Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 
(42 U.S.C. 5302). 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) WORKFORCE TRENDS.— 
(A) The U.S. Conference of Mayors in its 
report ‘‘U.S. Metro Economies: Engines of 
America’s Growth’’ states that the metropolitan 
areas of the United States generated 85.9 per-
cent of jobs in the United States, 90.1 percent 
of labor income, and 89.9 percent of gross do-
mestic product in 2007. Since 2000, United 
States metropolitan economies contributed 90.5 
percent, or more than $4 trillion, of the growth 
in the national economy. In 2007, such commu-
nities accounted for 92 percent of national eco-
nomic growth. In sum, the gross metropolitan 
product of the 10 largest metropolitan areas in 
2007 ($4.72 trillion) exceeded the combined 
output of 36 States. 
(B) Similarly, in its report ‘‘MetroNation: 
How U.S. Metropolitan Areas Fuel American 
Prosperity’’, the Brookings Institution states 
that the 100 largest metropolitan economies 
gather significant shares of innovative activity 
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(78 percent of patent activity in the United 
States), educated workers (75 percent of grad-
uate degree holders), and critical infrastructure 
(79 percent of air cargo in the United States). 
(C) The American workforce is diversifying 
at a time when many minority and urban com-
munities continue to encounter barriers to gain-
ful employment. Projections from the Census 
Bureau show that non-Hispanic Whites will 
represent less than half of the Nation’s prime 
working-age (25 to 64) population by 2050. Be-
tween 2008 and 2050, Blacks and Hispanics 
will grow from about 25 percent to nearly 40 
percent of the working-age population, and will 
account for more than 90 percent of total 
growth in that age range. Individuals from mi-
nority communities are largely concentrated in 
metropolitan areas. Furthermore, such commu-
nities remain disproportionately affected by nu-
merous challenges related to education, employ-
ment, and incarceration. 
(D) In its report ‘‘Renewable Energy and 
Energy Efficiency: Economic Drivers for the 
21st Century American’’ the American Solar 
Energy Society estimates that, in 2006, more 
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than 8 million Americans worked in green in-
dustries, generating $933 billion of revenue. By 
2030, the Society further estimates that green 
industries will account for more than 40 million 
American jobs, generating over $4.5 trillion in 
annual revenue. 
(E) As indicated in ‘‘Green-Collar Jobs in 
American Cities’’, issued jointly by Green for 
All and the Apollo Alliance, green industries 
promote employment opportunities that are nec-
essarily local. Therefore, jobs in emerging green 
industries will offer sustainable employment op-
portunities to Americans for decades to come. 
(2) CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE 
NATION’S METRO COMMUNITIES.— 
(A) According to the report ‘‘Cities in Cri-
sis: A Special Analytic Report on High School 
Graduation’’, of the Editorial Projects in Edu-
cation Research Center, nearly 40 percent of 
the Nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas suf-
fer high school graduation rates below 50 per-
cent. Metropolitan communities with historical 
ties to traditional manufacturing industries are 
among those demonstrating particularly dis-
couraging high school graduation rates. The 
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dual challenges associated with contracting 
labor markets and fledgling academic capacities 
have left these, and many other metropolitan 
communities, with compounding barriers to job 
creation and economic development. 
(B) According to the Department of Jus-
tice, Office of Justice Programs, nearly 650,000 
people are released from Federal and State in-
carceration into communities nationwide each 
year, about 1,600 a day, with the majority of 
these individuals returning to the Nation’s met-
ropolitan communities. 
(C) Transitional jobs programs have been 
proven to help people with criminal records to 
successfully return to the workplace and to the 
community, and therefore can reduce recidi-
vism. Such programs, along with traditional 
technical training programs provide at-risk indi-
viduals in our Nation’s metropolitan commu-
nities with concrete opportunities for long-term 
economic self-sufficiency. 
SEC. 4. METRO AREA GREEN ZONES. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to em-
power communities to provide stable employment in green 
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industries, so such communities may become self-sufficient 
and gain long-term economic stability. 
(b) METRO AREA GREEN ZONE GRANT PROGRAM.— 
The Secretary may establish a competitive program to 
make grants to units of general local government to sup-
port and establish green job programs that— 
(1) target low-income, difficult-to-employ, and 
formerly incarcerated persons residing in the area or 
community served by such unit of general local gov-
ernment; and 
(2) involve local business, academia, trade asso-
ciations, nonprofits, and other stakeholders in en-
ergy-efficient economic development and green job 
training and creation. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY.—Grants may be made only to units 
of general local government that— 
(1) have a population in excess of 300,000; and 
(2) submit to the Secretary a multi-year imple-
mentation plan that provides assurances to the Sec-
retary that such unit of general local government 
will use such grant amounts to carry out the activi-
ties under subsection (e). 
(d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary may give priority to any applicant unit 
of general local government that provides assurances to 
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