ means 
a nonprofit organization that complies with the re-
quirements under section 4 to be eligible to receive 
a grant under this Act. 
(4) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘recipient’’ means a 
qualified community organization that receives a 
grant under this Act. 
(5) URBAN
AREA.—The term ‘‘urban area’’ 
means—
(A) a city within a standard metropolitan 
statistical area (as established by the Office of 
Management and Budget) which is the central 
city of such area (as defined and used by such 
Office); or 
(B) a city within such a standard metro-
politan statistical area which has a population 
of 50,000 or more. 
(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
(7) UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—
The term ‘‘unit of general local government’’ means 
any city, town, township, county, parish, village, or 
other general purpose political subdivision of a 
State. 
(8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 
States of the United States, the District of Colum-
bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, 
the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other 
territory or possession of the United States. 
SEC. 12. REGULATIONS. 
The Secretary shall issue any regulations necessary 
to carry out this Act. 
SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated for grants 
under this Act $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 
and 2005.
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