Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013

Bill: 112-s-2322
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2012-04-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Access Board
Appropriations
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Transportation
Executive agency funding and structure
Homelessness and emergency shelter
Housing and community development funding
Housing discrimination
Interagency Council on Homelessness
National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Railroads
Transportation programs funding

Summary:
action_date: 2012-04-19
text: 
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013 - Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2013 - Makes appropriations for FY2013 to the Department of Transportation (DOT).
 
Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2013 - Makes appropriations for FY2013 to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
 
Makes appropriations for FY2013 to: (1) the Access Board, (2) the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), (3) the Office of Inspector General for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), (4) the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), (5) the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and (6) the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
 
Specifies certain uses and limits on or prohibitions against the use of funds appropriated by this Act.

action_date: 2012-04-19
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

 
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013
 - Title I: Department of Transportation
 - Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2013 - Makes appropriations for FY2013 to the Department of Transportation (DOT), including: (1) the Office of the Secretary, (2) the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), (3) the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), (4) the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), (5) the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), (6) the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), (7) the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), (8) the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, (9) the Maritime Administration, (10) the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), (11) the Office of Inspector General, and (12) the Surface Transportation Board (STB).
 
(Sec. 102) Prohibits any funds made available under this Act from being obligated or expended to establish or implement a program under which essential air service (EAS) communities are required to assume subsidy costs commonly referred to as the EAS local participation program.
 
(Sec. 103) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary in this title) or designee to lobby states and state legislators to consider proposals for the reduction of motorcycle fatalities.
 
(Sec. 104) Authorizes the DOT's Working Capital fund to provide advanced payments to vendors to carry out the federal transit pass transportation fringe benefit program for federal employees. 
 
(Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary to: (1) post on the DOT website a schedule of all Credit Council meetings, including the agenda for each meeting; and (2) require the Council to record the minutes of the meetings.
 
(Sec. 106) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a program to establish uniform standards for developing and supporting agency transit pass and transit benefits, including distribution of such benefits by various paper and electronic media.
 
(Sec. 110) Prohibits the use of funds to compensate more than 600 technical staff-years under the federally funded research and development center contract between the FAA and the Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development during FY2013.
 
(Sec. 111) Prohibits the use of funds to pursue or adopt guidelines or regulations requiring airport sponsors to provide to the FAA without cost building construction, maintenance, utilities and expenses, or space in airport sponsor-owned buildings for services relating to air traffic control, air navigation, or weather reporting. Exempts from this prohibition any negotiations between the agency and airport sponsors to: (1) achieve agreement on "below-market" rates for these items, or (2) grant assurances that require airport sponsors to provide land without cost to the FAA for air traffic control facilities.
 
(Sec. 112) Authorizes the FAA Administrator to reimburse amounts made available from certain fees to carry out the EAS program.
 
(Sec. 113) Requires that amounts collected for safety-related training and operational services to foreign aviation authorities be credited to the appropriation current at the time of collection, to be merged with and available for the same purposes of such appropriation.
 
(Sec. 115) Prohibits the obligation of funds for an FAA employee to purchase a store gift card or gift certificate through use of a government-issued credit card.
 
(Sec. 116) Requires the Secretary to make the minimum apportionment for primary and cargo airports to sponsors of airports that: (1) received scheduled or unscheduled air service from large certified air carriers, and (2) had more than 10,000 passenger boardings in the preceding calendar year.
 
(Sec. 117) Prohibits the obligation of funds for retention bonuses for an FAA employee without the prior written approval of the DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration.
 
(Sec. 118) Caps at 20% the maximum allowable local share of costs of an airport sponsor or state or local government with jurisdiction over an airport in cases where the operating costs of an air traffic tower under the Contract Air Traffic Control Tower Program exceed the benefits.
 
