I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3150
To expand and enhance the Federal Government commitment to eliminating
crime in public housing and other federally assisted low-income housing
projects, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 21, 1996
Mr. VENTO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To expand and enhance the Federal Government commitment
to eliminating crime in public housing and other federally
assisted low-income housing projects, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Community Partner-
ships Against Crime Amendments Act’’.
SEC. 2. SHORT TITLE, PURPOSES, AND AUTHORITY TO
MAKE GRANTS.
Chapter 2 of subtitle C of title V of the Anti-Drug
Abuse Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 11901 et seq.) is amended
by striking the chapter heading and all that follows
through section 5123 and inserting the following:
‘‘CHAPTER 2—COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
AGAINST CRIME
‘‘SEC. 5121. SHORT TITLE.
‘‘This chapter may be cited as the ‘Community Part-
nerships Against Crime Act of 1996’.
‘‘SEC. 5122. PURPOSES.
‘‘The purposes of this chapter are to—
‘‘(1) improve the quality of life for the vast ma-
jority of law-abiding public housing residents by re-
ducing the levels of fear, violence, and crime in their
communities;
‘‘(2) substantially expand and enhance the Fed-
eral Government’s commitment to eliminating crime
in and around public housing and other federally as-
sisted low-income housing;
‘‘(3) broaden the scope of the Public and As-
sisted Housing Drug Elimination Act of 1990 to
apply to all types of crime, and not simply crime
that is drug-related;
‘‘(4) encourage the involvement of a broad
range of community-based groups and residents of
neighboring housing that is owned or assisted by the
Secretary in the development and implementation of
anti-crime plans;
‘‘(5) reduce crime and disorder in and around
public housing through the expansion of community-
oriented policing activities and problem solving;
‘‘(6) provide training, information services, and
other technical assistance to program participants;
and
‘‘(7) establish a standardized assessment sys-
tem to evaluate need among public housing agencies
and to measure progress in reaching crime reduction
goals.
‘‘SEC. 5123. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.
‘‘The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
may make grants in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter for use in eliminating crime in and around public
housing and other federally assisted low-income housing
projects to (1) public housing agencies, and (2) private,
for-profit and nonprofit owners of federally assisted low-
income housing. In designing the program for grants
under this chapter, the Secretary shall consult with the
Attorney General.’’.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5124(a) of the Anti-Drug
Abuse Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 11903(a)) is amended—
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
inserting ‘‘and around’’ after ‘‘used in’’;
(2) in paragraph (3), by inserting before the
semicolon the following: ‘‘, including fencing, light-
ing, locking, and surveillance systems’’;
(3) in paragraph (4), by striking subparagraph
(A) and inserting the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(A) to investigate crime; and’’;
(4) in paragraph (6)—
(A) by striking ‘‘in and around public or
other federally assisted low-income housing
projects’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon;
and
(5) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the
following new paragraphs:
‘‘(7) providing funding to nonprofit public hous-
ing resident management corporations and resident
councils to develop security and crime prevention
programs involving site residents;
‘‘(8) the employment or utilization of one or
more individuals, including law enforcement officers,
made available by contract or other cooperative ar-
rangement with State or local law enforcement agen-
cies, to engage in community- and problem-oriented
policing involving interaction with members of the
community in proactive crime control and prevention
activities;
‘‘(9) programs and activities for or involving
youth, including training, education, recreation and
sports, career planning, and entrepreneurship and
employment activities and after school and cultural
programs; and
‘‘(10) service programs for residents that ad-
dress the contributing factors of crime, including
programs for job training, education, drug and alco-
hol treatment, and other appropriate social serv-
ices.’’.
(b) 
OTHER
PHA-OWNED
HOUSING.—Section
5124(b) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C.
11903(b)) is amended—
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking ‘‘drug-related crime in’’
and inserting ‘‘crime in and around’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘paragraphs (1) through
(7)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (1) through
(10)’’; and
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘drug-related’’
and inserting ‘‘criminal’’.
SEC. 4. GRANT PROCEDURES.
Section 5125 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988
(42 U.S.C. 11904) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 5125. GRANT PROCEDURES.
‘‘(a) PHA’S WITH 250 OR MORE UNITS.—
‘‘(1) GRANTS.—In each fiscal year, the Sec-
retary shall make a grant under this chapter from
any amounts available under section 5131(b)(1) for
the fiscal year to each of the following public hous-
ing agencies:
‘‘(A) 
NEW
APPLICANTS.—Each 
public
housing agency that owns or operates 250 or
more public housing dwelling units and has—
‘‘(i) submitted an application to the
Secretary for a grant for such fiscal year,
which includes a 5-year crime deterrence
and reduction plan under paragraph (2);
and
‘‘(ii) had such application and plan
approved by the Secretary.
‘‘(B) RENEWALS.—Each public housing
agency that owns or operates 250 or more pub-
lic housing dwelling units and for which—
‘‘(i) a grant was made under this
chapter for the preceding Federal fiscal
year;
‘‘(ii) the term of the 5-year crime de-
terrence and reduction plan applicable to
such grant includes the fiscal year for
which the grant under this subsection is to
be made; and
‘‘(iii) the Secretary has determined,
pursuant to a performance review under
paragraph (4), that during the preceding
fiscal year the agency has substantially ful-
filled the requirements under subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (4).
‘‘(2) 5-YEAR CRIME DETERRENCE AND REDUC-
TION
PLAN.—Each application for a grant under
this subsection shall contain a 5-year crime deter-
rence and reduction plan. The plan shall describe,
for the public housing agency submitting the plan—
‘‘(A) the nature of the crime problem in
public housing owned or operated by the public
housing agency;
‘‘(B) the building or buildings of the public
housing agency affected by the crime problem;
‘‘(C) the impact of the crime problem on
residents of such building or buildings; and
‘‘(D) the actions to be taken during the
term of the plan to reduce and deter such
crime, which shall include actions involving resi-
dents, law enforcement, and service providers.
