Neighborhood Revitalization and Land Banking Act of 2024

Bill: 118-s-4146
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2024-04-17
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Latest action: action_date: 2024-04-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4146 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 17, 2024 Mr. Casey (for himself and Mrs. Capito ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish grant programs relating to neighborhood revitalization, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Neighborhood Revitalization and Land Banking Act of 2024 . 2. Definitions In this Act: (1) Land bank The term land bank means a government entity, agency, or program, or a special purpose nonprofit entity formed by 1 or more units of government in accordance with a State or local land bank enabling law, that has been designated by 1 or more State or local governments to acquire, steward, and dispose of vacant, abandoned, or other problem properties in accordance with locally determined priorities and goals. (2) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. (3) Targeted revitalization corridor The term targeted revitalization corridor means a segment of a community in need of revitalization that— (A) may be delineated by major streets or physical topography; (B) reflects a cohesive and targeted geographic area with shared character; and (C) has boundaries proposed and justified by individual grant applicants based on unique community need. 3. Blight mapping grants (a) Establishment The Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary may make grants to eligible entities to assist in monitoring property conditions and developing a database for tracking blighted properties within a given geography. (b) Eligible entity An entity eligible for a grant under this section shall be— (1) a land bank; or (2) any county or local government that is not served by a land bank, for a period of not more than 4 years. (c) Application (1) Contents An eligible entity desiring a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and including such information as the Secretary may require. (2) Priority If the overall resources provided to carry out the program under this section are insufficient to fund all qualified applicants in a given fiscal year, the Secretary shall prioritize— (A) applicants that are land banks; and (B) 1 applicant per county, with a strong preference for any applicant that is able to monitor property conditions and track blighted properties within the entire county. (3) Multiple applicants A land bank that serves more than 1 county within a State may apply for and aggregate multiple per-county grants under this section, but only if a signed partnership agreement with each included county is provided with the application. (d) Use of funds A recipient of a grant under this section— (1) may use the grant funds for— (A) mapping activities for a given geography, such as data scraping, canvassing, purchasing of software and technology, including technology used to link multiple municipal datasets, maintenance on digital archives and infrastructure, manpower, and equipment; and (B) documenting commercial, industrial, and residential properties that are blighted; and (2) may not use the grant funds for citation or enforcement activities. (e) Minimum geography The Secretary shall establish a minimum geography that eligible entities are required to survey in order to qualify to apply for a grant under this section, which should be— (1) responsive to the range of population densities across the country; and (2) ensure a significant amount of work is completed with funding, and not that only a minimum square mileage is surveyed. (f) Annual amount The amount of a grant under this section for an eligible entity shall be $10,000 per fiscal year. (g) Additional mapping activities If, after the Secretary awards grants under this section in a fiscal year, there are remaining grant funds, the Secretary may use those amounts to award grants to multiple applicants within a single county, but in no case shall more than 5 grants be awarded in a single county. (h) Data-Sharing requirement By request, data collected using grant funds under this section shall be made available for access by other municipal or county agencies, and by local community development entities and nonprofit organizations, including community land trusts, other land banks, land bank associations and networks, researchers, and redevelopment authorities. (i) Reporting (1) Names of recipients Not later than 3 months after awarding a grant under this section, the Secretary shall publish the name of the grant recipient on a publicly accessible website. (2) Additional reporting The Secretary may require reporting on the activities supported using grant funds under this section for oversight and research purposes. 4. Land bank planning and implementation grants (a) Establishment The Secretary, acting through the Office of Community Planning and Development of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, shall establish a program under which the Secretary may award planning grants and implementation grants to land banks to support projects that fund the revitalization of neighborhoods by addressing property conditions in a region. (b) Eligible activities (1) Planning grants A land bank receiving a planning grant under this section may use the grant funds to create— (A) a targeted list of blighted properties, in particular blighted commercial and residential properties to target for demolition, deconstruction, redevelopment, or other disposition; and (B) a proposed revitalization plan for how each blighted property described in subparagraph (A) will be used after the property is brought back into use, which shall— (i) support existing homeowners, renters, and business owners and preserve occupied properties where feasible, while also improving neighborhood safety and continuity; (ii) be created in partnership with community groups and residents to ensure responsible reuse in accordance with community goals and priorities; (iii) indicate how the project will contribute to or support lasting housing affordability and access to homeownership opportunity; and (iv) consider how blighted property remediation efforts will contribute to holistic neighborhood revitalization, including how they will impact access to a safe environment, respond to local housing market needs, and impact access to housing affordable to a variety of income levels, appropriate services, public