(Sec. 119) Prohibits the use of funds to implement, or to continue to implement, any limitation on the ability of a private aircraft owner or operator, upon a request to the FAA Administrator, to block, with respect to its noncommercial flights, the display of the owner's or operator's registration number in the Aircraft Situational Display to Industry data provided by the FAA to the public, unless the data has been made available to a government agency.
 
(Sec. 119A) Prohibits the use of funds for salaries and expenses of more than seven FAA political and Presidential appointees.
 
(Sec. 119B) Prohibits the use of funds to increase fees the FAA Administrator may assess a state, federal agency, public or private organization, or individual to conduct special services or develop special products relating to navigation, transportation, or public safety, until the FAA: (1) conducts a public outreach designed to elicit feedback from aviation stakeholders, and (2) has justified to Congress its fees on paper and digital products.
 
(Sec. 119C) Bars the use of funds to change weight restrictions or prior permission rules at Teterboro airport in Teterboro, New Jersey. 
 
(Sec. 120) Prescribes requirements, including a formula, for certain FY2013 distributions from the obligation limitation for federal-aid highways.
 
(Sec. 121) Allows crediting to the federal-aid highways account of funds received by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from the sale of data products to reimburse the Bureau for necessary expenses.
 
(Sec. 122) Requires the Secretary to make an informal public notice and comment opportunity on the intent of the waiver before waiving any Buy American requirement for federal-aid highway projects.
 
(Sec. 123) Prohibits the use of funds to approve or authorize the imposition of a toll on any segment of a federal highway in the state of Texas that is not already tolled, is constructed with federal assistance, and is in actual operation.
 
States that this prohibition does not apply to: (1) any federal-aid system highway segment that will have the same number of nontoll lanes as existed before a toll is imposed, or (2) any high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane converted to a toll lane if an HOV may use the toll lane without paying a toll or the HOV lane was constructed as a temporary lane to be replaced by a toll lane.
 
(Sec. 124) Specifies the level of contract authority for FY2013 for administrative expenses for federal-aid highway programs.
 
(Sec. 126) Permits the continued operation of trucks on any segment of the U.S. Route 41 corridor in Wisconsin designated as a route on the Interstate System (IS) that could operate legally on such segment before that designation without regard to federal weight limitation requirements.
 
(Sec. 127) Directs the Secretary to study all state truck size and weight limit laws.
 
(Sec. 130) Subjects funds appropriated or limited in this Act to certain safety examination and other requirements of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 and the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 relating to Mexico-domiciled motor carriers involved in cross-border trucking between the United States and Mexico. 
 
(Sec. 131) Prohibits any recipient of funds made available in this Act from disseminating personal information obtained by a state department of motor vehicles in connection with a motor vehicle record, except as permitted under specified federal criminal law.
 
Prohibits the Secretary, however, from withholding funds provided in this Act for any grantee if a state fails to comply with this prohibition.
 
(Sec. 140) Makes certain additional funds available to NHTSA to pay for: (1) travel and related expenses for state management reviews, and (2) core competency development training and related expenses for highway safety staff.
 
(Sec. 141) Declares that certain limitations on obligations for NHTSA programs shall not apply to any obligational authority made available in previous public laws for multiple years, except to the extent that the obligational authority has not lapsed or been used. 
 
 (Sec. 142) Prohibits the use of funds to implement establishment in the DOT of a National Highway Safety Advisory Committee.
 
(Sec. 150) Declares that funds provided in this Act for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) shall immediately cease to be available to Amtrak in the event that it contracts to have provided at or from any location outside the United States any service that was, as of July 1, 2006, performed by a full-time or part-time Amtrak employee whose base of employment is located within the United States.
 
(Sec. 151) Authorizes the Secretary to receive cash or spare parts from non-federal sources to repair damages to or replace federally-owned automated track inspection cars and equipment as a result of third party liability for such damages.
 
(Sec. 152) Authorizes the Secretary to allow the issuer of any preferred stock heretofore sold to DOT to redeem or repurchase it upon the payment to DOT of an amount the Secretary determines.
 