The term of a plan shall be the period consisting of
5 consecutive fiscal years, which begins with the first
fiscal year for which funding under this chapter is
provided to carry out the plan.
‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—In any fiscal year, the amount
of the grant for a public housing agency receiving a
grant pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be the
amount that bears the same ratio to the total
amount made available under section 5131(b)(1) as
the total number of public dwelling units owned or
operated by such agency bears to the total number
of dwelling units owned or operated by all public
housing agencies that own or operate 250 or more
public housing dwelling units that are approved for
such fiscal year.
‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—For each fiscal
year, the Secretary shall conduct a performance re-
view of the activities carried out by each public
housing agency receiving a grant pursuant to this
subsection to determine whether the agency—
‘‘(A) has carried out such activities in a
timely manner and in accordance with its 5-
year crime deterrence and reduction plan; and
‘‘(B) has a continuing capacity to carry
out such plan in a timely manner.
‘‘(5) SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall establish such deadlines and require-
ments for submission of applications under this sub-
section.
‘‘(6) REVIEW AND DETERMINATION.—The Sec-
retary shall review each application submitted under
this subsection upon submission and shall approve
the application unless the application and the 5-year
crime deterrence and reduction plan are inconsistent
with the purposes of this chapter or any require-
ments established by the Secretary or the informa-
tion in the application or plan is not substantially
complete. Upon approving or determining not to ap-
prove an application and plan submitted under this
subsection, the Secretary shall notify the public
housing agency submitting the application and plan
of such approval or disapproval.
‘‘(7) DISAPPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—If the
Secretary notifies an agency that the application and
plan of the agency is not approved, not later than
the expiration of the 15-day period beginning upon
such notice of disapproval, the Secretary shall also
notify the agency, in writing, of the reasons for the
disapproval, the actions that the agency could take
to comply with the criteria for approval, and the
deadlines for such actions.
‘‘(8) FAILURE TO APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE.—
If the Secretary fails to notify an agency of approval
or disapproval of an application and plan submitted
under this subsection before the expiration of the
60-day period beginning upon the submission of the
plan or fails to provide notice under paragraph (7)
within the 15-day period under such paragraph to
an agency whose application has been disapproved,
the application and plan shall be considered to have
been approved for purposes of this section.
‘‘(b) PHA’S WITH FEWER THAN 250 UNITS AND
OWNERS OF FEDERALLY ASSISTED LOW-INCOME HOUS-
ING.—
‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS AND PLANS.—To be eligible
to receive a grant under this chapter, a public hous-
ing agency that owns or operates fewer than 250
public housing dwelling units or an owner of feder-
ally assisted low-income housing shall submit an ap-
plication to the Secretary at such time, in such man-
ner, and accompanied by such additional information
as the Secretary may require. The application shall
include a plan for addressing the problem of crime
in and around the housing for which the application
is submitted, describing in detail activities to be con-
ducted during the fiscal year for which the grant is
requested.
‘‘(2) GRANTS FOR PHA’S WITH FEWER THAN
250 UNITS.—In each fiscal year the Secretary may,
to the extent amounts are available under section
5131(b)(2), make grants under this chapter to pub-
lic housing agencies that own or operate fewer than
250 public housing dwelling units and have submit-
ted applications under paragraph (1) that the Sec-
retary has approved pursuant to the criteria under
paragraph (4).
‘‘(3) GRANTS FOR FEDERALLY ASSISTED LOW-
INCOME HOUSING.—In each fiscal year the Secretary
may, to the extent amounts are available under sec-
tion 5131(b)(3), make grants under this chapter to
owners of federally assisted low-income housing that
have submitted applications under paragraph (1)
that the Secretary has approved pursuant to the cri-
teria under paragraphs (4) and (5).
‘‘(4) CRITERIA
FOR
APPROVAL
OF
APPLICA-
TIONS.—The Secretary shall determine whether to
approve each application under this subsection on
the basis of—
‘‘(A) the extent of the crime problem in
and around the housing for which the applica-
tion is made;
‘‘(B) the quality of the plan to address the
crime problem in the housing for which the ap-
plication is made;
‘‘(C) the capability of the applicant to
carry out the plan; and
‘‘(D) the extent to which the tenants of the
housing, the local government, local community-
based nonprofit organizations, local tenant or-
ganizations representing residents of neighbor-
ing projects that are owned or assisted by the
Secretary, and the local community support and
participate in the design and implementation of
the activities proposed to be funded under the
application.
In each fiscal year, the Secretary may give pref-
erence to applications under this subsection for
housing made by applicants who received a grant for
such housing for the preceding fiscal year under this
subsection or under the provisions of this chapter as
in effect immediately before the date of the enact-
ment of the Community Partnerships Against Crime
Amendments Act.
‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL
CRITERIA
FOR
FEDERALLY
ASSISTED
LOW-INCOME
HOUSING.—In addition to
the selection criteria under paragraph (4), the Sec-
retary may establish other criteria for evaluating ap-
plications submitted by owners of federally assisted
low-income housing, except that such additional cri-
teria shall be designed only to reflect—
‘‘(A) relevant differences between the fi-
nancial resources and other characteristics of
public housing authorities and owners of feder-
ally assisted low-income housing; or
‘‘(B) relevant differences between the prob-
lem of crime in public housing administered by
such public housing agencies and the problem
of crime in federally assisted low-income hous-
ing.’’.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
Section 5126 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988
(42 U.S.C. 11905) is amended—