assets, transportation, schools, and jobs. (2) Implementation grants (A) In general A land bank receiving an implementation grant under this section may use the grant funds to implement a revitalization plan of the land bank described in paragraph (1)(B) over a 5-year period, including through efforts such as property maintenance, site preparation, remediation, obtaining a clear, marketable, and insurable title, property acquisition and disposition, demolition, deconstruction, property rehabilitation, staffing, operations, and administrative costs. (B) Construction predevelopment fund use cap A land bank receiving an implementation grant under this section may use not more than 25 percent of the grant funds for construction and predevelopment costs incurred in preparation of a site for redevelopment, such as environmental reviews, stormwater work, and geotechnical engineering. (c) Application (1) In general A land bank desiring a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and including such information as the Secretary may require. (2) Considerations In selecting grant recipients under this section, the Secretary shall— (A) seek to make awards to land banks in a geographically diverse manner; (B) consider the needs of rural geographies separately given population density; (C) consider the extent to which the proposed targeted revitalization corridor represents a cohesive and targeted geographic area with a shared character; and (D) consider applications that address multiple targeted revitalization corridors, if the Secretary determines that the funding allocated to individual targeted revitalization corridors is sufficient to contribute to holistic neighborhood revitalization. (d) Amount (1) In general The amount of a grant made under this section shall be— (A) with respect to a planning grant, not less than $100,000 and not more than $250,000 for each land bank receiving a grant, with an aggregate total of— (i) not more than $18,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026; and (ii) not more than $1,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2027 through 2035; and (B) with respect to an implementation grant, not less than $2,000,000 and not more than $15,000,000 for each land bank receiving a grant, with an aggregate total of not more than $40,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2027 through 2035. (2) Set-asides Not less than one-third of planning grant funding and one-third of implementation grant funding awarded under this section shall be set aside each fiscal year for awards to underresourced land banks. (e) Underresourced land bank The Secretary, in consultation with stakeholders engaged in land banking work throughout the United States, shall work with stakeholders in the broader community revitalization and land banking field to determine the various criteria that could qualify a land bank as underresourced for purposes of subsection (d)(2). (f) Prohibition A land bank receiving a grant under this section shall not be required to divert to the Secretary any proceeds from the sale of any property assisted under the grant. (g) Reporting (1) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that reporting requirements imposed on grant recipients under this section should prioritize simplicity and flexibility while also providing the data required to successfully monitor grants made under this section. (2) Requirements The Secretary shall establish reporting requirements that balance the considerations under paragraph (1) and require grant recipients to report not more frequently than on an annual basis. 5. Technical assistance and fellowship program (a) Predevelopment technical assistance (1) In general The Secretary shall provide predevelopment technical assistance to individuals and organizations to facilitate applications to the programs established under sections 3 and 4 by funding not less than 1 and not more than 3 eligible entities or nonprofit organizations to provide training, research, and technical assistance to individuals and organizations, as appropriate. (2) Establishment of fund The Secretary shall establish a predevelopment technical assistance fund to provide the technical assistance under paragraph (1). (3) Cost of assistance Assistance provided under paragraph (1) shall be provided at no cost to recipients. (b) Blighted property remediation fellowship program (1) In general The Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary may make 3 awards of $300,000 each, to be used over a 3-year period, to nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001 ), or consortiums to administer a blighted property remediation fellowship pilot program aimed at advancing the land banking field through research and the development of expertise within the workforce. (2) Technical assistance If requested by a recipient of an award under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide technical assistance to that recipient to comply with the reporting requirements under paragraph (3). (3) Report Each recipient of an award under this subsection shall, not later than 3 years after receiving the award, submit to the Secretary a report on the activities carried out under this subsection. 6. Authorization of appropriations (a) Blight mapping grants There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out section 3 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2035, to remain available until expended. (b) Planning grants and technical assistance (1) In general There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out sections 4 and 5— (A) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026; and (B) $43,900,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2035. (2) Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 In each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026, the Secretary shall use the majority of amounts appropriated under this subsection to provide planning grants and technical assistance and establish a pipeline of applicants for future implementation grants under sections 4 and 5. (3) Fiscal years 2027 through 2035 In each of fiscal years 2027 through 2035, amounts appropriated under this subsection shall be distributed such that— (A) not less than $1,000,000 is made available for planning grants under section 4(b)(1); (B) $40,000,000 is made available for implementation grants under section 4(b)(2); (C) $2,000,000 is provided for the predevelopment technical assistance fund described in section 5(a)(2); and (D) $900,000 is provided for the program described in section 5(b).