(Sec. 153) Bars the use of funds for Amtrak to pay overtime costs in excess of $35,000 for any Amtrak employee.
 
Authorizes the president of Amtrak to waive such cap in cases where it poses a risk to the safety and operational efficiency of the Amtrak system.
 
(Sec. 160) Declares that the limitations on obligations for FTA programs shall not apply to any grant authority previously made available for obligation, or to any other authority previously made available for obligation.
 
(Sec. 161) Declares that funds appropriated by this Act for specified FTA discretionary program projects which are not obligated by September 30, 2015, and other recoveries, shall be directed to projects eligible to use the funds for the purposes for which they were originally provided.
 
(Sec. 162) Authorizes certain transfers of any public transportation funds appropriated before October 1, 2012, that remain available for expenditure.
 
(Sec. 163) Authorizes the use of unobligated FTA capital investment grants funds for new fixed guideway systems projects.
 
(Sec. 164) Authorizes the Secretary to use 1% of amounts available for job access and reverse commute formula grants for specified major capital project program management activities.
 
(Sec. 165) Authorizes the use of FTA funds made available for Alaska or Hawaii ferry boats or ferry terminal facilities to construct new or improve existing vessels and facilities, including both passenger and vehicle-related elements, and for repair facilities.
 
(Sec. 166) Prohibits the Secretary from enforcing federal charter bus service regulations against any transit agency that during FY2008 was both initially granted a 60-day period to comply with such regulations, and then was subsequently granted an exception from them.
 
(Sec. 167) Authorizes the Secretary, when applying project justification and local commitment criteria to a New Starts project, to consider the costs and ridership of any connected project where private parties are making significant financial contributions to the construction of the connected project. Authorizes the Secretary also to consider the significant financial contributions of such parties to the connected project when calculating the non-federal share of net capital project costs for the New Start project.
 
(Sec. 168) Requires all bus new fixed guideway capital projects recommended in the President's FY2013 budget request for capital investment grant funds appropriated under this Act or any other Act to be funded instead from amounts allocated for capital projects for buses and bus-related equipment and facilities.
 
(Sec. 169) Makes certain permanent rescissions.
 
(Sec. 170) Authorizes the Maritime Administration to furnish utilities and services and make necessary repairs in connection with any lease, contract, or occupancy of property under its control.
 
(Sec. 180) Authorizes the Secretary, in assessing and collecting fees for cost recovery of reviews of the design of certain new gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facilities or liquefied natural gas pipeline facilities, to include all costs associated with all components, segments, or phases of such project. Declares, however, that cost recovery for projects based on project costs provided to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) or other applicable regulatory agency for determinations of transportation tariffs shall not require a good faith estimate.
 
(Sec. 192) Prohibits the availability of the funds in this Act for salaries and expenses of more than 110 political and presidential appointees in DOT. Prohibits assignment of any of such appointees on temporary detail outside DOT. 
 
(Sec. 194) Requires the Secretary to notify the congressional appropriations committees at least three full business days before announcing any project competitively selected to receive a discretionary grant award, letter of intent, or full funding grant agreement totaling $1 million or more from certain grant programs, including the federal highway emergency relief program, the FAA AIP, any FRA program, any FTA program other than the formula grants and fixed guideway modernization programs, or any funding for national infrastructure investments and assistance to small shipyards.
 
(Sec. 196) Makes available for reimbursement of recovery costs any recovered funds that the Secretary has determined represent improper DOT payments to a third party contractor under a financial assistance award.
 
(Sec. 198) Prohibits the use of funds by the STB to charge or collect any filing fee for rate or practice complaints filed with it in an amount in excess of that authorized for district court civil suit filing fees under the federal judicial code.
 

Title II: Department of Housing and Urban Development
 - Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2013 - Makes appropriations for FY2013 to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for: (1) administration, operations, and management; (2) the Office of Public and Indian Housing; (3) the Office of Community Planning and Development; (4) the Office of Housing and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA); (5) the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae); (6) Office of Policy Development and Research; (7) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; (8) the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control; and (9) the Office of Inspector General.
 
