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or sustaining an action to recover amounts from families
or owners, the provisions of this section shall not apply.
(c) RECOVERY.—Amounts may be recovered under this
section—
(1) by an agency through a lawsuit (including
settlement of the lawsuit) brought by the agency or
through court-ordered restitution pursuant to a crimi-
nal proceeding resulting from an agency’s investiga-
tion where the agency seeks prosecution of a family
or where an agency seeks prosecution of an owner;
(2) through administrative repayment agree-
ments with a family or owner entered into as a result
of an administrative grievance procedure conducted
by an impartial decisionmaker in accordance with
section 110; or
(3) through an agreement between the parties.
SEC. 373. STUDY REGARDING GEOGRAPHIC CONCENTRA-
TION OF ASSISTED FAMILIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a
study of the geographic areas in the State of Illinois served
by the Housing Authority of Cook County and the Chicago
Housing Authority and submit to the Congress a report and
a specific proposal, which addresses and resolves the issues
of—
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(1) the adverse impact on local communities due
to geographic concentration of assisted households
under the tenant-based housing programs under sec-
tion 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (as
in effect upon the enactment of this Act) and under
this title; and
(2) facilitating the deconcentration of such as-
sisted households by providing broader housing
choices to such households.
The study shall be completed, and the report shall be sub-
mitted, not later than 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(b) CONCENTRATION.—For purposes of this section, the
term ‘‘concentration’’ means, with respect to any area with-
in a census tract, that—
(1) 15 percent or more of the households residing
within such area have incomes which do not exceed
the poverty level; or
(2) 15 percent or more of the total affordable
housing stock located within such area is assisted
housing.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect
on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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SEC. 374. STUDY REGARDING RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
The Secretary shall conduct a nationwide study of the
choice-based housing assistance program under this title
and the tenant-based rental assistance program under sec-
tion 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (as in effect
pursuant to section 601(c) and 602(b)). The study shall,
for various localities—
(1) determine who are the providers of the hous-
ing in which families assisted under such programs
reside;
(2) describe and analyze the physical and demo-
graphic characteristics of the housing in which such
assistance is used, including, for housing in which at
least one such assisted family resides, the total num-
ber of units in the housing and the number of units
in the housing for which such assistance is provided;
(3) determine the total number of units for which
such assistance is provided;
(4) describe the durations that families remain
on waiting lists before being provided such housing
assistance; and
(5) assess the extent and quality of participation
of housing owners in such assistance programs in re-
lation to the local housing market, including compar-
ing—
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(A) the quality of the housing assisted to the
housing generally available in the same market;
and
(B) the extent to which housing is available
to be occupied using such assistance to the extent
to which housing is generally available in the
same market.
The Secretary shall submit a report describing the results
of the study to the Congress not later than the expiration
of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment
of this Act.
TITLE IV—HOME RULE FLEXIBLE
GRANT OPTION
SEC. 401. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this title is to give local governments
and municipalities the flexibility to design creative ap-
proaches for providing and administering Federal housing
assistance based on the particular needs of the communities
that—
(1) give incentives to low-income families with
children where the head of household is working, seek-
ing work, or preparing for work by participating in
job training, educational programs, or programs that
assist people to obtain employment and become eco-
nomically self-sufficient;
221
(2) reduce cost and achieve greater cost-effective-
ness in Federal housing assistance expenditures;
(3) increase housing choices for low-income fami-
lies; and
(4) reduce excessive geographic concentration of
assisted families.
SEC. 402. FLEXIBLE GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) AUTHORITY AND USE.—The Secretary shall carry
out a program under which a jurisdiction may, upon the
application of the jurisdiction and the review and approval
of the Secretary, receive, combine, and enter into perform-
ance-based contracts for the use of amounts of covered hous-
ing assistance in a period consisting of not less than 1 nor
more than 5 fiscal years in the manner determined appro-
priate by the participating jurisdiction—
(1) to provide housing assistance and services for
low-income families in a manner that facilitates the
transition of such families to work;
(2) to reduce homelessness;
(3) to increase homeownership among low-in-
come families; and
(4) for other housing purposes for low-income
families determined by the participating jurisdiction.
(b) INAPPLICABILITY OF CATEGORICAL PROGRAM RE-
QUIREMENTS.—
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2) and section 405, the provisions of this Act
regarding use of amounts made available under each
of the programs included as covered housing assist-
ance and the program requirements applicable to each
such program shall not apply to amounts received by
a jurisdiction pursuant to this title.
(2) APPLICABILITY
OF
CERTAIN
LAWS.—This
title may not be construed to exempt assistance under
this Act from, or make inapplicable any provision of
this Act or of any other law that requires that assist-
ance under this Act be provided in compliance with—
(A) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
(42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.);
(B) the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601
et seq.);
(C) section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.);
(D) title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972 (86 Stat. 373 et seq.);
(E) the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42
U.S.C. 6101 et seq.);
(F) the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990; or
223
(G) the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 and other provisions of law that further
protection of the environment (as specified in
regulations that shall be issued by the Secretary).
(c) EFFECT ON PROGRAM ALLOCATIONS FOR COVERED
HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—The amount of assistance received
pursuant to this title by a participating jurisdiction shall
not be decreased, because of participation in the program
under this title, from the sum of the amounts that otherwise
would be made available for or within the participating
jurisdiction under the programs included as covered hous-
ing assistance.
SEC. 403. COVERED HOUSING ASSISTANCE.
For purposes of this title, the term ‘‘covered housing
assistance’’ means—
(1) operating assistance provided under section 9
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (as in effect
before the effective date of the repeal under section
601(b) of this Act);
(2) modernization assistance provided under sec-
tion 14 of such Act;
(3) assistance provided under section 8 of such
Act for the certificate and voucher programs;
(4) assistance for public housing provided under
title II of this Act; and