I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2222 
To direct the Secretary of Commerce to make grants for programs promoting 
community greening initiatives, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 30, 2009 
Ms. SCHWARTZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Commerce to make grants for 
programs promoting community greening initiatives, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Green Communities 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES; DEFINITIONS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Landscaping adds to the economic value 
and sales appeal of commercial real estate and in-
creases office occupancy rates. 
(2) Greening can change people’s perceptions of 
their neighborhoods, reduce violence and crime, and 
increase neighborhood stability. 
(3) Planting new trees, improving streetscapes, 
and cleaning vacant lots increases property values. 
(4) People will stay longer and shop more in 
shopping districts that are well landscaped. 
(5) Improvements to neighborhood parks in-
crease the value of single-family homes in the sur-
rounding community. 
(6) Homes adjacent to vacant lots that are 
greened have a much higher property value than 
homes adjacent to vacant lots that have not been 
greened. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) promote investment in greening projects 
and programs as effective economic development 
tools; 
(2) connect urban economic development initia-
tives with environmental initiatives; 
(3) improve quality of life for city residents; 
and 
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(4) encourage public-private partnerships. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) COMMUNITY GREENING INITIATIVES.—The 
term ‘‘community greening initiatives’’ means pro-
grams increasing economic development through en-
vironmental improvements. 
(2) ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘eligible nonprofit organization’’ means a non-
profit organization that receives a grant under sec-
tion 4. 
(3) ELIGIBLE PROGRAM PARTNER.—The term 
‘‘eligible program partner’’ means a municipality 
that receives a grant under section 3. 
(4) GREEN
ROOF.—The term ‘‘green roof’’ 
means a roof consisting of vegetation and soil or a 
growing medium planted over a waterproofing mem-
brane. 
(5) GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE.— 
The term ‘‘green stormwater infrastructure’’ means 
systems and practices that use or mimic natural 
processes to infiltrate, evapotranspirate, or reuse 
stormwater on the site where it occurs rather than 
transporting the water to a stream or treatment fa-
cility. 
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(6) NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization that 
is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under sec-
tion 501(a) of such Code. 
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Commerce. 
(8) URBAN FORESTRY.—The term ‘‘urban for-
estry’’ means an integrated citywide or neighbor-
hood-wide approach to the planting, care, and man-
agement of trees in the city or the neighborhood in 
order to ensure environmental and social benefits for 
residents. 
SEC. 3. INITIATIVES FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND 
GREENING. 
(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—To the extent funds are 
available, the Secretary, through the Economic Develop-
ment Administration, shall make grants to municipalities 
for promoting community greening initiatives. 
(b) SELECTION
OF
ELIGIBLE
PROGRAM
PART-
NERS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the eligible 
nonprofit organizations, shall select 80 municipalities to 
receive grants under this section. The Secretary shall en-
sure that the municipalities meet— 
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