(Sec. 201) Requires rescission of 50% of the amounts of budget authority (or, in the alternative, remittance to the Treasury of 50% of the associated cash amounts) that are recaptured from certain state-, local government-, or local housing agency-financed projects under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988. Requires such recaptured budget authority or funds, as well as any budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to the Treasury, to be used by state housing finance agencies or local governments or local housing agencies with HUD-approved projects for which settlement occurred after January 1, 1992.
 
Authorizes the Secretary of HUD (Secretary in this title), all the same, to award up to 15% of the budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to the Treasury to provide project owners with incentives to refinance their projects at a lower interest rate. 
 
(Sec. 202) Prohibits the use of funds during FY2013 to investigate or prosecute under the Fair Housing Act any otherwise lawful activity engaged in by one or more persons, including the filing or maintaining of a non-frivolous legal action, that is engaged in solely to achieve or prevent action by a government official or entity, or a court of competent jurisdiction.
 
(Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to make a grant under certain authority of the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act for any state that received an allocation in a prior fiscal year, but is not otherwise eligible for an FY2013 allocation because the areas in the state outside of qualifying metropolitan statistical areas in FY2013 do not have the number of cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) otherwise required.
 
Prescribes a formula for the allocation of such grants to Jersey City and Paterson, New Jersey.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) adjust the funds allocated for FY2013 under the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act to Wilmington, Delaware, on behalf of the Wilmington, Delaware-Maryland-New Jersey Metropolitan Division; and (2) allocate a portion to the state of New Jersey according to a specified formula. 
 
Directs the Secretary to allocate to Wake County, North Carolina, certain funds that otherwise would be allocated for FY2013 under such Act to Raleigh, North Carolina, on behalf of the Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
 
 Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) adjust FY2013 allocations under such Act upon the written request of a grant applicant for a formula allocation on behalf of a metropolitan statistical area, and (2) designate the state or states in which the metropolitan statistical area is located as the eligible grantee(s) of the allocation. 
 
(Sec. 204) Requires any grant, cooperative agreement, or other assistance made pursuant to this title to be made on a competitive basis and in accordance with the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989.
 
(Sec. 205) Makes certain funds available, without regard to limitations on administrative expenses, for: (1) legal services on a contract or fee basis; and (2) payment for services and facilities of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Ginnie Mae, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Federal Financing Bank, Federal Reserve banks, Federal Home Loan banks, and any bank insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Act.
 
(Sec. 207) Authorizes any HUD corporations and agencies subject to the Government Corporation Control Act to make expenditures, contracts, and commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations as necessary to carry out their FY2013 budgets.
 
(Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to report quarterly to the congressional appropriations committees regarding all uncommitted, unobligated, recaptured, and excess funds in each program and activity within HUD jurisdiction, along with additional, updated budget information upon request.
 
(Sec. 209) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to require PHAs to establish a flat rental amount for a PHA dwelling unit at levels no lower than 80% of the applicable fair market rental established under the Act.
 
Directs PHAs to comply by September 30, 2013, with such requirement, except that if a new flat rate amount for a dwelling unit will increase a family's existing rental payment by more than 35%, the new flat rental amount shall be phased in to ensure that the family's existing rental payment does not increase by more than 35% annually. States that this requirement shall not be construed to require establishment of rental amounts equal to 80% of the fair market rental in years when it falls from the prior year.
 
(Sec. 210) Requires the President's formal budget request for FY2014 and HUD's congressional budget justifications to use the identical account and subaccount structure provided under this Act.
 
(Sec. 211) Declares that a public housing agency (PHA), or other entity, that administers federal housing assistance for the Housing Authority of the county of Los Angeles, California, or the states of Alaska, Iowa, or Mississippi shall not be required to include a resident of public housing or a recipient of section 8 rental assistance (under the United States Housing Act of 1937) on the agency or entity governing board.
 
Requires each such PHA (or other entity) that chooses not to include such individuals on its governing board to establish an advisory board, which shall meet at least quarterly, consisting of at least six residents of public housing or section 8 rental assistance recipients.
 
(Sec. 212) Authorizes the Secretary for FY2013-FY2014, subject to specified conditions, to authorize the transfer of some or all project-based assistance, debt, and statutorily required low-income and very low-income use restrictions, associated with one or more multifamily housing project, to another multifamily housing project or projects.
 
(Sec. 213) Requires that the funds made available for Native American Housing Block Grants in title III of this Act be allocated to the same recipients that received funds in FY2005.
 
(Sec. 214) Prohibits the use of funds provided under this title for an audit of Ginnie Mae that applies certain requirements of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990. 
 
(Sec. 215) Prohibits any section 8 rental assistance to any individual who: (1) is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher education; (2) is under age 24; (3) is not a veteran; (4) is unmarried; (5) does not have a dependent child; (6) is not a person with disabilities, and was not receiving section 8 assistance as of November 30, 2005; and (7) is not otherwise individually eligible, or has parents who, individually or jointly, are not eligible, to receive such assistance.
 
Declares that, for section 8 rental assistance eligibility purposes, any financial assistance (in excess of amounts received for tuition) that an individual receives under the Higher Education Act of 1965, from private sources, or an institution of higher education shall be considered income to that individual, except for a person over age 23 with dependent children.
 
(Sec. 216) Authorizes the Secretary through FY2013 to insure, and enter into commitments to insure, home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs, or reverse mortgages) for elderly homeowners.
 
(Sec. 217) Requires the Secretary during FY2013, in managing and disposing of any multifamily property that is owned or has a mortgage held by HUD, and during the process of foreclosure on any property with a contract for section 8 rental assistance payments or other federal programs, to maintain any rental assistance payments attached to any dwelling units in the property. Authorizes the Secretary, however, to the extent that such a multifamily property is not feasible for continued payments, based on specified cost, operation, or environmental considerations, to: (1) contract, in consultation with the property's tenants, for project-based rental assistance payments with an owner or owners of other existing housing properties; or (2) provide other rental assistance.
 
(Sec. 218) States that, during FY2013, a family residing in an assisted living facility in any county of Michigan with a section 8 rental assistance demonstration program, and on behalf of which a PHA provides such assistance, may be required, when the family initially receives the assistance, to pay rent in an amount exceeding 40% of the family's monthly adjusted income by any percentage or amount the Secretary determines appropriate.
 
(Sec. 219) Requires the Secretary to report quarterly to congressional appropriations committees on HUD use of all sole source contracts.
 
(Sec. 220) Authorizes any recipient after December 26, 2000, of a grant for conversion of elderly housing to assisted living facilities to: (1) establish a single-asset nonprofit entity to own the project; and (2) lend the grant funds to such entity, which may be a for-profit limited partnership the sole general partner of which is a private nonprofit organization meeting specified requirements, or a corporation wholly owned and controlled by such a private nonprofit organization.
 
(Sec. 221) Authorizes the use of Community Development Loan Guarantee funds in FY2013 to guarantee, or make commitments to guarantee, notes or other obligations issued by any state on behalf of its non-entitlement communities.
 
(Sec. 222) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to extend through FY2013 the authorization of appropriations for demolition, site revitalization, replacement housing, and tenant-based assistance project grants to PHAs.
 
(Sec. 223) Authorizes PHAs that own and operate 400 or fewer public housing units to elect to be exempt from any asset management requirements imposed by the Secretary in connection with the operating fund rule.
 
Prohibits exemption from such requirements, however, for an agency seeking a discontinuance of a reduction of subsidy under the operating fund formula.
 
(Sec. 224) Prohibits the Secretary, with respect to the use of funds for the operation, capital improvement, and management of public housing authorized by the United States Housing Act of 1937, from imposing any asset management requirement or guideline that restricts or limits in any way the use of capital funds for central office costs.
 
Prohibits a PHA, however, from using capital funds authorized for eligible operation and management activities with operating funds in excess of specified permitted amounts.
 
(Sec. 225) Prohibits designation of a HUD official or employee as an allotment holder unless he or she has: (1) implemented an adequate system of funds control, and (2) received training in funds control procedures and directives.
 
(Sec. 226) Requires the Secretary to take specified actions when a multifamily housing project with a section 8 contract or contract for similar project-based assistance: (1) receives a Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) score of 30 or less; or (2) receives a REAC score between 31 and 59 and fails to certify in writing to HUD, within 60 days, that all deficiencies have been corrected, or receives consecutive scores of less than 60 on REAC inspections.
 
Applies such requirements to insured and noninsured projects with section 8 rental assistance attached to the units; but not to units receiving PHA project-based assistance under the voucher program, or to public housing units assisted with capital or operating funds.
 
(Sec. 227) Requires payment of attorney fees in program-related litigation from individual program office personnel benefits and compensation funding.
 
(Sec. 228) Requires the Secretary for FY2013 and thereafter to notify the public through the Federal Register and other appropriate means of the issuance of a notice of the availability of assistance or notice of funding availability (NOFA) for any program or discretionary fund that is to be awarded competitively.
 
Authorizes the Secretary for such period to make the NOFA available only on the Internet at the appropriate government website or through other electronic media.
 
(Sec. 229) Changes from quarterly to annual the reports to congressional appropriations committees on all steps taken to prevent fraud and abuse of Community Development Funds, especially in the form of duplication of benefits.
 
(Sec. 231) Considers the HUD-administered Disaster Housing Assistance Programs as a HUD program under the McKinney Act for income verification and matching purposes.
 
(Sec. 232) Allows up to $10 million out of funds appropriated for salaries and expenses under all accounts under this title (except for the Office of Inspector General account) to be transferred to and merged with amounts appropriated for the Working Capital Fund account.
 
(Sec. 233) Amends the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 to repeal the mandatory transfer to the Flexible Subsidy Fund of all uncommitted balances in the Rental Housing Assistance Fund of certain excess rental charges as of September 30, 2007, as well as any collections made during FY2008 and all subsequent fiscal years. 
 
(Sec. 234) Amends the National Housing Act to extend through July 31, 2016, the exemption that authorizes the Secretary to provide mortgage insurance to critical access hospitals.
 
 (Sec. 235) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to redefine to treat as a PHA, for purposes of rental payments under the program of assisted low-income housing, a consortium of states, counties, municipalities, or other governmental entities or public bodies (or their agencies or instrumentalities) authorized to engage in or assist in the development or operation of public housing. 
 
(Sec. 236) Defines "extremely low-income families," under the program of assisted low-income housing, as very low-income families whose incomes do not exceed the higher of: (1) specified poverty guidelines updated periodically by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); or (2) 30% of the median family income for the area, with adjustments for smaller and larger families. Authorizes the Secretary to establish income ceilings higher or lower than 30% if necessary because of unusually high or low family incomes.
 
Revises income eligibility requirements for public housing, for tenant-based section 8 assistance, and for project-based section 8 assistance to substitute "extremely low-income families" for the respective eligibility formula.
 
(Sec. 237) Revises requirements for PHA inspections of each dwelling unit for which a housing assistance payment contract is established. Requires biennial inspections, in lieu of current annual inspections, to determine compliance. Permits alternative inspection methods if specified standards are met.
 
Requires interim inspections, upon family request, within 24 hours if a noncompliant condition is life-threatening, or within 15 days if not life-threatening.
 
(Sec. 238) Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2012 to terminate the authority of the Secretary to convert assisted units in the moderate rehabilitation program to tenant-based rental assistance or project-based rental assistance units.
 
(Sec. 239) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to revise requirements with respect to termination of tenancy by an owner of affordable housing assisted under such Act for rental.
 
States that the mandatory 30-day notice is not required if the grounds for the termination or refusal to renew a lease involve a direct threat to the safety of the tenants or employees of the housing, or an imminent and serious threat to the property (and the termination or refusal to renew is in accordance with requirements of state or local law).
 
Revises requirements regarding the recapture and reuse of funds set-aside for investment only in housing to be developed, sponsored, or owned by community housing development organizations.
 
Requires the Secretary to deduct any such funds remaining uninvested for a 24-month period from the line of credit in the participating jurisdiction's HOME Investment Trust Fund and reallocate them by a specified reallocation formula other than the current direct reallocation formula.
 

Title III: Related Agencies
 - Makes appropriations for FY2013 to: (1) the Access Board, (2) the Federal Maritime Commission, (3) the Office of Inspector General for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), (4) the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), (5) the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and (6) the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
 

Title IV: General Provisions (This Act)
 - Specifies certain uses and limits on or prohibitions against the use of funds appropriated by this Act.
 
(Sec. 401) Requires any sums necessary for FY2013 pay raises for programs funded in this Act to be absorbed within the levels appropriated in this or previous appropriations Acts.
 
(Sec. 402) Prohibits the use of funds for the planning or execution of any program to pay the expenses of, or otherwise compensate, nonfederal parties intervening in regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings funded in this Act.
 
(Sec. 407) Requires all federal agencies and departments funded by this Act to report by July 30, 2013, to the congressional appropriations committees on all sole-source contracts.
 
(Sec. 409) Prohibits the use of funds to support any federal, state, or local projects that seek to use the power of eminent domain, unless eminent domain is employed only for a public use.
 
(Sec. 411) Prohibits payment of the salary from any appropriation under this Act of any person filling a position (other than temporary) formerly held by an employee who has: (1) left to enter the U.S. Armed Forces; (2) satisfactorily completed his or her period of active military or naval service; (3) within 90 days after release from such service, or from hospitalization continuing after discharge for up to one year, applied for restoration to his former position; and (4) been certified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as still qualified to perform the duties of his or her former position, but not been restored to it.
 
(Sec. 412) Prohibits the expenditure of funds appropriated under this Act by an entity unless the entity agrees to comply with the Buy American Act.
 
(Sec. 413) Prohibits the availability of funds to any person or entity that has been convicted of violating the Buy American Act.
 
(Sec. 414) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act for first-class airline accommodations in contravention of specified federal regulations.
 
(Sec. 415) Prohibits the use of funds to purchase a light bulb for an office building unless it has, to the extent practicable, an Energy Star or Federal Energy Management Program designation.
 
(Sec. 416) Prohibits the provision of any funds made available under this or prior Acts to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations. 
 
(Sec. 417) Prescribes requirements for the posting on DOT or HUD websites of certain information regarding any competitive grant or credit assistance program, including: (1) the goals of the program, (2) the criteria that will be used in awarding such grants or credit assistance, and (3) the process by which applications will be selected.
 
Requires the posting on such websites, concurrent with the public announcement of the grants or credit assistance to be awarded, of additional specified information on each selectee.
 
(Sec. 418) Requires all agencies and departments funded by this Act to report to Congress at the end of the fiscal year a complete inventory of the total number of vehicles owned, permanently retired, and purchased during FY2013 as well as the total cost of the vehicle fleet, including maintenance, fuel, storage, purchasing, and leasing.
 
(Sec. 420) Prohibits the use of funds to send or otherwise pay for the attendance of more than 50 U.S.-stationed employees from a federal department or agency at any single conference outside the United States unless in the national interest.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-04-19
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 359.
action_date: 2012-04-19
text: Committee on Appropriations. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Murray. With written report No. 112-157.
action_date: 2012-04-19
text: Committee on Appropriations. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Murray. With written report No. 112-157.
action_date: 2012-04-19
text: Introduced in Senate